We are getting into the time of year where the signature look of the hunter moves from camouflage to orange. When it comes to hunting, there is a tradeoff between not being seen by the animals and being visible to other hunters who might otherwise shoot in your direction.
When it comes to Christianity, there might be a similar debate when it comes to how much we should look like the world around us.
In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus makes it clear what he expects of us. “You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.” (Matthew 5:14-16 NIV)
So, perhaps the question should be what does that light look like? In his letter to the Colossian church, Paul gives the following instruction: “Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.” (Colossians 3:12-14 NIV)
Pastor Andy Stanley in a sermon on followseries.org, says that Christians, like all religions, gravitate toward rule keeping at the expense of relationship building. We, as Christians, need to strive to make our religion less about the “rules” and more about clothing ourselves as Paul describes and making that our distinguishing mark. Part of following Jesus is a call to obedience and we cannot part from that. However, part of obedience is clothing ourselves in the manner described in Colossians.
Just as the hunters are identified by their orange clothing, if Christians can make their distinguishing marks things like love, compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience rather than things we are against, politics or lists of rules, we can go a long way to advancing the kingdom of God here on earth.
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