19 And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. 20 For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed. 21 But he who does the truth comes to the light, that his deeds may be clearly seen, that they have been done in God." This is really a great goal for us - to express, essentially to BE the light of Christ, to everyone we meet. It is not our job description to judge the hearts of others, but our obligation to the Lord is to live in His light, and let the Holy Spirit take care of the conviction. If we come across as condescending or condemning to others, we run the risk of damaging our witness and cloaking the light. Not sharing the love of Christ is one way we hide the light, but having the improper attitude toward others can also keep people from being attracted to the character of the Lord, as we allow Him to flow through us.
Ephesians chapter 5 can help us to see who we are in Christ, and how our new identity, our new nature governs our personal behavior, including how we relate to others:
8 For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light 9 (for the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness, righteousness, and truth), 10 finding out what is acceptable to the Lord.
We have been redeemed, and we can rejoice in that! And, we have a calling in this world to shine the light of Christ - not to hide it or to hinder it. I believe that we do hinder the expression of Christ's light when we are uncivil, even to the point of being combative. We can be grounded in our convictions, but it is so important that we express those convictions in a way that compels instead of offends. We can be firm in what we believe, and sensitive to how we communicate, making sure that we are doing so with compassion, radiating the character of our Lord.
1st John chapter 1 reminds us of the power of light, contained within our hearts, that can be released by His people:
2 the life was manifested, and we have seen, and bear witness, and declare to you that eternal life which was with the Father and was manifested to us-- 3 that which we have seen and heard we declare to you, that you also may have fellowship with us; and truly our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ. 4 And these things we write to you that your joy may be full. 5 This is the message which we have heard from Him and declare to you, that God is light and in Him is no darkness at all. We can talk about light all we want, but it's so important that we make it an aim to shine His light, to radiate the character of Christ, in very practical ways. And, I believe this is something that is illustrated by this story: Shane Windmeyer is a nationally recognized leader in the homosexual rights movement. He was a person who was offended by a the head of a certain corporation who stated his support for traditional marriage. He has admitted that he was wrong in his appraisal of this man. And, the sea change began as the result of that man making a phone call.
Kelly Boggs, writing for Baptist Press, quoted a column that Shane had submitted to the HuffingtonPost: "...after months of personal phone calls, text messages and in-person meetings, I am coming out in a new way, as a friend of Chick-fil-A's president and COO, Dan Cathy, and I am nervous about it. I have come to know him and Chick-fil-A in ways that I would not have thought possible when I first started hearing from LGBT students about their concerns over the chicken chain's giving practices." Shane was invited to be a guest of Dan Cathy at the Chick-Fil-A bowl this past New Year's Eve. Windmeyer had written that getting to know Dan reminded him of the relationship with his uncle, who is a pastor. He stated, "My uncle would never want to see any harm come to me or Tommy [Shane's "husband"]...His beliefs prevented him from fully reconciling what he understood as the immorality of homosexuality with the morality of loving and supporting me and my life. It was, and remains, an unsolvable riddle for him, hating the sin and loving the sinner."
Kelly Boggs wrote:"While it might seem like a riddle to Windmeyer, it is actually the grace of the Lord impacting a person's life and enabling him to live out the teaching of Jesus to "do unto others as you would have them do unto you."
Boggs related a story of someone who confronted him one time for writing "vitriolic, anti-homosexual garbage for Baptist Press":
She believed herself to be a follower of Christ and talked about her "evolution" on the subject of homosexuality. She also expressed dismay at how someone like me could be, in her words, so unloving.At the end of an almost half-hour conversation, she admitted that Boggs was "pretty nice".
I asked her to share specific instances where I had been unloving in anything I had ever written. She said she couldn't. I then explained to her that I had nothing personal against her or her homosexual friends, I just fundamentally and strongly disagreed with her ideas and arguments.
I also made it clear that I primarily took issue with activists who pushed for the normalization and celebration of homosexuality. I also said that my conviction on the matter was rooted not only in the Bible, but also my understanding of biology.
He concludes the column by saying: "There is no doubt that public and political discourse is way too uncivil these days. While I have no control of those with whom I disagree, I do have control over myself. It is my strong desire to follow the teachings of Christ and to treat others, in print and in person, the way I would like to be treated, and that is with dignity and respect."
There you have it - practical examples of changing perceptions, changing the narrative, and walking as salt and light. Dan Cathy could have sought the safety of corporate headquarters, but instead he made a contact; he sought to shine the light. Shane Windmeyer's uncle could have resorted to purely public pronouncements, but he chose to show love to someone with whom he disagreed. Kelly Boggs chose civility over confrontation - or, as Greg Koukl puts it, "diplomacy" instead of "D-Day". By our love and willingness to dialogue even with those with whom we disagree, we release the character of Christ and radiate His love.
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