Being A Light To The World

It's A Christian's Job...

This is the first in a series of posts covering Chapter 2 of Friends With God “How Do You Love God As His Friend”.

We have seen in Chapter 1 of Friends with God, that Christ tells us that we need to show mercy and kindness so as to demonstrate the love of God to other people, in order that they, too, may come to understand God’s ways and truth:

“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, so that it gives light to all in the house.
In the same way, let your light shine before men, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven. (Matt 5:14-16)

If it’s as simple as that, then why is there such confusion about what God says to do in order to be a light to the world?

There are hundreds of different religions and thousands of different denominations of Christianity, many directly contradicting what the others say. Obviously, they can’t all be following God’s way of life.

Yet, you should not be surprised by this multitude of different views on the scriptures, as the word of God is full of warnings about false teachers that will attempt to deceive you:

Take care that no man deceives you. For many will come in My name, saying I am Christ, and will deceive many. (Matt 24:4-5) Many false preachers will come in the Name of Christ- claiming that Jesus is the Christ, and many people will be deceived by them!

Don’t take these words lightly. Jesus is warning you very clearly.

Yet, how is it possible that those who preach Christ will actually deceive people? Simple- they use the name of God to establish their credentials in order to be seen to be good, and then ask you for money. Yet, in fact they are using His name for their own purpose which is for profit, and not to promote God’s way of mercy and love.

The scriptures have many warnings about such lying deceivers:

But there were false prophets (teachers) among the people (in ancient Israel), as there will be false teachers among you, (within Christian groups) who will secretly (surreptitiously) put forward wrong teachings for your destruction, (how many different churches are there?) even turning (you) away from the Lord who gave himself for you; whose destruction (the false teachers’ destruction) will come quickly, and they themselves will be the cause of it (their own destruction). And a great number (of Christians) will go with (support) them in their evil ways, through whom the true way (of following Christ) will be evil spoken of. And in their desire for profit they will come to you with words of deceit, like traders doing business in souls (they will corrupt your souls for their profit!) whose punishment has been ready for a long time and their destruction is watching for them. (2Peter 2:1-3 BBE version)

These liars will try to make a profit from you, but God will eventually punish and destroy them. In the meantime, we need to be careful of their actions. Just for emphasis, following are a few translations of the first part of verse 3:

• They will be greedy and cheat you with smooth talk. (CEV)

• And by covetousness, with well-turned words, they will use you for gain, (LITV)

• And in their greed they will exploit you with false words. (ESV)

• Thirsting for riches, they will trade on you with their canting talk. (WNT)

• In their greed these false teachers will make a profit out of telling you made-up stories. (GNB)

• In their greed they will use good-sounding arguments to exploit you. (GW)

• And through covetousness shall they with feigned words make merchandise of you. (KJV)

• In their greed they will exploit you with deceptive words. (ISV) 

We need wisdom to discern who are the teachers of truth, and who are feathering their own nests- or we may pay for our ignorance with our money. And not only that, but those people who follow false teachers, may be so deceived that they could think they are doing God’s will by killing righteous people! (John 16:2-3)

For a detailed exploration of how false teachers will try to get money out of true believers see the series of Posts “Money and The Church”

Prior to Christ’s return we are told that a great false teacher, called the False Prophet, will lead many to worship God in vain, such that they will even murder true followers of God, and yet they will think that in doing so that they are doing a service to God! (John 16:2, Rev 6:9-11)

We therefore need to choose very carefully whom we listen to, and what teachers we follow. Don’t believe men, believe what is in the Bible, and trust in the Lord to help you to understand his word. (Prov 3:5)

The Necessity Of Wisdom

However, we don’t need to fear these false teachers, for God has promised to provide us with discerning wisdom if we ask for it:

But if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and with no reproach, and it shall be given to him. (James 1:5)

Wisdom is available to help us discern between true and false teachers. (1John 4:1) But it’s not as simple as just saying “God give me wisdom”.

Throughout the scriptures you will often notice that there is a process of change and growth. A sequence of events that we need to go through in order to change what we are doing.

First, he wants us to see what the problem is, then to approach him for help to understand it, then to search his word diligently to find knowledge, then in humility apply the truth.

This detailed process of change is what we must go through many times in our lives. It’s what the Bible tells you to expect when you ask God for wisdom.

