Shine. (Not “let it shine.”)

Certain commands of God have been watered down by the evolution of English.

However much I like the King James Version, the trouble is that the English of 1611 is not the same as the English of 2008. As a result, a lot of us have certain memory verses knocking around our brains that are phrased in a way that causes us to misinterpret them.

Fr’instance: the word “let.” It’s a synonym for “allow.” When we state, “Let me buy you a coffee,” or “Let the cat in,” we’re making a request, but it’s by no means a command.

Jump back 400 years, and it’s a command. When God said, “Let there be light,” (Ge 1.3) He was commanding the light into existence: “Be light!” and there was light.

Obviously there’s a big difference between something that’s optional, and something that’s not. Put the present-day definition of “let” with the KJV wording, and it sounds as if God were saying, “I would like there to be light.... If anyone’s listening, please switch the light on, wouldya? Thanks.”

Like a lot of Christians who grew up before the NIV and all the other modern English translations became really popular, I have a lot of verses memorized in the King James Version. And because I—and a lot of pastors and bible teachers—tend to recall and quote them in the KJV, we think we understand them and are quoting them properly, but we really aren’t. We’re treating all the commands that begin with “let” as if they’re optional. And none of them are.

But we humans are lazy and selfish, and if it looks like we can turn a command into an option, we will. So when there’s a “let” in there somewhere, we’ll figure, “That’s one we should follow, but sometimes it’s not practical... and anyway, we don’t have to follow commands anymore; we’re under grace, not the Law.” And we ignore Jesus, at our peril.

One of the commands we ignore regularly is of course the command to, as the KJV phrases it, “Let your light shine.” You probably remember the song, “This little light of mine / I’m gonna let it shine....” We’ve memorized it in an optional-sounding form, and frequently we were taught it that way too. “Remember children, you have a light. Some of you are hiding it under a basket. But you know what you should do? You should put it on the lampstand. ’Cause it’s silly to put it under a basket.” And so forth. Consequently most of us remember it in an optional-sounding form, when actually Jesus ordered His followers to do it. My translation follows.

All of you are the universe’s light. It’s not possible to hide a city that’s located on a hill. Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it shines on everything in the house. In this way, your light must shine before humans, so that they may see your good deeds and may honor your Father, who is in heaven.

—Mt 5.14-16 KWL

It’s actually a tricky verse to translate ’cause the command is actually directed towards the light—literally it’s, “Shine, light of you, before humans.” Regardless of nuance, Jesus expects us, His followers, to first of all have a light—that is, good deeds—and then to do them publicly, with the full disclosure that we’re doing them for God’s sake, so that people will honor God for it.

But as I said, we’re lazy and selfish. I have even heard it preached—as I’ve mentioned before—that because we’re under grace and not Law, we actually shouldn’t obey God’s commands; that to do so flings God’s grace back at Him, and says, “I’ll achieve my salvation on my own, thank You very much.” To obey God is interpreted as not trusting God. This is some of the most hell-inspired reasoning I’ve ever come across, yet I’ve found it to be pretty commonplace, particularly among dispensationalists. This is why you don’t find many Dispys running soup kitchens.

The reason I do a lot of work with the Salvation Army is because they, unlike many Christians, get this. True, some of them suffer from Pelagianism—they believe that Christian service is necessary in order to maintain their salvation—but most of them understand that the way you spread the Gospel most effectively is to serve humanity. We draw people to Christ by loving them. Any other method looks shallow, feels manipulative, and doesn’t last.

April ’08 Synchroblog.

April’s Synchroblog was on “Social Activism and Christian Mission.” Admittedly, my blog wasn’t primarily about this; it’s more like the theology behind Christian mission and social activism. If you think letting your light shine is optional, you’re gonna suck at being Jesus to the lost. I don’t think it’s too far a stretch.

If you’d like to read some blogs by people who cut more to the chase, pick from the menu below and click “Go read it!”

Sonja Andrews: “Justice is Holy” Reba Baskett Mike Bursell Julie Clawson: “Social Activism and Christian Mission” Kieran Conroy: “Just Mission and the Wounds of Christendom” Cindy Harvey Steve Hayes: “Christianity and Social Justice” Alan Knox: “Give a little bit?” K.W. Leslie: “Shine. (Not ‘let it shine.’)” Stephanie Moulton: “Faith and the Environment Collide” Sam Norton: “Tesco is a big red herring” Lainie Petersen: “Preaching or practice?” Brian Riley: “Social Activism and Christian Mission” John Smulo Matthew Stone: “Evangelism and Social Action” Phil Wyman: “Salem: No place for hating witches” Cobus van Wyngaard: “David Bosch, Public Theology, Social Justice” Carlos Zeisel: “Anybody Out There”