Born to Shine

Introduction

So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.

—Genesis 1:27

We humans are created with the capacity to do many things: communicate, learn, love, laugh, and much more. In his classic book on running, Christopher McDougall asserts that humans have the innate capacity to run distances far longer than most of us attempt or imagine. In Matthew 5:14, Jesus looked his disciples in the eyes and made a much more shocking declaration: “You are the light of the world.” He is looking into your eyes now and making that same statement.

We are created in the image of God. One aspect of God’s image is our Creator’s gracious willingness to bring light into darkness. When Jesus identified his first and all other disciples as the light of the world, he wasn’t giving a command as much as he was making a statement. Jesus affirms that in the core of our redeemed souls is the ability and passion to spread the light of Christ. This is our spiritual DNA. You were made for more than the enjoyment of your own forgiveness and the other blessings of God. You were made to shine. Borrowing a phrase from Watchman Nee, shining is part of the “normal Christian life.”

As we allow God’s Spirit to shine through our words and actions, we bring God glory, and we join God’s mission to transform the world with the love of Jesus. This intentional shining actualizes an important aspect of who we are as God’s children. It is easy to see real but lesser examples of actualization all around us.

My ninety-pound yellow Lab named Sully was a faithful friend. I loved him, and in his canine way, Sully loved me. I enjoyed letting Sully go outside first thing each morning. As I moved toward the door, his tail wagged and he bounced up and down in anticipation. Once released, my four-legged “son” tore off in a dead run, searching for any squirrel, armadillo, rabbit, or bird that had dared to invade his turf. I was always amazed at his speed, the sound of his pounding feet, and what appeared to be a smile on his face. In those moments, Sully was simply being a dog. He was not created to lie on a bed in an air-conditioned home. His DNA gave him the desire and ability to find and retrieve. He was born to run, and he had not forgotten this key element of his identity. When he ran around using his great gifts of sight and smell, my Sully was fully alive!

Thomas Merton (1915–1968) wrote about this same attribute of creation. “A tree gives glory to God by being a tree. For in being what God means it to be, it is obeying [God]. It ‘consents,’ so to speak, to [God’s] creative love.” Rather than consenting to God’s purposes for us, we humans often forget what we are created to be and do. Just as we forget to exercise our physical bodies, we forget to exercise our spiritual muscles. We easily and often wander away from our core identity as the light of the world. We have distractions, called “baskets” in Matthew 5:15, which limit our shining. But when we consciously accept, celebrate, and actualize this identity, we are truly alive!

Every time we pray the Lord’s Prayer, we are reminded of the darkness of the world and our role in God’s ongoing mission. “Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” This global transformation, the coming kingdom of God, is something that only God the King can accomplish. At the King’s invitation, and empowered by the Spirit, we join in God’s mission of light and love. When we remember our identity as God’s children with an innate shining ability and we participate in God’s mission, we hasten the day when our prayers for the coming kingdom will be answered.

Shining Now

Planet earth has perhaps never needed more light, love, and grace than it does today. Darkness often seems to be winning. In addition to the darkness caused by natural disasters like pandemics, fires, and deadly storms, profound suffering is produced by our selfish and sinful tendencies rooted in the failure of Adam and Eve. I can hardly bear to watch or read the news. But there is hope. Jesus is alive and well, and there are over two billion Christ followers on our beautiful but broken planet. God is using the Church to bring light to darkness.

Sadly, the response of the Church—you and me—to God’s invitation is less than complete or excellent. The Church has much to celebrate about our work in the world, but statistics reveal that we are making little progress in addressing the needs of lost and hurting people. Millions of souls are untouched by the light of the Church. Our shining is having less impact than it could. Many of us don’t have a plan to shine. We just hope. We are not intentional. Our responses are often reactionary and haphazard, and far below the excellence that gracious God deserves. We can do better, but that involves a change in our approach. And that change needs to happen as soon as possible. The unmet needs of those in darkness are urgent.

Since you chose to read a book like this, I’m almost certain you are already bringing light and love to those around you. On some level, you are addressing needs in your family, your community, and the world. Please read my words as an invitation from one less-than-perfect Christ follower to another, as “one beggar showing another where to find bread.” This is not a should book or a call to do more. You realize that you are the light of the world, but perhaps you feel overwhelmed by the countless needs that scream for your attention. Perhaps you don’t feel that you are shining effectively or consistently. Perhaps there are life issues that are blocking the impact of your light. Whatever is going on in your life, God has given you a desire and ability to shine. This book invites you to consider and celebrate how you are shining today, but I also invite you to lift your lantern higher.

Born to Shine is about God’s love, our response to that infinite love, and the hope that flows from love. I want to shine because I am fired up with gratitude for Jesus. The older I get, the more I grasp God’s unconditional love for all of creation, including me. The love of God shines in a way that grabs my soul and causes me to worship, laugh, and work to lift the lamp of God’s love and light even higher. I pray that you will join me in a journey to more fully accept God’s love and invitation to love. If you grasp the gracious hand of God, the Spirit will fan the flame of your life so high that you will begin to believe that Jesus knows what he is talking about. You are indeed the light of the world.

This journey as to shine more brightly will be driven by joy as well as gratitude and urgency. Eric Liddell (1902–1945) was a Scottish missionary to China and an Olympic runner. In the 1981 Oscar-winning film Chariots of Fire, Ian Chesterton, playing Liddell, speaks of his desire and ability to run fast: “When I run, I feel God’s pleasure.” I pray that God uses the words of this book to provide joy, confidence, and practical guidance as you run with Jesus in his urgent mission. May the Spirit help you reclaim your identity as the light of the world, and may your shining bring a smile to the face of Jesus and healing light to the world.

You are created in the image of God. By faith you have become one of God’s children. You are the light of the world. More than you have imagined, your life can communicate grace and bring solutions that change the world for God’s glory.