‘Light Enclaves’

“This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but people loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil.”

John 3:19

I’ve never seen crime statistics broken down this way but I suspect we all know that if we were to compare crime committed in day light versus crime committed in the dark hours after the sun goes down, the numbers after dark would easily overwhelm day time crime numbers.

Now I know that the verse above is speaking of spiritual light and darkness but we certainly can’t argue that we also see it play out in the natural realm.

Imagine a ‘light conclave’ where believers congregate and never step out into the darkness to be (and reveal) the light that we are called to be.

I remember years ago as a new believer how I thought to myself the ineffectiveness of monasteries because they too represented, to me, a light conclave that never ventured out to a darkened world with the light of Christ.

Now I must ask: Have our church buildings become that for us?

Oh, I know we need to gather together.

I know we are not to forsakethe assembling of ourselves together according to the admonition of scripture.

But have we become so self-centered and inward focused that we have become that city on a hill only the city has very high walls surrounding the city threatening anyone who would come into our ‘light enclave’?

It’s well past time to move beyond the four walls and out as light in dark places.