The Truth Upholds Us

The apostle Paul tells his young son in the faith, Timothy, that the truth, given to us through Scripture, is a pillar and buttress (cf. 1 Timothy 3:15). I really love those words. That is, the truth of Scripture upholds and sustains the church in every age and in every culture, regardless of what may be taking place outside her doors.

Now we have to ask the question, How does the church respond in this type of world? First, she must separate herself and boldly refuse to be conformed to this present age. That is, she must continually be transformed into imitators of Christ—that’s who we are as believers, the lights of the world.

Second, the church must proclaim the counter-cultural truth of God’s Word—and that’s exactly what it is. It’s counter-cultural, in love. Of course, we must never beat people over the head with a Bible, but lovingly herald every command, every commendation, and even every condemnation of Scripture.

Third, the church must develop discerning wisdom—bringing every outside word and every outside ideology and thought captive to the obedience of Christ according to his Word. My mind goes to Jesus’s Sermon on the Mount in
Matthew 5, as he lovingly gazes over the crowd and proclaims, “You are the light of the world.”

We are lights, not because we emanate some inherent light (we have no light in ourselves apart from the Holy Spirit), but because we reflect Christ to a hostile world. As Christ is the radiance of his Father’s glory, so the church reflects the truth, glory, and radiance of Jesus Christ.

The world—full of lies, hate, deception, murder, half-truths, death, and all the rest—is illuminated by this light. So if I could give you one piece of advice, it would be this: be what you are—blazing lights in a world of lies (cf. Matthew 5:14–16).

This is an article by Dustin Benge, author of The Loveliest Place: The Beauty and Glory of the Church.
This post originally appeared on Crossway.org; used with permission.