God will also test you to see if you really appreciate what you have learnt. As we have seen above, he will test our determination through allowing false teachers to point us in the wrong direction. (2Peter 2:1-3)

We then need to compare what they are saying with God’s word, and at times be ready to challenge them about their false doctrines. (Prov 28:4)

In addition, God doesn’t just give you wisdom on a plate, with no effort required on your part. God expects you to search for it- in order for him to determine if you genuinely want to live his way of life:

If you will receive my words and treasure my commandments within you, so that you incline your ear to wisdom, and apply your heart to understanding; yes, if you cry out for discernment and lift up your voice for understanding; if you seek her as silver, and search for her as for hidden treasures, then you shall understand the fear of the Lord and find the knowledge of God. (Prov 2:1-5)

Such a dynamic and determined process of receiving, treasuring, asking, inclining, applying, seeking and crying out implies a huge amount of effort on our part.

In addition, if we diligently search for truth and the knowledge of God, he has said that he will also help us to understand his truth, by giving us his Spirit:

How long, O simple ones, will you love being simple? How long will scoffers delight in their scoffing and fools hate knowledge? If you turn at my reproof, behold, I will pour out my spirit to you; I will make my words known to you. (Prov 1:22-23)

Wisdom is therefore given to those who love God, and additionally, God’s Spirit is provided to enable a greater depth of understanding. The Spirit of God guides, counsels and comforts us today, by giving us promptings that come directly from God. (John 14:6, 15:26, 16:13)

Without God’s Spirit we can only understand the mere surface of God’s word. However, even with God’s Spirit, we must still put in a considerable amount of energy before God promises to give us wisdom:

the Lord gives wisdom; out of His mouth come knowledge and understanding. He stores up sound wisdom for the righteous…Then shall you understand righteousness and judgment and equity and every good path. When wisdom enters into your heart, and knowledge is a delight unto your soul; discretion shall preserve you, reason shall guard you, to deliver you from the way of the evil man, from the man who speaks wicked things; (Prov 2:6-12)

When we have wisdom in our heart, then we can protect ourselves from evil men, such as those who preach Christ for their gain and our loss.

This complex and long process is to ensure that only those who are highly motivated and enthusiastically love God, will actually find wisdom:

Delight yourself also in the Lord; and he shall give you the desires of your heart. (Psalm 37:4) In contrast A fool has no delight in understanding, but that his heart may discover itself. (Prov 18:2) The fool is set on self-expression; the righteous are set on loving and delighting in God’s way of life.

When we delight in God’s way, and live righteously, then God will delight in us: such as are upright in their way are his delight. (Prov 11:20)

God delights in us, if we choose to follow his truth: Lying lips are abomination to the Lord, but they that deal truly are his delight. (Prov 12:22)

In order to love truth, we must hate lying, as does God: The fear of the Lord is to hate evil: pride, and arrogance, the evil way, and the froward (deceptive) mouth, do I hate. (Prov 8:13)

God tells us that I love them that love me; and those that seek me early shall find me. (Prov 8:17)

God loves those who have chosen to be righteous, and he delights in them.

We have the capacity to choose to love God or not. We can find God, if we love him with our whole heart. He will then give us his Spirit to reveal more of his truth to us.

He has, however, also promised to keep testing us to see if we are merely desiring to understand his ways in order to be proud and arrogant about our knowledge. He will often do this through allowing proud and arrogant teachers to attempt to lead us in the wrong way; allowing them to pervert his word, in order to test our commitment to his way of love, mercy, patience and kindness.

Christ is humble and meek, as are his followers. (Zec 9:9, Matt 11:29) We should model ourselves on Christ, not on proud leaders:

But he that is greatest among you shall be your servant. And whosoever shall exalt himself shall be abased; and he that shall humble himself shall be exalted. (Matt 23:11-12)

Many people leave churches because they can’t stand the arrogant, boastful, judgemental attitude of the teachers and members. They wisely say “if that’s Christianity I don’t want it!” They may continue to search for truth, or they may be offended and give up.

Yet, coming across false teachers, who nonetheless preach Christ, is what scripture tells us to expect. It doesn’t mean God is not with you, in fact it proves he is with you, as that is what he said would happen.

At this time of finding false teachers, we will need to remember to trust God and his word, that He will direct us through our trials:

Trust in the Lord with all your heart; and lean not unto your own understanding. (don’t get offended by such trials, and turn away from God) In all your ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct your paths. (Prov 3:5-6)

We will come across false teachers in our lives, yet we need to trust in God to teach us. God, however, doesn’t make truth easy to understand, for he expects us to Prove all things; and hold fast to that which is good. (1Thes 5:21)

Living God’s way of life is a process of growth and change and testing, and then more growth and change and testing throughout our entire lives. While wisdom is something God puts into our hearts, we must also choose to seek wisdom and truth from God. When he has given us this wise heart, then we can distinguish truth from error.

In the next post in this series we will examine scripture to see what is our responsibility, and that which God expects us to do, in order to draw near to him in wisdom and humility.