Christians Undercover

In 1944, during the Battle of the Bulge in the Arden forest of Belgium, a group of German SS soldiers were sent behind American lines in order to cause disorder and confusion. The men, lead by Otto “scarface” Skorzney (really, they actually called him scarface!), dressed in American army clothing and were able to successfully sneak behind enemy lines and cause a great deal of damage.

Seemingly unrelated to this, in Mathew 5:14-16, Jesus said, “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.” Jesus is telling us that we need to live in such a way that people see God’s influence in our lives.

Now then, how does that fit with our introduction? Well, let me ask you a question; how are we doing at letting our light shine before others? Very often, I think, we may love God and want to follow him, but we end up acting like scarface Otto and his group of commandos, in that what we show to the world isn’t who we really are. We are christians undercover. Matthew 15:14-16 tells us that we need to be letting our light shine, not covering it up, and trying to act like the rest of the world. Some may say that they don’t let their light shine very bright because they are afraid of people thinking they are weird. The fact of the matter is, as christians, we are weird; don’t try to hide it, embrace it! In conclusion, remember Paul’s words to the Romans, “for I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew and also to the Greek” (Rom 1:16).