OK, you can’t know everything about a person’s intent for an event from what is reported in the paper but this set me off.

The article was about a local church taking some teenaged girls to clean and do other acts of service at a ministry center in a nearby city.

The article concentrated on what the girls were trying to do and serving seemed to be the theme. Cleaning and handing out water and cookies on the street. Though there were no quotes around the words, the reporter for the newspaper said that one of the leaders said, “Good works are the light of the world.”

My gut reaction was, “No, they are not. Jesus is.”

This objection is based on John 8:12 which says, “Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, ‘I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.'”

According to Isaiah 64:6, “all of our righteousnesses are like filthy rags. We all fade as a leaf, and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away.” If we rely on our good works to speak to people about Jesus without expressing our faith in His enabling to do the works, we have only shown those we are serving something about us, not the Lord.

There is a form of thinking that seems to believe that if I will just be nice and serve others, they will see Christ in me and I won’t have to say a word. It may come from the well-known quote by St. Francis Assissi, “Preach the Gospel at all times, if necessary, use words.”

The book of James is clear that faith without works is dead. But we must be clear that it is the faith that leads to work, not works that lead to faith. Only Christ can save. Without the righteousness of Christ imputed to us, we would do nothing righteous.

He deserves all the glory for any work we do.

Jesus does tell us in Matthew 5:14 that Christians are the light of the world and that we are not to hide that light under a bushel.  I fear that if we see our works alone as “the light of the world,” we, in our pride, might forget what Christ has done for us in His death on the cross. Works without words, specifically the Gospel, which includes that all are sinners who must repent before God, is an incomplete picture of the True Light of the world.

There are many times in life when our job is to serve where there may be no opportunity to share the Gospel. We serve anyway, recognizing God’s prompting in ourselves, thanking Him for the opportunity. This does not mean that it is not the work of the Lord.

However, when we are given an opportunity to speak we need to be able to speak up for Christ. If we are going somewhere specifically to serve Christ, doing the work in His Name, then His Name should be spoken.

…but in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect, 1 Peter 3:15

One of the students quoted in the news article demonstrated the best attitude of all: She said, “Jesus served, so we serve.” Let’s be conformed to His (serving) image. His light came from both His lips and His works.