Co-Creation

Letting Our Light Shine

“You playing small doesn’t serve the world. There’s nothing enlightening about shrinking so others won’t feel insecure around you. As you let your own light shine, you indirectly give others permission to do the same.” ~ Marianne Williamson

When we think of evangelism we usually think of a preacher passionately imploring crowds to believe in Jesus Christ and be saved. While nothing is wrong with that it's not what I want to focus on today. The best way to introduce the perspective I want us to consider is by examining a story from Acts 16:22-30. In this passage of scripture, Paul and Silas are severely beaten, put into the deepest part of the dungeon, and their feet are clamped in the stocks.

Around midnight as Paul and Silas are praying and singing hymns, there is a massive earthquake, the doors all fly open and the chains fly off of every prisoner! The jailer awakens to see all the doors open and assuming the prisoners have escaped, he draws his sword to kill himself but Paul shouts, "Stop! Don't kill yourself! We are all here!" The jailor calls for lights, runs down into the dungeon, and falls trembling before Paul and Silas. He asks them, "Sirs, what must I do to be saved?" The story ends with the entire household of the jailor being saved and baptized immediately.

Wow! That story cuts me to the heart every time! I feel like I need to get saved again! What I want for you and for me is not just that we would be proficient at telling people about the Good News but that our lives would be a powerful, undeniable, blazing demonstration of the Good News at work in us! Our lives must resonate with Christ! This is what I see in Paul and Silas. What could inspire these men to be singing in the heart of a dungeon after being savagely and unjustly beaten and imprisoned? What could possibly motivate them to stop the jailer who imprisoned them from killing himself and not just taking the opportunity to escape?? What manner of a God would create an earthquake and free an entire jail full of prisoners? I feel that these were the questions that were imploding in the jailer's mind and causing him to fall to his knees trembling.

I think that we often emphasize eloquence and charisma when we talk about influencing people but Paul and Silas show us something much more powerful. They didn't use many words. People were not drawn to how good their arguments were or how sound their doctrine was. They were just undeniable in their demonstration of the love and power of Christ. We can be the same by allowing unbelievers to see how we handle persecution and trials and how our God rescues us out of them! What about loving and serving those who seek us harm?

There are two things that Jesus describes believers as in Matthew 5:14-16, light and salt.

Light - Don't hide your light! We cannot influence others from a distance. We must be in the world.

• We must be contributors, not critics. Critics just stand on the sidelines and point out all that is wrong with the world, or the church, or that 'heretical' pastor. Contributors take responsibility for making things better. They get down in the dirt like Christ did.
• We must be seen, not hidden. Let people see what God is doing in your life. Your life may be the only epistle that some people read. Don't keep it in church or only among your church friends.

Salt - Don't lose your saltiness! You cannot influence others if you have the same values that they have. We must not be of the world.

• We must be the influencers, not be influenced.
• We must be immovable in our internal values but flexible in our external expression. There is a difference between being relevant to the culture of the day and compromising your kingdom values. We need to know the difference. Salted meat and unsalted meat look the same on the outside. Only when you sample what's inside of us do you 'taste' the difference.

Jesus embodied the Good News and so must we!

Journal with Holy Spirit: Are you more of a contributor or a critic? Is your internal life hidden or shared with others who do not yet know Christ? When you enter a situation or place where there is depression, hopelessness, bitterness, gossip, or violence does your presence shift the atmosphere? Do you have a strong set of kingdom values that can express themselves in various ways depending on the situation or are you more focused on the externals?