“Confronting our own fears
and dying to the need to be in
control are essential in learning
how to live in the light.”
Living in the Light Personally
On the personal level, living in the light begins with
integrity. Integrity is like a wheel with many spokes, all of
which are attached to a single hub. The spokes represent all
the roles and responsibilities of my life. The hub represents
my core identity as a dearly loved son or daughter of God
and fully devoted follower of Jesus. To the degree that every
aspect of my life is firmly rooted in that core identity, I am
free to be the same person at all times and in all situations,
eliminating the need to hide behind carefully constructed
personas designed to meet the perceived expectations of
others. While living this way may feel risky at first, we soon
discover it is far easier to live for an audience of One than
it is to continually try to anticipate what others want us to
be and then strive to meet those expectations.
Living in the light also involves confession of sin. God’s
Word speaks of confession in two realms. First, there is
the vertical realm. We confess our sins to God because
our sin is ultimately against Him. The fruit of vertical
confession is forgiveness (1 John 1:9). Second, we are also
called to confess our sins to “one another.” You might ask,
“If God has already forgiven me, why do I need to confess
to others?” James answers that question by revealing that
the fruit of mutual confession is healing (James 5:16). If
we think of healing in terms of wholeness, the picture
becomes clear. When we hide our sin (keep it in the dark)
while attempting to appear as though we are living in the
light, there is a sense in which our souls become fractured.
But when we bring our sin out of the darkness into the
light, integrity is restored, and we are set free from the
power of secret sin to live as whole (healed) persons.
Of course, this doesn’t mean that everyone should know
everything about my life, but it does mean that there is
nothing in my life that someone doesn’t know about.
This is one example of how we Protestants overreacted
pg. 8 — lightandlifemagazine.com
to the Roman Catholic practice of priestly confession.
While we were right to challenge the idea that we need an
intermediary to get to God, we failed to understand the
tremendous benefit of bringing our sin into the light on
both the vertical (divine) and horizontal (human) realm.
Living in the Light Relationally
Living in the light relationally begins with the very way
we speak to one another. Jesus’ admonition to “let your ‘yes’
be ‘yes,’ and your ‘no,’ ‘no,’” is a call to speak in ways that are
simple, clear and unambiguous (Matthew 5:37). Likewise,
when asked how one should respond to a brother or sister
who sins against them, Jesus instructed His disciples to go
directly to the individual involved, only bringing others
into the situation if the direct approach failed to bring about
resolution (Matthew 18:15–16). If Jesus would insist that
we deal with matters of sin directly, surely he would have
us do the same anytime we have questions, concerns, or
disagreements with others. The direct approach keeps the
matter in the light and keeps God in the picture. Operating
in the dark by engaging in gossip, slander, triangulation,
anonymous communications, or the creation of secret
alliances takes God out of the picture and opens the door
to our enemy. The result is always the loss of God’s best and
sometimes tragically destructive.
If God’s Word is clear when it comes to how we should
operate relationally, why do we find it so difficult to speak
and engage openly and directly with one another? Fear and
control are two likely obstacles. The fear of confrontation
in itself is a challenge for many of us. The fear of rejection,
betrayal or even abuse are also very real possibilities. While
the world seems increasingly obsessed with safety, God
seems to be more concerned with growth and maturity,
both of which almost always require a measure of risk and
discomfort. This is the thought behind Paul’s plea with the
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