Stepping out of the shadows

This week's verses are John 3:19-21:

 Now this is the basis for judging: that the light has come into the world and people loved the darkness rather than the light, because their deeds were evil. For everyone who does evil deeds hates the light and does not come to the light, so that their deeds will not be exposed. But the one who practices the truth comes to the light, so that it may be plainly evident that his deeds have been done in God.

 These verses explain why it is necessary for God to judge the world: People hide their flaws. Sometimes they also hide their goodness. So how can we judge each other when we can't see each other? We can't even see ourselves sometimes because we are in such darkness. How are we supposed to know what's what and who's who?

 But turn it around. Based on what Jesus is saying, couldn't we say that if we love the truth that we would try to live in the light, rather than in darkness? Couldn't we also say that a tendency to live in darkness might be a sign that we might love evil? 

When we hide some little aspect of our lifestyle, that awkward sin, those deeds in the past, when we lie and say everything is fine, or just withdraw from people and keep our thoughts to ourselves, we are withdrawing into the shadows. We proclaim that we love Jesus, but then we mumble to ourselves, almost inaudibly, "but I also want what I want and I want to be left alone about it."

Yet wouldn't real transparency drive us to conform more to God's will, even if for no other reason than to avoid the shame of being off the mark? If we can't hide our evil, it's harder to live that dual life of hypocrisy. We will be found out.

So, if we're interested in being good, we should also be interested in being open and authentic. Otherwise, what we're interested in is not goodness, but the illusion of it. We want to feel like good people, but we don't necessarily want to *be* good people. It turns out that being good is extremely difficult!

Jesus tells us what we need to do. He says "the one who practices the truth comes to the light, so that it may be plainly evident that his deeds have been done in God." 

Do we really seek the light? Are we forthcoming with how we spend our time or about our struggles with sin? Are we willing to lay it bare to glorify God in our weakness?

Examine your relationships and your church life, and ask yourself if it seems more like you prefer the darkness or the light. Ask God to reveal your heart. And then plan your escape from the shadows, so that you can be ready for the big reveal when we are all standing before God at the final judgment.