Reactions

Today I felt a strong desperation to be a light in a dark world!

Before you think about that, I want to say that I know that statement sounds so cheese on toast! It's a saying banded about Christianity all too easily. Easy for people to profess to be lights in a dark world?

I have to admit I don't always understand what that entails?

But praying in the City today somehow turned my whole being towards the thought of being a light in a dark world.

And I wanted more than ever to be one!

I guess I noticed more than ever today the world as it is.

And once again I guess it shocked me.

It started on the way to work today with a car so close to my back bumper that I could actually see the hairs hanging out of the drivers nose. He was waving frantically for me to move out of the way, I was obviously going way to slow for his liking.

Later on in the car park lift, a group of young kids had pressed every button on the panel meaning that when I was alone in the lift it stopped at every floor level on the way to the floor I was located on.

Watching the news no one could fail to get cranked up by the horrendous practice of phone hacking by journalists vying for the best exclusives.

As I was walking along the pavement I had my earphones in listening to music on my Blackberry. I stopped to change the album. As I went to start walking again I almost bumped into a lady who was rapidly walking towards me. She was not moving out of the way and I just managed to swerve her unstoppable advance. Her face was like a bulldog chewing a wasp as she issued a volley of expletives obviously unhappy that I was not concentrating. I so wanted to say something back but I managed to control myself, and I just said "I'm really sorry." this seemed only to fire her up more and she issued a parting shot, something about earphones should be banned.

A little taste of the world as it is?

And all that before 9am!

What stopped me from reacting to any of this?

It was a moment that week in my downtime with God.

I'd heard a talk on you tube by Matt Chandler calling us Christians to be image bearers. In the talk he challenged people to see others as people with a soul. For instance he says when he goes to Starbucks, his barrista is not there just to serve him his coffee, she has a soul. He says that when people are angry towards you, we have to remember they have a soul. They may be angry because of brokeness. We are image bearers, we bear the image of Christ which means we have to be different. He went as far as to say if a waitress is nasty or off hand with you, give her a bigger tip! Why? Because she has a soul.

We have to react differently to the world as it is.

And for me I guess this is the secret to becoming a light in a dark world.

Its how we react to things, how we respond to the world as it is.

If we are image bearers then that means round the clock vigilance. It means training ourselves to react in the right way to all kinds of situations.

It means learning to see everyone we ever cross paths with as having a soul.

Even those who we consider enemies, even those who drive us crazy, even those who hurt us.

They have a soul.

And we are image bearers as Matt Chandler says.

I'm desperate to be just that.

An image bearer.

A light in a dark world.

I pray today that I will be one. I'm desperate for that.

I pray for all of us today who are part of the church. I pray we will get it! We will get that we have a massive responsibility in our reactions to the world as it is now.

It is desperate for us to be lights in it's overbearing darkness.