“Once you were ‘darkness’, but now as Christians you are ‘light’. Live then as children of the light…For light is capable of showing everything for what it really is. It is even possible for light to turn the thing it shines upon into light also.” -Ephesians 5
The Bible describes light in many contexts—as a metaphor for judgment, truth, and hope, among others. Most interesting to me is God’s calling for us not only to embrace light but to actually become light. What is the role of a light, and what does it mean to be one? Lights are illuminants, used to reveal and clarify the world around us. The paradox of an effective light is that, while it's bright and powerful, it doesn't exist to be seen. Staring directly into the sun, the world’s strongest light source, causes blindness. People rarely look at a light bulb or the flame of a candle and say, “Wow, what a beautiful light!” Instead, we view and appreciate what the light shines upon. The more I read the Bible, the more I notice the duality of many Christian ideals, and light is no exception. A good light shines brightly, not for the purpose of being noticed itself, but so that its surroundings will be noticed.
There are three main ways I thought of to apply this to daily life:
1) With people. When you care about someone, nothing brings you more joy than to give that person the most happiness you possibly can. I think we’re all generally familiar with this feeling, because God is love, and we are creatures of God and therefore creatures of love. While we work to shine beams of happiness into people’s lives, we can also illuminate these people to the world. A good teacher enlightens his pupil, but he shines a spotlight onto his student as well. He proudly displays a gifted student, not to promote himself as a successful instructor, but to promote a young talent worthy of attention. A good symphony conductor must know the music he is presenting better than anyone else on the stage and shower his fellow musicians with insight during rehearsals, but his ultimate job is to shine a spotlight on his orchestra and let them glow.
2) With music. A musician is a means by which a composer’s expressive ideas can be communicated. The ultimate purpose of music-making is to shine a light on the music, not yourself. Of course, performing personally and intimately is necessary, but I’ve found that a performance with selfless aims touches a far greater audience than a performance with selfish aims.
3) With God. As humans, we are constantly susceptible to sin—and by sin, I mean anything that separates us from God. As in all relationships, though it is natural for us to love, it is also natural for us to constantly revert back to ourselves and what is best for us. God wants us to love ourselves, but I believe He wants us to do this through our love of Him. As “children of the light,” every action that we live out during our time on earth should reflect God...not in order to attain salvation, but out of love and gratitude for Him.
(There is a common misconception that Christians obey God to avoid eternal damnation. It is true that we recognize the terrifying reality of hell. But that’s not why we have our beliefs. As Lord Tennyson writes, “The heart stood up and answered, ‘I have felt.’” When we feel divine love, this is our inspiration for faith.)
