I've been thinking a lot about letting my light shine recently. Many sermons I've heard over the years have said things to the effect of how we ought to witness to everybody at every opportunity we have because people are dying and going to Hell. I've always gone away from those sermons feeling very guilty about my lack of witness.
It is true that people are dying and going to Hell. I'm well aware of that, but I've never been very vocal about my witness, and when I have it goes something along the lines of me walking up to a person and saying, "If you died tonight, do you know where you'd spend eternity?" At which time the person becomes very offended and basically tells me to mind my own business. I've taken multiple classes on witnessing and personal evangelism. I've tried approaching people in various ways, and I've shrank back from talking to other people rather pointedly about their need for a Savior. Again, I go away from those encounters feeling very guilty that I'm not as bold as I think I should be.
In working in the public schools I also realize I can't just go in asking everyone staff, and certainly not students if they know where they will spend eternity. Yes, there was an occasion where a student asked me if I knew what church was. I definitely am able to respond to a direct question like that, however that is not the norm. But I've also noticed that my coworkers especially know that I'm a Christian without me ever saying a word to them. Perhaps it's the way I dress. Perhaps it's the way I speak. Whatever the case may be, they just seem to know without me shouting to everyone I see that I, am in fact, a Christian.
All of this got me to thinking about my light. Jesus said, "Ye are the light of the world". This isn't conditional. He didn't say, "Ye are the light of the world, if you tell everyone you are saved." He didn't say, "Ye are the light of the world, if you invite people to church every time you see them." He didn't even say, "Ye are the light of the world, if you wear skirts and not pants." He simply said, "Ye are the light of the world." That means, as a Christian, I am the light of the world.
Then I got to thinking about different kinds of lights. There are 15 watt nightlight bulbs. There are 25 watt bedside table lightbulb. There are 60 watt and even 100 watt lightbulbs. And then, we can talk about natural lights. There are the stars; there is the moon; and there is the sun. Each of these lightbulbs/lights have different purposes. I don't want a 100 watt lightbulb in the middle of the night when I wake up to use the toilet, but by the same token a 25 watt bedside table lamp is nearly useless during the day when the sun is shining. I think the same thing holds true for Christians. There are bold outspoken Christians who, like the 100 watt lightbulb, shine brightly proclaiming to nearly every person they meet that they are saved and inviting those people to get saved as well. There are 25 watt lightbulb Christians who may not be noticed much in the middle of the day, but who have just the right impact on those they meet when the sun has gone down and all that is necessary is a lamp to read by. Then there are the 15 watt Christians who, maybe somewhat like me, enter the dark world of the public school system where a 100 watt Christian would not be welcome or wanted, but who shine just enough light that people take notice.
If you are the 100 watt Christian, go for it, tell everyone. We need you to light your world. If you are the moonlight Christian, you are needed when the sun has gone down to spread the light, that's ok. No one would expect you to shine like the sun. You weren't created for that. And if you are the 15 watt light then you shine as bright as you can where you are for the purpose you were created for. You don't need to feel guilty because you aren't the sun or even a 25 watt lightbulb. And maybe, just maybe, God created me not as a 100 watt Christian, but He knew He was sending me to the public schools and that I needed to be a 15 watt Christian to do that job. How about you? What watt are you?
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