Getting Lit (Matthew 5:14-16)

The more I bike ride the more flat tires I get. I am learning that this is just part of the deal and the good news is that I am getting better at changing them while loosing my real spare tire (LOL). You see I keep a spare tube and CO2 cartridge in a small bag under my seat. Even with this precaution my wife is concerned that I will break down in the wrong area of town and be in danger.

A few weeks ago that happened. I broke down in one of the roughest neighborhoods in Salisbury on a street known for, well for the sake of this blog, darkness. I began changing my tire and two different people stopped and asked if I needed help or a ride to a local bike shop. I thanked them and assured them I was OK and changed my tire and got where I needed to go.

This week I had another flat, but this time is was just a couple of miles from my house in the small town we live near. This town has three churches within a quarter mile of where I broke down. However, not one person stopped to ask if I needed help and many cars went by that morning. I changed my tire and rode into work but the whole way there was talking to God about the stark difference in these two experiences.

In Matthew 5: 14-16 Jesus said “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.” (ESV)

It made me think about our churches and how they were designed by our Lord to be beacons of light in a dark word, but how we sometimes easily hide that light under the basket of our selfish desire to create churches that are museums as opposed to hospitals for the sick. Many churches rarely leave their property (our basket) and enter into their community (our houses) to carry the light of Christ into the darkness of this world. We even ironically have called our churches “houses of worship”, but in reality they are a baskets many times for our holy huddle of four and no more.

In the early church people were excited about Christ’s light inside them; Christ had radically changed them and saved them from eternal darkness and the darkness of this world (John 10:10). They went into their communities and loved, lived, and let Christ’s light shine and people were drawn like a moth to a flame (John 12: 32).

I know the church I am serving at now is trying to do be a light and we are working within our local communities to serve and allow Christ’s light to shine into the darkness around us. However, we are also always looking for better ways to be obedient in taking Christ’s light to the hurting and needful. While I could share my thoughts on how we are doing this, I would rather created a dialogue and hear from you. So, I have two questions: What can we do in our local churches to take Christ’s light into our communities better and why have the churches in America in general been so reluctant to go into their communities?

As a side, when you see me on the side of the road with my next flat will you stop and ask if I need a ride?