Letting
Your Light Shine
Jesus said: “Let your light
so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify
your Father who is in heaven”.
(Matthew 5:14)
People all around us observe the way
we live. When we say we are Christians they often take a more
critical look. Our lifestyle is the most powerful indicator of
whether Jesus Christ is real to us and relevant in our daily
experiences. Our actions speak louder than personal theologies and
creeds. When others watch, they rarely do so because they are
innately supportive or hostile. More often their motivation is to
see what “works” for us, because they too are searching
for viable answers to life and the questions and pressures it throws
up. Christian witness that reflects God’s faithfulness and
presence glorifies Him and creates hope in a world that is looking to
find a way out of the darkness.
When
the lights go out
I was woken up by the sound of gunfire
in the street. As I carefully walked out onto the balcony and looked
up into the night sky all I could see were the tracers of Syrian
anti-aircraft fire aimed at fighter jets sent from neighbouring
Israel to destroy Lebanon’s electricity infrastructure. The
building shook as the sound barrier was broken above the capital. In
an instant, the apartment was plunged into complete darkness. I
waited for a few minutes, until the generator kicked in and the
lights came on again – at least in our building. Many of our
neighbours’ homes were left in darkness. When the morning
dawned it was revealed that the three largest power plants in the
country lay in ruins. The authorities would take years to rebuild
them. The Government condemned the attack, but the damage was
already done. People with generators in their homes and offices
resigned themselves to using them for a long time to come.
We live in a dark world. There is
nothing so dark as when the lights go out and the only thing you can
do is grope for something to hang onto, hoping it is secure. When
this happens, the darker the environment, the stronger the smallest
light appears. Even a torch or match seem magnified and are able to
change their surroundings. In parts of outback Australia, the stars
seem brighter when the city lights are dimmest; astronomers come from
around the world to witness stellar events that are invisible through
the clouds or atmospheric pollution in their own countries.
Before Jesus came into the world,
there was no effective light for the human condition. It wasn’t
always like that, however – the human race was created to live
in God’s presence, but chose rebellion over obedience and the
light figuratively went out. Hope was extinguished. As a result,
men and women are trapped in the dark (Isaiah 60:2) and their
lifestyles reflect this fact (John 3:19). Solomon said that, “the
way of the wicked is like deep darkness; they do not know what makes
them stumble.” (Proverbs 4:19) No wonder the human story seems
to lurch from one crisis to another.
Some people talk about living
“according to their lights”. One (non-Christian)
religion even calls itself "Divine Light”. Such
subjectivity is deceptive. For centuries, armies have marched off to
war, people have been burned at the stake and atrocities have been
committed by people claiming they were walking in the light. The
results have been disastrous and are still with us. Mediaeval
churches proclaiming the power of Christian tradition are gloomy and
cold inside, the thick walls preventing natural light getting in, a
powerful analogy of organised religion that pursues externalities
rather than life. As a consequence, those who attended them were
benighted for centuries. After the so-called Dark Ages came the
“Enlightenment”, when reformers cast off the “shackles”
of religious legalism but in the process abandoned Biblical faith.
The fundamental question, “Where am I going?”, continues
to remain unanswered for many who remain in the dark.
Lights in the darkness
“Light” is used in the
Bible to refer to Godly understanding and a dynamic relationship with
Him, out of which a different kind of lifestyle flows. “He has
called us out of darkness into his marvelous light” (1 Peter
2:9). The Bible teaches us that, whereas we walked in “darkness”
before we became Christians, now we are “children of the light”
(1 Thessalonians 5:5). We are called to let our light shine.
This represents a total change. While
the world as we know it suffers the terrible consequences of people
living according to their lights (but devoid of God), John’s
Gospel tells us that when Jesus came he shone the light and the
darkness fled (John 1:5; 3:19). “The people walking in
darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of the
shadow of death a light has dawned” (Isaiah 9:2). Without the
light that Christ brings into the world, there is no hope. When he
comes, like the morning sun, he illuminates everything.
