We live in darkness. The place where sin prospers. The place where Truth is difficult to find. Don’t think so; look around. The societies of the Earth have descended into chaotic states of moral anarchy. Where once there were clearly understood, if not always subscribed to, boundaries of decency and honesty, there is now greed, selfishness and immorality at unprecedented levels and percentages. I haven’t talked to very many people who didn’t think the world has somehow gone crazy. How does that happen? Easy, just step away from the light.
Two thousand years ago the Light came into the world. Today we are still discussing, debating and quoting that light. Stop a moment and consider that fact. Now consider this; if someone offered you a situation where you could have all the publicity avenues available for the next three years, what would you have to do, say or publish to ensure that the world was still fascinated, divided by, debating and quoting you two thousand years later? That is what Jesus did in just three years.
John 3:19 "This is the judgment, that the Light has come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the Light, for their deeds were evil. 20 "For everyone who does evil hates the Light, and does not come to the Light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. 21 "But he who practices the truth comes to the Light, so that his deeds may be manifested as having been wrought in God."
There’s that powerful word again...Truth. If you pull out your Bible and start from Genesis to highlight or underline the word truth every time it appears, you will be a busy camper. Jesus states that those who 'practice truth' come to the light. Yet today, deeds and sins that used to be hidden away in the moral closet, reside in plain view. On your TV, in your newspaper and all over the Internet. How is that possible if light exposes them for what they are?
You remember that saying about knowing God, “It isn’t easy, but it is simple”? Well that works for Satan too. It hasn’t been easy to stain the fabric of society nearly black with sin, but it was simple. In each generation, simply disguise absolute truth with a cloak made of feel good, brotherhood of man, tolerance. Ever look up the definition of tolerance? From Webster’s:
Willingness to accept feelings, habits, or beliefs that are different from your own; the allowable deviation from a standard;
So, what standard are we deviating from today? If you are at all versed in Scripture, you will recognize that it is the standard we have abandoned. Does Almighty God have a tolerance level? Some will be quick to point out the Cross and rightfully so. None of us measured up to meeting God on our own terms. But, does He have an allowable deviation standard when it comes to calling sin, sin? No.
Isaiah 5:20 Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil; Who substitute darkness for light and light for darkness;
And brother, woe is what we are getting. Most thoughtful folks I know readily admit we are in a downward spiral as a nation. Those anchors that made us great and allowed us to weather disasters and wars are dragging in the storm. We are off course and drifting onto the rocks. The evidence of this is that we are also drifting further and further into the darkness. And oh how great that darkness can be.
Matthew 6:22 "The eye is the lamp of the body; so then if your eye is clear, your whole body will be full of light. 23 But if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light that is in you is darkness, how great is the darkness!"
A great and fearful darkness hovers over us today. The god of this world has successfully blinded most of mankind to the presence of the Light. But this was not done without our permission. Every concerned heart should examine itself before God and His Word to accurately evaluate where we stand when it comes to this Light. The hearts that choose to shy away from that light are not our concern. If the Body of Christ seems to have no real impact or input on American society and standards, it is we who are the root of that problem. We are in need of a revival of Light and Truth, but that must start at home first; in your heart and mine.
Mouth professing Christians will never influence another soul for any kind of lasting relationship towards or with God. We must first possess it with our own hearts. Now, there are many and endless discussions about how we can best serve the cause of Christ. His effort to provide us a way back to the Father. But I believe a good starting point, and perhaps the least used, is true knowledge of the Word. Gaining even a rudimentary ‘knowledge’ of it must be approached somewhat like martial arts training.
You can daydream about it, watch films about it and even read a particular style’s training manual. But, in the end, you have to do the work. And you have to do it regularly. No time off every time you’re tired or distracted by life. No goofing off during training sessions. And no lying to the guy in the mirror about what is actually being accomplished or neglected. Solid Biblical training has always been the only approach to becoming a light bearer.
For that is the end game is it not? If another sees the light in you, there’s a good chance they’ll be attracted by that light...or possibly repulsed. But, if no one is ever attracted, repulsed or tempted to ask us about our confession, two things are possible. One, we are not making any confession of our faith. Two, there is no light to be seen.
Too often it is the latter. Church attendance where you walk in like it was a movie theatre, get entertained and walk back out like a crowd of sociable strangers, will not provide much light. But that’s what we largely have today. True fellowship and in depth study of Scripture are the only ways in which we can truly encourage and lift each other towards the true Light. Also, you’ll see a banner on this site which states ‘Take off the masks; Park the egos.’ Those things should be like hats and coats...leave them at the door when it’s time to worship and seek after Truth. After all, you don’t want your "hat" blocking that Light; do you?