Attractive Christianity

Attractive Christianity

Matthew 5:14-16

            Madeleine L’Engle is best known for books such as A Wrinkle in Time, A Wind in the Door, and A Swiftly Tilting Planet.  She is less well-known for her religious work, including her role as librarian of the Cathedral Church of St. John the Divine in New York City—a post she held for more than thirty years. 

            L’Engle wrote, “We do not draw people to Christ by loudly discrediting what they believe, by telling them how wrong they are and how right we are, but by showing them a light that is so lovely that they want with all their hearts to know the source of it.”

            That puts much of our evangelism in a rather dismal light, doesn’t it?  We Christians are awfully good at telling people what they should do, what they should believe, and how they should act.  A friend of mine recently left the church where she had been worshiping after a fellow churchgoer criticized her for the way she behaved.  Because my friend did not act exactly as the other woman did, she was accused of not being a Christian.  We who like to say we are Bible-believing Christians don’t believe the part where Jesus says, “Judge not lest you also be judged.”  We want to set ourselves up as judge and jury as to what Christianity should be.  Anyone who doesn’t meet our standards is in trouble.  We stand in the place of the Almighty and damn them to hell as thoroughly as the English language (or some other one) will allow.

            Along with telling us not to be judgmental, Jesus also had a thing or two to say about light.  John’s gospel is known for Jesus’ marvelous “I am” statements.  One of them, you will remember, is “I am the light of the world.”  John makes it quite clear in the prologue to his gospel (1:1-18) that Jesus was “The true light, which enlightens everyone.”

            In today’s reading, Jesus passes the torch to his disciples.  He tells them, “You are the light of the world” (italics mine).  Instead of keeping the light to himself, Jesus shares—giving it to his disciples so that they in turn can share it with others.  He even tells them to share:  “let your light shine before others so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven.”

            That’s a tall task.  Notice Jesus is not talking about reflected light.  He didn’t say, “I’m going to shine my light on you so it can bounce off and let everyone around you see it.”  No—he says, “You are the light of the world.  Let your light shine.”  We are to be filled with the light of Christ and glow so that others will see it and recognize the source as God the Father.

            This approach, as L’Engle indicates, is the exact opposite of the “criticize ‘em, beat ‘em down, and tell ‘em how they ought to act” method.  Jesus stands with L’Engle—or maybe it’s the other way round, since he had the idea first.  Instead of an evangelism that attempts to browbeat people into the kingdom of God, we are to be the light that leads them to it.

            I know—that’s a lot harder to do.  It means we have to keep our light shining—and that’s not always easy.  We can’t ever let it get dim, let alone go out.  We can’t allow any part of us—our habits, our attitudes, our words, our actions—to interfere with that light and block it out.  We have to be so full of God’s love that we unceasingly glow with its light.  Like a permanent light bulb, we have to always be on.

            We know we can’t do it on our own.  Jesus knew it too.  Even he had to have his batteries recharged.  That’s why he spent so much time in prayer.  His prayer life made it possible for God’s light and God’s power to shine through him. 

That’s why so many people came to him saying, “I want that light for myself.”