Radical and Radiant

You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden...Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.

 - Matthew 5:14, 16 (NKJV)

Believers are the light of the world.  Jesus said so.  In one of the most well-known of sermons of the Savior and messages of the Master, He simply says: "You are the light of the world" (Matthew 5:14).  In the Sermon on the Mount, just after the Beatitudes, Jesus shares that we, as believers and followers of Christ, are the light of the world. 

He speaks of the believer as light in a world full of utter darkness.  The red letters of the Bible indicate that it was Jesus speaking, and the tone of His delivery indicates that He shared His words with both hope and expectancy.  In other words, Jesus shared His expectation of the believer and openly shared that the believer should let his or her light shine before men so that their works may be seen and that those who observed the believer's works would give glory to God (Matthew 5:16).  That sounds like He had hope, believing that the observer of good works would honor and glorify God.  It appears that He had expectations of the believer to be met by letting his or her light shine before the world by doing good works.

As followers of Christ, we should let our lights shine.  We should radically radiate the true light who is Jesus Christ.  We radically radiate by shedding light in a dark world.  It is a radical concept because we tend to point people towards the church or the pastor for insights into who the true light is and where to discover the light that came into the world.  We radiate as reflections of the Light.  He is the source of our light and we reflect Him as we interact with the world.  Get real.  Get radical.  Radiate with your light.  Let others see that the Light exists within you.

If we radiate, our lights can't help but be seen by others.  Others will see our lights shining brightly and give glory to God for what they have observed.  Jesus said that we shouldn't hide our lights.  Jesus said that we should give light to all who are around us.  We should radiate.  In other words, our radiation should be radical in the sense that we penetrate the darkness as the light of the world.

Let's get radical.
Let's radiate.