In Matthew’s gospel Jesus talks about us being salt and light, about not hiding our light from others. We are to let our light shine before others so that they may see our good deeds and glorify our Father in heaven. (Matthew 5).What does this mean?
For years I hid behind this passage in an attempt to reconcile two conflicting facts. Firstly, we are commanded to go into all the world and preach the gospel (Mark 16). Secondly, no one seemed greatly interested in hearing the gospel in this country, and they weren’t interested in Church or Christianity either.
Matthew 5 seemed to offer a ‘way out’. if we simply let our light shine, do good deeds (feed the homeless, visit the sick, help the poor – all good things to do by the way), then people will ask why we do what we do. We can say it’s because we know Jesus. That seemed a safe way to “preach the gospel”. For me, it was a comfortable and pretty much risk free approach. There was little risk of embarrassment or failure. I didn’t have to say much about Jesus. It was up to them to ask directly.
There were two problems with this. Firstly it never resulted in lots of people finding and following Jesus. Secondly, people were not “glorifying Father God” (although some would say what a good job the churches were doing).
So, what’s the answer?
The answer is found in Matthew 5 v 16 Jesus talks about us doing good deeds, but what does He mean by good deeds? Politeness? Being law-abiding citizens? Family values? Social action? (all good stuff by the way). Remember, Jesus is our model. He shows us the way. In Acts 10 v 38, speaking about Jesus it says “He went about doing good”. What good did He do? The verse tells us. “Healing all who were oppressed by the devil, because God was with Him”
George Barna said something that made a great impact on me – a bit like switching on a light:
“Anyone who thinks he can reveal the love of God without the supernatural has a poor estimation of the Father”
Here was the missing bit from my Christian life and witness. It was not enough just to love people and to do good things for them. I needed to be able to let the supernatural power of God flow through me. It was time to take a risk. Time to step out on a limb. Time to start praying for the sick and see what God would do. But start where? Start where Jesus worked, among those who were not His followers, those who do not yet know Him. I discovered that when we do that, God moves. In fact it is far easier to see a non-believer healed than a believer.
The first person I prayed for outside church was a 23 year old Muslim with toothache. He was instantly healed. He was shocked. I was shocked! But I learnt something. The full gospel works, and it works where it was designed to work – outside the four walls of church. Church is good, church has a place, but the Kingdom grows outside the church walls, and when it does, those who don’t know God begin to glorify Him…..and so it spreads. I got over myself, and a Muslim guy discovered that Jesus heals today.
So, here’s a challenge for us. Let’s ask God to give us an opportunity to pray for someone for healing this week. This is one of the ways that He likes to introduce himself to those who don’t yet know Him.
Church is out there 