“You are the light of the world-like a city on a hilltop that cannot be
hidden. No one lights a lamp and puts it under a bowl. Instead, a
lamp is placed on a stand, where it gives light to everyone in the house.
In the same way, let your good deeds shine out for all to see, so that everyone
will praise your heavenly Father.” Matthew 5:14-16
God is calling us to a pretty big
assignment here…to be a light.
Every
time I read this passage or think of light in general, two things come
to mind: Fireworks and bugs. I remember being both terrified and
fascinated by fireworks as a child. They were so beautiful, but so big
and loud. Even if I was a great distance away from the explosions I could
still see it’s brightness and hear it’s boom. It’s hard to miss fireworks
that are near even if you are trying to avoid them-after all, even if you can’t
see them, you can still hear them. They make quite the impact.
Bugs
obviously have nothing to do with fireworks, but they do have this inclined
nature to draw near to light. June bugs, moths, those pesky little
gnats….they swarm the nearest light. The way these bugs are just drawn to
light reminds me of exactly what God has called us to in the verses mentioned
above.
Our lives
should reflect and honor Christ to the point of others seeing our lives and
drawing near to Him as a result. As Christians, God calls us to many
things, but for me the most intimidating expectation of all is this calling of
being a light. To be lights we have to get uncomfortable-we have to place
ourselves in humbling circumstances-we have to love on people that we would
rather just not acknowledge.
I
recently moved back to Camden and took a position at the church that raised me
in the Faith. Being back in Camden has opened my eyes to how comfortable
I have become in life and how apathetic I have become in reference to being a
light. If I am called to be a light of the world, then why is
there a population of people I have hardly even encountered in my own town?
This was
first brought to my attention one Saturday about a month ago when a group from
my church hosted back yard Bible clubs at a couple of different projects (lower
economic housing developments) in Camden. For a small town, Camden has an
obscene number of poverty stricken and struggling families. As we spent
the day loving on children and sharing what Christ has to offer, I realized
what a tremendous disconnect I had with this group-not because we were
different races, not because we were of different socioeconomic status, but
because I had never been intentional with these people until that day-And even
then I was simply there because our group decided to do so for the day.
I began
to wonder how different that Saturday would have been if I had already known
names….if I had already know their life stories…if I had already known why D.J.
lived with his older sister instead of a parent. What if I was already
present in their lives and had established relationships?
Is spending a
Saturday every 3 months or so with this group really being a light? If
that’s being a light, then why is it so dark there? Why is it so dark in
my hometown if all this time I (and we) have been a light? My heart longs
to make a difference in this and to truly be light. My prayer is
that God would provide a way for that to happen. Pray for openness- open
doors, open hearts, perhaps an open apartment for me to able to move in to and
to really be present and establish relationships. Living there is
hands-down the best way to have real interaction and point others to
Christ.
