SHINING LIGHT INTO DARKNESS

Ephesians 5:11-14

Paul has said we should not be deceived or partner with the world in their behavior. Rather, we should live as children of light and produce the fruit of light which is all goodness, righteousness, and truth (5:9). The deeds of darkness produce no fruit. They are fruitless (5:11). Instead of partnering in the deeds of darkness we are supposed to expose those deeds. What does that mean? Are we supposed to go to bars and taverns and dens of iniquity and rail against the people who are there? That’s what some Christians used to do and I know there are still Christians who think we should! Are we supposed to start hunting people down in their sin and point our fingers and shout like a modern day witch hunt? Does this mean that we Christians should not have any non-Christian friends? What does Paul mean? How are we supposed to expose them?

I used to have a job painting apartments. Whenever someone moved out of an apartment my partner and I went in and painted it. Now this wasn’t the fanciest apartment complex in Chicagoland. Some of the units we had to go into weren’t very well-kept. We developed a game. We tried to go into each unit as quietly as we could and sneak into the kitchen. Then we would suddenly flip on the lights and see how many cockroaches we could spot before they ran behind the counter or the refrigerator. It was interesting to see how the light affected the roaches. We never had to shout or anything else! Just turn on the lights and they ran away! They always ran like crazy! They loved the darkness but hated the light.

When Paul says we are to expose the fruitless deeds of darkness he does not say we are to judge or condemn the people. We are simply to turn on the lights in the kitchens of their lives! And in order to do this we have to get inside their lives. And in order to do that, we must be friends with them! We cannot shine the light of God into the lives of people unless we are right beside them and we cannot get that close to them without developing a relationship with them. We don’t have to shout or condemn or preach. Simply letting the fruit of the light of God shine into their lives will expose the truth!

Remember the words of Jesus, “You are the light of the world. Let your light shine before men so they might see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.” Are you trying to let your light shine in your world? Don’t cover it up! Don’t hide it! Don’t shrink away from the non-Christian people around you! They need you! Who will shine the light of God into their lives if you don’t? Who else will reach them? Live as children of light. Pour your prayers and your energy into your friends and neighbors and watch what happens. Paul says God will use you! “Wake up, O sleeper, rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you” (5:14). What a privilege it is to be used of God to bring another person into his glorious light!