“The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are healthy, your whole body will be full of light. But if your eyes are unhealthy, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness!” Matthew 6:22-23
After Jesus tells us about how important our perception of God is, how the eye is the gateway to wholeness or brokenness, He says something amazing and often overlooked.
“If then the LIGHT WITHIN YOU is darkness…”
It seems our perception doesn’t change the nature of light nor its inhabitation. Even if we perceive the light within us as darkness, it remains light and remains within us. if there is no separation between us and God, then the question isn’t, “Is the light within us?” it’s, “How do we perceive it?”
What if Christian evangelism isn’t about getting the light into people so they can go to heaven? What if it’s about living as a bold relational expression of kindness that empowers people to truly perceive, repent, and awaken to the light that is within them? Eternal life here and now.
What if fallen humanity perceived light through the transactional lens of good and evil, the sin-counting lens of reward or eternal punishment; then how great is that sense of separation, condemnation, retribution; how great is that darkness!
What if hell has nothing to do with getting the LIGHT within us, but has everything to do with how we perceive the goodness of God and His reconciling love…
This article is excerpted from my book, Leaving and Finding Jesus
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