Light Of The World

At one point in his life Gandhi went on a quest to determine which religion of the world was best for his country. On his quest he visited Britain. He stayed in a Christian home. He went to a Christian church. He went away concluding that Christianity is not the religion for his country. Why? He felt no love. He reasoned that if God is love and he felt no love, then God must not be there, and in that home, and in that church, he felt no love. Not one person in the church extended a hand to welcome him, and the Christian home looked no different than a non-Christian home.

No wonder he also said something to the effect of "I like your Christ, but I do not like your Christians. They are so unlike your Christ."

Why? Because many of us do not practice what we preach. We're often hypocrites. Period. That makes me hurt inside, especially when I realize the ways in which I also fall into this category. But I pray that anyone, especially myself, who falls into this category doesn't shrug it off and ignore it. I pray that we, who claim to follow Christ, all realize what it means to hunger and thirst for righteousness. I pray that we all realize what it means to be the light of the world.

I pray this because too often we want to be just like the world, liking the world and having the world like us. Rubbish. We're supposed to be set apart, which means that while we're in the world, we're not of the world. It doesn't mean isolation, and it doesn't mean conformity. It means standing up against the darkness around us and being the bright lights we're called to be.

Think about this. What if someone followed you around for a day? From the time you got up in the morning to the time you went to bed? Would you look like a Christian, or would you look just like everyone else?

1) What about your reactions? Do you race to beat someone on to the freeway or get the parking spot? Do you look the other way when you see someone in need that you really don't want to help? Do you ignore the phone when someone calls because of what you think they might have to say? Do you ignore people that smile at you and say good morning just because you're having a bad day?

2) What about your speech? Are you kind to everyone, or are you kind only to the people that matter to you and rude to others? Are you quick to snap at someone, or do you hold your tongue? Do you join in with gossiping about others or making fun of them, or do you refuse and walk away? Do you yell at other people in your car, even if no one else can hear you? Do you speak graciously to your spouse even when you disagree?

3) What about your appearance? Do you dress modestly, or do you flaunt what you've got? Do you dress down to earth, or do you dress to impress with designer clothes? Do you come as the real you to church, or do you dress way up (or way down) just to stand out from other believers and make them look at you? Do you pick out clothes that represent your Lord and your heart, or do you wear clothes promoting man made "heroes" that have nothing to do with Christian values?

4) What about your music, television shows, movies, books, and video games? Do you make wise decisions about which ones to buy, or do you grab whatever is new and popular? Do the images and sounds glorify God, or are they filled with gore, sex, murder, theft, deceit, foul language, coarse jokes, wicked lifestyles, and demonic imagery?

5) What about your faith? Do you witness to people when the opportunity arises or do you shy away? Do you share the Lord in regular conversation when you're prompted by the Spirit, or do you ignore that prompting and steer the conversation to worldly things? Do you stand up for the Lord when your friend or co-worker takes his name in vain, or do you pretend not to hear? Do you take God's word seriously or do you cherry pick what you want to hear and ignore the rest? Do you pray earnestly and fervently, or do you just rattle off something canned and heartless in the last 5 minutes of your day? Do you teach your children about the Lord and set the right example for them, or do you leave that only up to the local church?

I could go on, but I won't!

I know there are places here we ALL fall short. That's not the point. The point is what we do about it. Are we content to fall short and chalk it up to "the flesh" and "our human nature" and "that's how I am"? Or do we mourn over our shortcomings, our failings, our sins and desire truly to pursue a godly life with all we've got? So, regarding these questions, and the million others that can be asked, the most important question is this: in everything we think, say, and do, is there an overwhelming amount of evidence to convict us of being Christians? If the answer is not yes, we have many things to work on.

And. Even if the answer IS yes. We STILL have many things to work on.

If we are to be a light of the world; that light needs to stand out and shine brightly, not fade into the darkness that surrounds.

Grace and Peace