Listen to this blog on The PRODCAST.

The Bible makes the assumption that a true Christian wants to be a faithful witnesses. This is because a Christian learns to love what Jesus has done for them and wants with all their heart to do those same things for others. Knowing that Jesus left heaven as God’s true missionary, and came to a land that was not His home, to see a lost and broken people saved, propels us into missionary action. That is our purpose.

And while the Bible assumes the fact that we are naturally new born missionaries it does not assume that we know how to live like that. That is why texts like Philippians 2:14-15 are so important, because they will teach us how to become and how to grow into missionaries that will be sent out into the world, long grown dark with sin.

CALLED TO LIVE IN A DARKENED WORLD

When Paul wrote the letter to the Philippians, they were living in some of the darkest moments in the history of the Church. Jesus had told His newly blood bought people to build and establish little churches all over the world, that would make disciples of the entire world, until He returned. So the saints in Philippi were busily doing that, planting a local congregation right in the middle of a crooked and perverted generation that was attacking them on every front. Obedience to Jesus was actually costing them.

The attacks were coming from the religious Jews on one side, who had crucified their messiah a generation before, and were now attacking Jesus’ followers in Asia minor. They were brutal, vindictive, and wanted nothing more than to destroy the Jesus movement brick by brick and were willing to use any means necessary to upend it.

The secular attacks were coming from the other side, the Romans, who were already beginning to ramp up persecutions that would end in the bloody deaths of thousands of believers in the days ahead. These attacks was especially relevant to the Philippian Christians since Philippi was a Roman outpost very near and dear to the heart of Caesar. He not only expected full and total allegiance from his citizens he expected them to worship him. And since Christians swear fidelity to Christ alone, they were a perpetual threat to the godless Roman state as well as the apostate Jewish religion.

In every conceivable way the Church was caught completely in the cross hairs. The Jews believed them to be blasphemers worthy of death. Rome believed them enemies of the state needing execution for their sedition. And in the midst of all this the church was trying to be faithful; asking herself the same questions we have been asking ourselves today… How can we live faithfully as missionaries for Christ in the midst of so much darkness?

Paul is going to give them (and us) the answer to that very question in Philippians 2:14-15.

He says:

Do all things without grumbling or disputing; so that you will prove yourselves to be blameless and innocent, children of God above reproach in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you appear as lights in the world.

- Philippians 2:14-15

CALLED TO SHINE IN A DARKENED WORLD

Paul’s answer to the question is striking and I think we need to unpack it bit by bit.

First, I think it is right to notice what he does not say. He does not tell them to pick up swords and start a never ending jihad as a way of winning back culture. Covert or burn is not and never will be a legacy of Christ or His people.

He also doesn’t tell them to adopt a modern evangelical approach, bowing down to the god of niceness, fake smiles, or Ned Flanders sweater vests, all while the world around us burns. For far too long we have either been unhelpfully tender or just ran away from culture like a throng of cowards. For far too long the church has been in a posture of retreat. She has let the world emasculate her men, masculinize her women, and adulterate her children, all while we sat back like jellyfish and let it happen. This is not what it means to be faithful!

He also does not advise them to engage in fleshly tactics such as politics, special interest rallies, social activism, or to incite a good old fashioned mob to riot (as was common in the ancient world). His advice looks entirely different from anything that the world at that time had ever seen before. The same is true today. He simply told them to live like Christians.

And how might a Christian live in a darkened world? As lights!

Paul reminds them that we have been planted right in the midst of Satan’s territory, with the explicit purpose of shining for Jesus. Just as a lighthouse stands firm in the middle of a hurricane, our goal is to beat back the darkness with increasingly intensifying light without retreating! We are to shine with courage the kind of ever brightening Spirit-wrought character and purity that will baffle a crooked and perverse generation bent on darkness. We are to behave in such a way that the world takes notice. In fact, if the world is not noticing us, we may need to ask if we are radiating Christ!

We are not called to run and hide as many have been accustomed to doing. We are not called to blend in with the world like chameleons avoiding a predator. We are called to out ourselves. To showcase the light of Jesus Christ, so publicly, so boldly, and so resolutely, that everyone on earth will know exactly who we are.

Our goal is that no one would be confused about it. The world should not have to guess or question where our allegiances lie. Our Christianity should be as conspicuous to the world as a candle in a darkened room, or maybe better a struck match in a nitroglycerin plant.

We are not called to hide. We are called to shine!

CALLED TO LOVE IN A DARKENED WORLD

But even with that, Paul makes it quite clear what kind of shining we are called to do. Look at the passage again. Paul says:

Do all things without grumbling or disputing, so that you will prove yourselves to be blameless and innocent, children of God above reproach in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you appear as lights in the world.

- Philippians 2:14-15

The logic of the passage could not be more clear. We are told to shine as lights in the world without complaining and without disputing. Because, when we complain, we prove to be filled with the same stink that has infected the world. When we cause controversies and disputations we are as rotten as the lot of men and women separated from Christ. Our goal is to shine the light of Jesus Christ with purity and courage without ever unleashing the heat of toxic complaining or foolish contentiousness.

This means no matter what the world might throw at us, we must not complain. We must not allow ourselves to throw sanctified pity parties or glorified gripe sessions. We must not grumble, about anything, as the Israelites did in the wilderness. We must with joy-filled hearts endure the very worst this world can throw at us knowing God allowed these things for our good (Ro. 8:18, 28)! We must weather the fiercest attacks from Satan, the wiles of our own flesh, and whatever punishment this God-hating world may throw at us with joy knowing that God will complete His good work in us through trial (Phil. 1:6, 29; James 1:2-4). And we must do this with a song in our heart and the praises of God on our lips, shining joyfully for Him, because He has counted us worthy to suffer for Him (Acts 5:41)!

If we complain every time something bad happens to us, we cloak our testimony. If we whine whenever the going gets tough, we snuff out our lamp stand and witness. If we spend our days griping and grumbling (asking God: “why did this happen to me?”, “why is it always me?”, “why did you allow this?” “Why is the world so bad?”, etc.) then we will miss the very purpose for which God created us. He did not create us for comfort, security, and pleasure… He did not make us to whimper and whine whenever things do not go our way. He made us to shine with the light of the glory of God! He made us to glow against the darkest tyrannies so that those who are still far off may find their way to the light of the world through our shining.

In the same way grumbling will extinguish our witness, we must also not give ourselves over to foolish controversy. Paul says:

Do all things without grumbling or disputing,

Paul is teaching us that a humble approach is always the best. We are not loud mouthed blow hards who line the streets with megaphones angrily condemning everyone we see. We do not seek to get into arguments or confrontations just so that we can give the world a piece of our mind. We are not timid and we are not brazen. We are not cowards and we are not agitators. We are not weak and our strength does not come from us!

We are Christians!

We imitate Christ! We live like the one who pursued sinners, who did not retreat under the threat of death, and also stood humbly before His captors without grumbling. Bottom line; we show up. We are not regressive or aggressive. We show up and shine! We humbly, confidently, meekly, and boldly show up and stand firm for Christ. We are called to pull the lint off our lamp stands and let the world see Jesus shine through us!

WE ARE CALLED TO SHINE!