As light into the world

John 12 : 44 - 50

....whoever believes in me may not remain in darkness

Jesus as the Light, the truth and so on has unfortunately become an 'objective' truth 'out there' that we try to get people to believe in. That is not to say there is nothing 'objective' about his claims to come from God. It is just that his words and his person cannot be separated. This seems to be what happens these days. Many conflicts among fellow Christians are based on arguments "out there" rather than a searching of their own hearts to see if they have really seen the "Light " and walked in his path. It seems to me that Jesus' model of ministry - comforting the outcasts and challenging the religious establishment - demonstrates his light and truth more than his words could. There is a fullness in action and attitude that goes beyond the quoted word.

I always struggled when I had to vote on church issues, as in my former (Baptist) church tradition, as that was the form of congregational government. It was often an inner struggle to be aware of my personal views, my likes and dislikes of people and so on. How much of the "self" there was in the whole matter. It was difficult not to hold personal bias and opinions. Multiply this by the number of people who are voting and you can guess the "chaos"........it is always hard to discern well. And the first step (which is the most difficult yet crucial) is to be "free" of these personal biases, in order to hear the Lord well. So, it is not just informational light we need to believe in, it is the Light himself in our lives through his indwelling Spirit.