What does that analogy mean for you
and me?
In museums, antique shops and flea
markets from one end of Europe to the other it is possible to see
ancient Greek and Roman oil lamps, preserved for posterity in fixed
displays or on sale. (Often illegally. Be on the look-out for
counterfeits.) Some are decorated. Most are plain, functional and
economical. Pour oil in at one end; light the other and the house is
illuminated. Whatever their shape or quality, they had one original
purpose: to provide light.
Jesus claimed that he was the “Light
of the World” (John 8:12; 9:5; 12:46). Speaking to His
disciples he took the picture one step further, saying that they too
were lights in their world (Matthew 5:14). “He who follows me
will not walk in darkness” (John 8:12). We can be lights in
the places where we live, work, love and play.
God is at work in the world through
His people. His mission is our mission. Bearing witness to the
reality and power of God in a world that denies him – or has
serious doubts about whether He exists or cares – is our
purpose. Christian faith and love in action are our Constitution.
Our lives become signposts that point others to Christ. The
Christian community is evidence of the Kingdom of God present and at
work.
This is the reason Christians need to
get involved in social action, working for justice for the oppressed
in Jesus’ name. It is why Christians should to seek positions
of service, not to pontificate but to fulfill God’s broad plan
on a practical level. We are who we are because of our relationship
with God. We have His life in us. Without Him we have no strength.
If we are true followers of Jesus, our lives will reflect the
difference. Our “works” (ie our actions) will be the
works of Him who has sent us (John 5:36), our focus will be
different.
Think about it: the way we live
reflects more about what we value than anything we say. You and I
may be the only lights in the darkness of our workplace, home,
university or squash court. If our Christian experience is to mean
anything at all to those around us, it must be capable of bringing
light, understanding, meaning, clarity and direction to such a degree
that others are attracted to Christ.
We are called to be Christians in
different walks of life, making a difference in the same way Jesus
did, taking the initiative, drawing on His power and character to
shine where others normally only experience darkness.
Good works - shining by the way we
live
What did Jesus mean by “good
works”? Only God is good (Mark 10:18). What Jesus was
implying was that those whose hearts have been made new and are in
relationship with Him are able to do good as well. He wasn’t
saying that faith depends on works (cf Ephesians 2:8, 9). Quite the
contrary. He was teaching that God’s children should, produce
fruit consistent with his life and character, because they are “born”
of Him (1 John 3:19, 4:7). As Christians, you and I carry the divine
DNA (2 Peter 1:4). We are Christ’s representatives in a
non-Christian world. Our lives are capable of reflecting His
character and bringing glory to His name, so that unbelievers
(perhaps for the first time in their lives), come to believe that God
is real and honour and seek Him.
Good works are not just “feel
good” intentions and resolutions. I see lots of people
genuinely trying to do good works and make a difference, in refugee
camps, post-tsunami recovery, working with troubled children, aged
care, protecting the environment and in many other worthy areas,
where Christians should be involved. Most are well intentioned.
(From what I have seen over the years, Christians tend to get
involved in works of charity more than non-Christians and go to
trouble spots others avoid. The irony is that the response is often,
“We like your good works, just leave Christianity out of it”.
What such critics failure to acknowledge is that Christian faith is
the major motivator in the first place.)
However, there is an added dimension
to what Christians are asked to do. We are called, not to rely on
the nature of our works, personally striving to do better for its own
sake, but to get involved in human endeavour because that is what
Jesus would do. In effect, our lives are mirrors of the reality of
Jesus, reflecting Him in our lives. We do what is “right”,
because we are God’s children; because He has touched out
hearts. Our objective priorities are based on the character of our
“Father in heaven”.
Whatever we do, people watch and
assess us, work out what’s important to us, what we are like in
Main Street life, what’s real, how we handle pressures and
problems and whether we have integrity.
The downside is
that, if we are careless, people who see our works may not want
anything to do with God.
