A co-worker asked me, “Why did you turn down the teaching position at a Christian School to work here in a secular school?”
“The Lord clearly showed me that this was where He wanted me to teach; He even showed me who my students were before they became my students,”I replied.
Our conversation lingered in my mind for several days as I began to ponder the reason why God wanted me in a secular school when it was my dream to own my own Christian School.
“Ye are the light of the world; a city that is sat on a hill cannot be hid. Ye are the salt of the earth. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven. I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world . . . Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick: and it giveth light unto all that are in the house.”
Sometimes I wonder if it’s our fault (Christians) that the world is in the immoral and debase condition that it’s in. In our quest to have our own version of what the world has; have we inadvertently put our light under a bushel?
First century Christians lived their lives in full view of the world, not in exclusive circles where they were hid from the world. Their faith was active in the market, workplace, and travels. Wherever and whatever the world was doing, the light of the Christian was there; exposing and reproving darkness with an invitation to know the risen Savior. Persecution couldn’t extinguish their light, it intensified it.
By allowing the light of Jesus to shine through me, there has been an improvement in the school’s work ethics; a parent of one of my students found hope in Christ for herself and her mother who was going through breast cancer; another parent found understanding and support in working through difficulties with her child; and several parents saw a positive change in their child’s behavior.
What if I wasn’t there? Or, what if I was there, but hid my light? The reality of God’s existence is made known to those around us when we allow Him to shine through us. This is the power that saves; delivers and transform into disciples that makes disciples that makes disciples.
Read more articles by Anna Caison or search for articles on the same topic or others.
