In our "In-Depth" Sunday School sessions recently I've been working with the youth through the Sermon on the Mount. Over the past several weeks, we've gone through the Beatitudes and we spent last week dissecting verse 13: the "Salt of the Earth" passage.
Yesterday we moved into verses 14-16: the "Light of the World" passage and what God had me focus on in the teaching was this: "You cannot be hidden." The teaching was less "You are incapable of being hidden because you are so bright" and much more "You cannot allow yourself to be hidden, because you have a responsibility to share the light you have been given."
It was one of those moments where God hits you, the teacher of the lesson, just as hard upside the head as He does those whom you are teaching. An "AHA!" moment in the midst of trying to hold the attention of my junior high and high school students. The "AHA!" moment was this: once you have the light, once you know the truths of God and of His salvation, you have a responsibility and mission to be a light and spread the truth. This light that we have been given is tasked with flooding through the darkness of the world around us. The light drives away the darkness; the two cannot coexist.
The church has allowed itself to be lulled into a devilish falsehood: be light without being hateful and disturbing the darkness of the world around you. It's the old lie: "The light might be good for you, but you can't force it on others. They should get to make their own choices."
We cannot allow ourselves to be pushed under a basket where our light can be hidden; instead, we must fight to get ourselves up on the hilltop, the pedestal, where we can effectively share Christ's light to the world around us.
The second part of the passage comes with another mission for each individual Christian: "Do good works, so that those around you can see those good works and give praise to the Father in Heaven." How will those around us see our good works and then glorify God if we never do any good works? How can they see and be impacted if we are hiding because we don't want to offend anyone or disturb those in darkness around us?
We have a responsibility to be as bright a light as possible and to chase away the darkness from the world as far as we possibly can. We do that by taking good works into the community and the world and then sharing the Gospel of Jesus Christ with those who are glorifying God because of the work that we have just done for them.
The Christian life must be an active one! We cannot allow ourselves to be hidden. We must fight for that place up in the middle of the battleground where can most effectively bring Christ's light to the world!
