Shine Like a Cell Phone in a Movie Theater (Friday Devotional)

“You are the light of the world. A city built on a hill cannot be hid. No one after lighting a lamp puts it under the bushel basket, but on the lampstand, 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 in heaven.”

- Matthew 5:14-16

If you walked into a movie theater 2 minutes before the previews began, you’d see the theatergoers engaged in a variety of activities. Some would be talking to their neighbor, some munching on popcorn, one or two even taking a quick catnap. But the overwhelming majority of people in the theater would be tapping away on their cell phones—sending a few text messages, composing e-mails, checking Facebook, anything to kill time before the movie begins. With the lights still on and so many people on their phone, it would be a difficult task to count the number of phones being used at any given moment.

It would be considerably easier if asked of you 10 minutes into the movie. With the lights now dimmed, courtesy dictates that phones be put away for the next few hours, whether the movie is captivating you or not. So whenever someone pulls out their phone during the movie, they become an unwelcome beacon, noticed by nearly everyone in the theater. Counting phones being used during a movie is considerably easier than doing so before it starts—surrounded by darkness, their little light sticks out like a sore thumb.

This principle applies to the life of discipleship. You are probably familiar with Jesus’s teaching in the Sermon on the Mount that his followers are called to be the “light of the world,” that your good works should shine before men so that they will give glory to God. But while we think of this as a positive teaching, easy to teach to children with a cute song, we fail to recognize the cost that comes with it: sometimes you will stick out.

The truth is, light is needed most when you are surrounded by darkness—and when that happens, it means you stand alone and, like a city on a hill, cannot be hidden. Shining your light in an environment that’s already bright—showing kindness to people who are kind to you, loving the lovable, giving when everyone around you is too—is easy because it keeps you in the mainstream, but it also doesn’t leave much lasting impact. The light that leaves an impression and points most directly to the cross of Jesus Christ is the one that shines even when it stands alone against the darkness.

In a world filled with darkness, Christ calls us to be light, even when doing so is unpopular or impractical or difficult. In fact, it is when darkness is all around that light does the most good. So may your life point others to the gospel of Jesus Christ, even and especially when you are alone in your witness, and may the cross remind you of this: darkness may be more prevalent, but light is more powerful.