For those Americans who celebrate the real reason for Christmas, joy at this time of year comes from much more than sparkling trees and glittery presents. It is a joy like no other for souls who have been ignited by the coming of the Light of the World.
It is also a time for those joyous souls to shine for all to see.
“You are the light of the world,” Jesus told his disciples (Matthew 5:14). “Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven” (Matthew 5:16).
The late Rev. Billy Graham taught that “throughout the New Testament, the followers of Jesus are called to be lights in the darkness,” citing in particular 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.”
If the light of such souls seems diminished to you this season, it is likely because your eyes have become more focused on worldly things. How could they not with the message of Christmas overwhelmed by ads, politics, sports, movies, fashion, entertainment, and more graphic venues. Few to none employ notions of worship, charity, or love.
Quick, name 10 advertisements, politicians, movies, fashionistas, entertainers, or cultural idols that captured your attention recently through a display of the fruit of the Spirit, “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control” (Galatians 5:22-23).
Hard to do.
Graham's teaching calls for believers to do three things to shine. First, be counter-cultural – while others chase after physical pleasures and selfish gain, “put on the armour of light” (Romans 13:12) and live a different way.
Second, put yourself out there – you are called to be a light to the people around you for Jesus said, “Let your light shine before others” (Matthew 5:16).
And third, always point back to the light source. “Our goal should never be to bring recognition to ourselves, but to bring glory to God,” Graham said. “There’s a fine line between being a light and putting on a show to get attention.”
Think about that next to last sentence, “Our goal should never be to bring recognition to ourselves, but to bring glory to God.”
Okay, list five popular personalities you know of who exemplify this statement.
Yes, there are some, but if anything is the opposite of our culture today, this would be it. Hyping self is the thing to do. After all, that’s what “selfies” are all about.
In an article entitled The Culture of Self Promotion, brand advisor Walter Lopez notes the rapid rise of personal brands. “Gone are the days of traditional marketing and in its place are a new found power in self-promotion.”
Indeed, personal brands are the self-promotion in thing.
We are warned in James 3:13-16 that "selfish ambition" is not heavenly wisdom, but is "earthly, unspiritual, demonic."
Hmmm.
As we celebrate the coming into the world of "the true light that gives light to everyone" (John 1:9), nothing would better expose the dim, impious sheen of the self-promoters for what it is than joyous souls letting their gifted light shine bright and true.
Merry Christmas.
Crawford is a syndicated columnist from Meridian.
Sunday, December 22, 2019
Bill Crawford: What Will Shine Brightest?
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7 comments:
What? Christmas isn't for shopping for presents, conspicuous consumption, and materialism? Oh my!
This guy is totally disconnected from reality and will write an article about any damned thing - Whatever pops into his head at the moment. George Carlin famously said, "Nail two pieces of stuff together that's never been nailed together before, and some schmuck will buy it". Well, in this case, No matter what this guy writes, Kingfish will pick up the column and pay for it.
With due respect to Crosby and Sills....'When will we ever learn?'
10:36...What did you learn at Milsaps about Conspicuous Consumption and what the hell is that anyway?
In a time where it seems forgotten that Martin Luther began the Protestant Movement by objecting to the excesses of Catholicism , TV preachers are living like kings and Protestant churches are engaged in side businesses as well as providing entertainment instead of ministering to the spiritual and earthly needs of their " flocks", reminding us what Jesus preached seems appropriate.
5:00pm I can only marvel that you make Crawford's point in the article yet criticize him for making it. And, you seem not to appreciate that Crawford is attempting to remind an audience that admires Billy Graham of who he was before his health removed him from the ministry he created and led him to believe his wayward son had finally " come home".
5:01 pm I can only guess that KF rejected your submissions for a lack of substance. Conspicuous Consumption is the spending of money on and acquiring of luxury goods and services to publicly display economic power or as a means to attain or maintain social status. It is a term coined by Thorstein Veblen, an American economist and sociologist. He died in 1929 so the term has been a part of economic and sociological studies for a over a century now. It describes the behavior of those who are ostentatious and care more about drawing attention to themselves by displays of costly items rather than by good deeds or meaningful achievments in their labors.
I'm quite sure they teach that phrase at Millsaps and every other accredited college and university in the U.S. Indeed, I heard it first in my socio-economics class in high school. I was also taught to look up words and phrases I didn't understand and did so before there were computers with a " search". But, frankly, my grandparents and parents had taught me not to be ostentatious and had encouraged modesty, humility and values of good work and good deeds long before that.
10:15 if in fact you "understood how to look up words and phrases before there were computers with a search", you evidently didn't maintain that understanding - or chose to convert to the search engines of today, seeing's how your definition comes straight off the Wiki definition of Conspicuous Consumption. Or did you write that for Wiki and have just maintained it in your head for all these years since?
5:35 pm It's not a surprise if Wiki has Veblen's exact definition. I'm thrilled if I recalled it verbatim. Lord knows I memorized it or quoted enough over the last several decades to get close but no, Wiki didn't call me.
You really don't have any quotes you remember from your field of study or do you just not have one? I can come close to quoting some Friedman or Keynes or Marx for you too as well as Maslow and Jung and Rogers.
10:15 and 10:19...Given a choice between having a large kidney stone and reading another of your posts, I'd be the victim of a terribly painful Morton's Fork. I'd say you're at Maslow's 4th level but have convinced yourself you're at the 5th.
What do you do in your spare time other than marvel at yourself and your imaginary accomplishments? I suggest you learn to use both sides of the toilet tissue and come back and give us the results of your study. mmmmthanks.
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