Are We Reflecting Another’s Glory or Preening our Feathers?
I can’t remember a time when there have been more scandals. Fallen sports heroes. Fallen business men. Fallen musicians. We sort of expect scandals in movieland. But scandals in churches? Sadly, the media has recently publicized the fall of too many Christian leaders.
Often—but not always— these Christian scandals find their roots in leaders who built institutions and reputations that focused on them and their abilities. But all attempts to shine like stars so that our persona sparkles are denials of basic Christian living.
Ministers of the new covenant are reflectors of the glory of Christ, not themselves. “Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his likeness” (2 Cor. 3:17,18). We are saved to reflect the Lord’s glory, not our own. And as we allow the light of Christ to illumine our minds and hearts we are changed into his image and reflect his glory.
The moon is a giant reflector of the light of the sun. It has no light in itself. Like the moon, we have no moral light in ourselves. Through the Spirit we are reflectors of the glory of Jesus Christ. What a privilege!
No wonder the apostle Paul declared, “I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified” (1 Cor. 2:2). He was fearful lest his message should reflect his own ability and not be a demonstration of the Spirit’s power and the glory of Christ.
We are saved not to make a name for ourselves, but to reflect Christ’s humility, compassion, boldness, truth, and moral purity. That is easier written than lived out. We face temptations every day—especially to become proud of who we are and what we’ve done. And once we open the door a chink to peek at our good qualities, we’ll soon be throwing the door wide and expecting others to gaze on what good guys and gals we are. And that will pave the way for other compromises.
We need a Christ focus. For it is “in him we live and move and have our being.” True, all of us have God-given skills and gifts, but they are gifts given. They don’t rise up out of our swollen psyches. Like Spurgeon we need to pray at the start of each day for the Lord to keep us from pride so we can reflect the glory of Christ.
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