Living in the Muslim world I often heard claims that generically
associated “Christians” with the immorality, drugs,
alcohol abuse and more decadent features of the West. In Lebanon,
where religious affiliation is officially determined at birth and is
entered on peoples’ birth certificates, I met “Christians”
who had gone head to head with Muslims and Druze adherents during the
long civil war enemies and killed men, women and children in the name
of their church communities. These are not the works of men and
women who walk in the light of Jesus.
A lot of human effort is motivated by
hidden agendas, such as the need to look good, to appear “together”,
to draw attention to self and to be visible to others. The true
Christian life is not about “theatrical goodness”. Jesus
criticized the Pharisees for performance-based religion. They
routinely fasted, gave tithes of all they had (even their garden
herbs), flagellated themselves, wore signs of their piety on their
clothes and heads (verses written on parchment were bound in rolls
called “phylacteries” and worn on their foreheads) and
did organized works of charity. They did it to be seen and admired
or respected by others (Matthew 6:1; 23:5). Good works motivated by
unregenerated hearts have faulty foundations. Genuine light is not
contrived or forced; it just “is”. Human religion and
God’s way are incompatible.
Hidden lights don’t shine
We are to let our light shine before
men.
In parts of the Middle East Christian
hermits live in caves, as members of their orders have done for
centuries. They separate from the world, so that they can live out
their days in solitude and meditation and fulfill promises made to
God or church superiors. In some cultures, living underground used
to be a consequence of persecution. I have visited “underground
cities” in central Turkey where entire communities lived seven
or eight stories below the surface because of fear of Turkish
invaders during the 18th
and 19th
centuries. Surviving underground provided warmth, security and
protection from death or forced conversion to Islam. The only
problem is: that mentality still exists in many communities. People
live in metaphorical caves that hide the light they are capable of
giving out. If our light is hidden, it can’t be seen by those
who need it most (Matthew 5:14). We are called to be the “light
of the world”, not the “light of the church”.
Like hermits, we sometimes feel like
fleeing the company of others and living alone, away from the hassles
and stresses of life. King David once said that he wished he had the
wings of as dove; then he would “fly away and be at rest”
(Psalm 55:6). However, real life doesn’t work that way. We
are where God has placed us. He gives perspective to function within
that framework.
You and I need to be “out
there”, where people reside, not ensconced in traditions,
programs and prejudices, for their own sake, but living out Christian
faith in our respective cultures. Otherwise the Gospel is “hidden”
from those around us (2 Corinthians 4:3). The only way they can see
it is by God’s enabling, in our lives. Paul says that we
should be “living epistles”, open and read by others (2
Corinthians 3:2).
You may be the only Christian in your
circle of influence. If there is a chasm between what you declare
and how you live, your dialogue will be stifled, your integrity
compromised. I have seen work environments where “Christians”
have made me cringe and unbelievers have been “turned off”
because their loud faith is negated by the brashness of their
lifestyles. There is nothing wrong with “signs” of faith
in the work environment, as long as we are aware that people go on to
judge our lives by our actions, not our declared values.
As anyone in Christian communication
knows, what we say is not always understood by others. Our words are
usually filtered through the thought worlds of our hearers and imply
what they want them to mean. This is why personal example is more
important than mere words in reaching paradigms radically different
from our own. The effectiveness of our witness is only as strong as
our relationship with Jesus.
It
is not about us
Someone once challenged me, “If
you were brought before a court, accused of being a Christian, would
there be enough evidence to convict you?”
The way we live
says it all. In some
countries, the only effective testimony Christians have is their
lives. The
thing that impacts non-Christians most profoundly isn’t the
wisdom of our church
councils and boards, the intellectual force of our synods or the
professionalism of our worship services, but the transformation in
the way we live, how we cope with adverse circumstances thrown up by
life, how we treat them and how we relate to our neighbours (John
8:31, 13:35).
Having said that, it is not “all
about us”. God’s purpose is never about the light per
se (Isaiah 42:8); it is not
about our works, or how brightly we shine, but His glory and the
redemption of sinners through the sacrifice of Jesus.
