A Compelling Life

How Does the Church Shine Light into Darkness?

As Christians we should seek to live lives that are compelling to the world around us, which is part of the point that the Apostle Paul is making in Philippians 2:14-16:

“Do all things without grumbling or disputing, that you may be blameless and innocent, children of God

without blemish in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world, holding fast to the word of life, so that in the day of Christ I may be proud that I did not run in vain or labor in vain.” (Philippians 2:14–16, ESV)

One of the first things that you will notice about this passage is that grumbling and disputing are not an effective strategies for living as Christians in a culture that has rejected the truth. The discontentment  that leads to grumbling and complaining will not only be detrimental to your own walk with the Lord, it will also hinder your effectives in sharing the truth about Christ. Living a compelling life goes hand-in-hand with living a contented life. No one will ask you about the hope within you if you are always expressing discontentment (cf., 1 Pt 3:15), and no one will want to know more about your church is you are always grumbling about your church. Additionally, a life of contentment will be compelling to a world that is immersed in discontented materialism and the depression that comes through the pursuit of self-satisfaction and fulfillment. When the world sees that we are happy with what God has provided and joyful about what God is doing rather than grumbling and disputing, it stands out.   

A compelling Christian life will always stand out, in fact, it will be a stark contrast with the normal experiences of this world. This is why Paul says that God’s children will need to be blameless, innocent and without blemish in order to shine as lights in the world. These three terms are really just describing a life that is holy before God. For believers there is no other option than to separate from the perversity of this world, which Paul describes as crooked and twisted. The system of this world has been warped and distorted by sin and Satan to such a degree that it is described as apostate and godless. This means that a physical retreat from the world is not an option for faithful believers, but personal separation from sin is required for faithfulness. This separation unto holiness will not detract from our gospel witness.

Paul is saying that we need to shine as lights into a sin-darkened world, which requires holiness. This means that we make our lives compelling not by trying to meet the culture halfway, repackaging our message in worldly terms, or participating in worldly endeavors. We make our lives compelling by living in accordance with the truth of the Gospel (1:27). In other words, we don’t become compelling through compromise, we become compelling lights through holiness (cf. 1 Peter 2:12). We must endeavor to shine as lights in the darkness through our Gospel preaching and through our holy lives. We don’t reach the world by cozying up to the world; our lives are compelling to the world only when we separate from the sinfulness of this world. There is just no way around this. In fact, this is exactly what Jesus commanded:

“You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.” (Matthew 5:14–16, ESV)

The world is a kingdom of darkness and we have been called to shine as lights in the midst of this kingdom as those who have been delivered out of this kingdom (Col 1:12) not like those who are totally comfortable with the dark. All this to say, you can’t shine light into the darkness by turning out the lights!

Notice that Paul indicates that the most effective strategy for shining the light into the darkness is “holding fast to the word of life” (v. 16).  It is worth noting that there is some question amongst Bible interpreters about whether Paul is talking about holding forth the word (i.e., preaching) or holding fast to the word (i.e., faithfulness).  It is absolutely clear from the rest of Scripture that we must “hold forth” the truth by proclaiming the Gospel, but I am not sure that is exactly what Paul is talking about here. It is more likely that Paul is talking about holding fast to word of God in the sense that we cannot compromise, violate, or ignore the very truth that has brought us life. In other words, you cannot shine as lights if you are neglecting the source of life. The idea here is very similar if not synonymous to “standing firm” in 1:27 :

“Only let your manner of life be worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or am absent, I may hear of you that you are standing firm in one spirit, with one mind striving side by side for the faith of the gospel, and not frightened in anything by your opponents. This is a clear sign to them of their destruction, but of your salvation, and that from God.” (Philippians 1:27–28, ESV)

This is a pretty powerful point about how the church can serve as a compelling witness for Christ. The best strategy for engaging the culture is simply to refuse to compromise the truth in our message and in our lives. We must hold fast to the truth and pursue holiness as God’s children if we want to live compelling lives. For all the other strategies for cultural engagement that we might consider, this is always where the church must start.

We cannot change that we are in the midst of a morally wicked and intellectually perverse generation, but we must recognize that the influence of the world will not help us to reach the world. When I was in high school I participated in a Bill Hybels community survey that was supposed to help the church determine how to reach the community. Here’s the problem, unregenerate people are actively trying to suppress the truth. So, if your goal is worldly acceptance then a community survey is a great idea. However, if you want to compel the world to accept the truth of the Gospel then you can’t listen to what the world wants. The danger when you take your cues from the world is that you compromise the church to such a degree that it is no longer the church. This is what happens when the culture becomes compelling to the church, you inevitably forfeit what it is the most compelling feature of the church—it’s sanctifying relationship with God (cf., Rom 12:1-2).

Bottom line: You don’t reach the world by becoming like the world; you influence the world through holiness and by holding fast to the word of life. As we live as citizens of heaven here on earth, we must seek to do so in a compelling manner. There is nothing more compelling than a life that has been transformed by the gospel and a church that refuses to compromise the word of God. The world might hate this kind of compelling light, but that is only because darkness never appreciates light.