Always on...
Matthew 5:16 Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.
There is a lot of confusion about what Christians should be, how they should live, what they are to do and not do, and million other things about which a million books have been written with a million answers to a million questions which in turn generally leaves people with one question: Is there really any one way to live? Or you will hear, “With so many opinions, how can I know what truth is?” Pilate asked Jesus this same question when Jesus was on trial. After hearing all the so called “truths” the leaders and crowd were accusing Jesus of, Pilate was frustrated and exclaimed “What is truth?!” He knew what the religious leaders were saying was only out of envy, and that they would ALL lie just to hold on to their power and grip on the people.
BUT, when it comes to our witness for GOD, there really aren’t so many answers. Sure there have been a million books on how to evangelize the lost, and you’ve heard a thousand messages at revivals, and youth camps and rallies encouraging you to witness more, or rebuking you for not “witnessing” enough, and you’ve probably walked away from all of them with a new “resolution” to find some sinner and hit’em with the Bible, hoping somehow to just blast you’re way through, and “get someone saved”. Maybe you’ve felt guilty and torn inside over your lack of boldness, shying away from the opportunities you see to be a witness, and all those messages only serve to make it worse as you ask yourself “ Why can’t I just do this?!” I know, because I’ve been in the same place, and wondered all the same things, and what I’ve found to be true is what our youth group “ON AiR” is essentially founded on.
You see, the above verse says it all: Your good works will show the world who GOD really is. That’s what it means to glorify, to bring fame or attention to something or someone, and in our case, we are called to live out the life of Christ AT ALL TIMES. A lot of people have missed this because it is so simple. Some think that “good works” are what get you to Heaven; others that good works gains them more love from GOD; still others “schedule” in certain times and activities for good deeds to be done, and once their quota is met, that’s it, their over it til the next time. All of this misses the command of Christ that our lives must be filled with the Spirit all the time! Galatians 5:25 tells us if our very life is from the Spirit, our lifestyle should also be in the Spirit. Everything we do, whether it is sitting down and eating a cheeseburger like we talked about before, or taking a walk, or helping an old lady across the street, going on vacation, going to school, playing a sport, it doesn’t matter: EVERYTHING must be done with the mindset of bringing glory to GOD all the time.
And this is where our name comes in, because the idea is that we are walking media(picture and sound), and we must think of ourselves as TVs, with screens that never turn off, always on air, and what’s inside is always playing. People “broadcast” all kinds of things on their TVs(aka, works and lifestyle) but normally it’s themselves, or something to do with this world, so we thought “Hey, if we’re going to be broadcasting something, why not broadcast our faith?!” “Why not broadcast Christ?” And that’s what this verse is saying: Let your works picture Christ at all times, 24/7/365! Sure there’s a place for scheduled ministry, and trips and what not, but there is no substitute for a life lived to shine forth or broadcast the truth of GOD’s Word.
Think about this: If you are not showing Christ in your everyday life, whether in work, fun, family or church, you will NEVER be effective in showing it to the lost world around us. The greatest witnesses for Christ are those who constantly broadcast the life and love and truth of Jesus Christ, and everytime they see opportunity to witness, the words are just second nature, and their everyday speech and life allow to overcome the hindrances of feeling awkward, and shy because they don’t ever do or know any other way to act or talk.
The truth of it: The Spirit of the Lord has been given to us so that we can carry on the work He started when He was here, and every part of our lives ought to scream “Not I, but Christ!” {Luke 4:18; Galatians 2:20}