February 2007

Matthew 5:16 (New King James Version)
16. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.

Light

Did you ever take a flashlight out and shine it around the yard on a sunny day?  Pretty useless, isn't it?  I feel that's what most of the "church" is doing today.  Everything we do revolves around "church". We have a "church" version of just about every social activity the world offers, and we keep ourselves busy with "church" meetings and "church" activities at every turn.  These "church" activities and meetings are wholesome and good, no doubt. But why do we do this?

I think if we were honest, a big reason is because we don’t want to “entangle ourselves” with the funk that we’ll have to tolerate from “them”. "Them" - you know, the people in the world, with their foul language and filthy lifestyles - the ones we say we’re trying to reach. If only they would come to church we say!  Let me help you with something, they’re not coming. You’re going to have to go to them.

Jesus told us in Mark 16 that famous command: Go. That’s what He did as our example.  We don’t necessarily have to quit our jobs and head to the mission field to "Go". For the majority of us, it’s much simpler than that. The only place that light can be effective in is darkness. Jesus was called the “friend of sinners”. Who called Him that? The “Church” did! And it wasn’t considered a complement either! The reason Jesus was called a "friend of sinners" was because He was continually seen hanging around "them", you know, the sinners.  Jesus didn't "sterilize" himself by spending 24/7 in the synagogue.  He saw the lost, he saw the hurting, he saw "them".  He went to "them".

To be a "friend of sinners" like Jesus was, does not mean we have to start frequenting the local bar after work everyday. That’s not what I’m saying! For many of us, it’s simply a family function that we don’t want to go to because we don’t enjoy being around our “unsaved relatives”. Or, someone at work invites us to a get together and we refuse to come because we may actually have to talk to someone that may use language that we’re not very comfortable around anymore. Notice I said anymore. God’s heart is for the lost. That’s what we all were at some point, we were "them". God’s kindness leads people to repentance.  Condemnation and contempt never won a soul over to Christ. Allow God’s love to be expressed through you and start attracting people out of the dark, to the light. Don’t let your discomfort short-circuit someone’s freedom.

Blessings!

Dan Owczarzak