Light of the Neighborhood
Our neighborhood is not one that has gobs of street lights. In fact, I remember having an argument with Christopher several years ago over whether or not we had any street lights at all. He was adamant that we did not, despite the fact that there is one right outside our house! Needless to say, it can be rather dark and the street lights that are provided are far enough apart so they don't give all the light one really needs.
Our neighborhood's solution (not through any sort of discussion but just the way it has happened) is to turn on our outside lights on our homes, which lights the areas around our houses and provides a way to see in the dark in our neighborhoods. Each of us, in a small way, becomes the "light of the neighborhood" as we contribute what we have to the greater good.
But there are some folks who don't. I don't know if it's a conscious decision or not, or if they're overly concerned about their electric bill, or if they just have excellent nighttime vision. But there are some houses that stubbornly remain dark every night. You can see lights on in the house and the TV running; you know they're home. But for whatever reason, they don't turn their outside lights on. And the area around their home remains dark.
As I drove through our neighborhood the other night and thought about all this, I realized our neighborhood, and maybe yours, is a small example of what the church is like. We all have a light we've been given; Jesus says we are the light of the world (Matthew 5:14) just as he is (John 8:12). And many folks shine their lights in the way Jesus instructs us to: we do good deeds and allow those things to point others to God the Father. Through the acts of many courageous and ordinary Christians, the darkness of our world is pushed back by the light we shine.
But then there are others who refuse to "turn on their light." They said "the prayer" at some point, accepted Jesus as their savior, but have never understood or have stubbornly refused to acknowledge that they need to turn on the light and let it shine into the world. And so the world around them remains dark.
What, do you suppose, might happen if all who profess the name of Jesus would brightly and genuinely shine their light into the world around them?
Maybe more to the point: which one are you? Is your light on...or off?
Our neighborhood's solution (not through any sort of discussion but just the way it has happened) is to turn on our outside lights on our homes, which lights the areas around our houses and provides a way to see in the dark in our neighborhoods. Each of us, in a small way, becomes the "light of the neighborhood" as we contribute what we have to the greater good.
But there are some folks who don't. I don't know if it's a conscious decision or not, or if they're overly concerned about their electric bill, or if they just have excellent nighttime vision. But there are some houses that stubbornly remain dark every night. You can see lights on in the house and the TV running; you know they're home. But for whatever reason, they don't turn their outside lights on. And the area around their home remains dark.
As I drove through our neighborhood the other night and thought about all this, I realized our neighborhood, and maybe yours, is a small example of what the church is like. We all have a light we've been given; Jesus says we are the light of the world (Matthew 5:14) just as he is (John 8:12). And many folks shine their lights in the way Jesus instructs us to: we do good deeds and allow those things to point others to God the Father. Through the acts of many courageous and ordinary Christians, the darkness of our world is pushed back by the light we shine.
But then there are others who refuse to "turn on their light." They said "the prayer" at some point, accepted Jesus as their savior, but have never understood or have stubbornly refused to acknowledge that they need to turn on the light and let it shine into the world. And so the world around them remains dark.
What, do you suppose, might happen if all who profess the name of Jesus would brightly and genuinely shine their light into the world around them?
Maybe more to the point: which one are you? Is your light on...or off?
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