A friend who collects rocks has the
following sign posted above his display cases: “Give glory not
to the stones, but to God who created them”. Without such a
reminder he might be tempted to focus on the workmanship and gems and
miss the Maker altogether.
Lights don’t advertise
themselves. Their purpose is not to draw people to their beauty.
Light work best when they are just being “lights”. They
don’t “try harder” to shine, nor do they develop
bad attitudes about those whose paths they illuminate. Christian
life isn’t about stressing or striving to be better to or live
up to an external standard; it is about “being”
(Ephesians 5:8).
A lot of Christian activities seem
designed to bring people to programs, systems, teachers and
traditions. But, we are not called to deify human effort. The real
purpose should be to glorify God. When we emphasise our own works we
cease to be relevant. Christian witness is about drawing attention
to the Light of the World. Only He can bring light into peoples’
lives. Only He can make a difference. Our message is nothing if it
is not Christo-centric. In fact, it is not even Christian. Lots of
church buildings are “Dedicated to the glory of God”. In
the final analysis, what brings glory to God is not a building but
the foundations and principles established in your life, my life,
reflecting our Heavenly Father.
Re-kindling the light
Finally, what happens when the oil
runs low, lights flicker and threaten to go out? Lamps can (and do)
go out: they can be swamped by water or starved of oxygen. The light
can go out in peoples’ lives because they feel swamped by
circumstances and other peoples’ attitudes and doubts, or
starved of faith, hope and love. The strongest Christian sometimes
feels that his or her example is less than perfect. Fuel gives out,
life gets out of balance, we get tired and circumstances seem to work
against us. In parts of the world, letting one’s Christian
light shine means being exposed to persecution.
Some peoples’ hearts, lives and
relationships burn out because they rely on their own works. Others
give until it hurts, then give more, but are not renewed, so their
reserves become depleted. I know someone whose personal philosophy
is, “I’d rather rather burn out than rust out”.
That approach is wrong-headed. Burned out lives do not glorify God.
It is better to take a break, have a rest, recuperate and be
re-filled for the next challenges. Some Christians feel it is sinful
to relax, that they will someone “fail” God and their
Christian friends if they don’t keep going with the program,
but even God rested from His creative works (Hebrews 4:10). Jesus
took time out. We can still glorify God when our lives are not
filled with frenetic church business and the mindless pursuit of
other peoples’ expectations. Don’t confuse activity with
spirituality, like a Queanbeyan pastor friend at the end of his rope
who admitted to me that he was worn out and had stopped hearing from
God and only read the Bible to look for sermon material. If we reach
this point, there remains only a short step to spiritual and
emotional shipwreck. This does not glorify God. It is time to get
back to basics and “be” the children of God.
You and I are as vulnerable as the
person next door. We are exposed to temptation just like everyone
else (1 Corinthians 10:13). We experience the same problems and
frustrations as others. Sometimes things get in the road and the
light is not as well diffused as it should be. We
don’t “feel” that we shine very well. We feel our
example flickering. We don’t get re-supplied.
If we keep our eyes
fixed on Jesus, the light of the world, faith will rise, hope will be
rekindled and the flame will be stirred to life. People around us
will see the results and be attracted to Jesus. Then they will be
convinced our faith is relevant and “works” in real life.
“God, who said, ‘Let light
shine out of darkness’, made his light shine in our hearts to
give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of
Christ. (2 Corinthians 4:6).
Wherever you are in the world, however
murky the darkness around you feels (it may be dark indeed), whatever
your station in life, relative advantage or disadvantage, gender or
age, you can make a difference. People do
notice. They do
compare and evaluate what’s important deep down. You may be
the only genuine Christian they know. If you are close to Jesus and
allow his light and life to flow through you, the impact on their
lives can be powerful and can have eternal consequences. This is
more than simply adhering to a Christian culture. It is a total way
of life. The Holy Spirit is ready and waiting to show you how to
make it a practical and immediate reality.