and other social media, we can be forced into a two-dimensional mold, where slander and belligerence are rewarded, and where we’re taught (contrary to James 1:19) to be slow to hear, quick to speak, and quick to anger. As image-bearers of God we become little more than tribal mouthpieces against positions we want to try to eradicate.
We Christians, who are in the world but not of it, are nevertheless “world walkers” who navigate between its darkness and the light it’s been given. Our navigational beacon is described in Psalm 119:105 – “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path” – This single verse sums up the hundreds of Scriptures that talk about light and darkness in the City of Man. The great 19th century preacher Charles Spurgeon graphically described the verse this way:
“We are walkers through the city of this world, and we are often called to go out into its darkness; let us never venture there without the light giving word, lest we slip with our feet. Each man should use the word of God personally, practically, and habitually, that he may see his way and see what lies in it. When darkness settles down upon all around me, the word of the Lord, like a flaming torch, reveals my way. Having no fixed lamps in eastern towns, in old time each passenger carried a lantern with him that he might not fall into the open sewer, or stumble over the heaps of ordure [dung] which defiled the road. This is a true picture of our path through this dark world: we should not know the way, or how to walk in it, if Scripture, like a blazing flambeau, did not reveal it. One of the most practical benefits of Holy Writ is guidance in the acts of daily life: it is not sent to astound us with its brilliance, but to guide us by its instruction. It is true the head needs illumination, but even more the feet need direction, else head and feet may both fall into a ditch. Happy is the man who personally appropriates God's word, and practically uses it as his comfort and counsellor, -- a lamp to his own feet.”
“And a light unto my path. It is a lamp by night, a light by day, and a delight at all times. David guided his own steps by it, and also saw the difficulties of his road by its beams. He who walks in darkness is sure, sooner or later, to stumble; while he who walks by the light of day, or by the lamp of night, stumbleth not, but keeps his uprightness. Ignorance is painful upon practical subjects; it breeds indecision and suspense, and these are uncomfortable: the word of God, by imparting heavenly knowledge, leads to decision, and when that is followed by determined resolution, as in this case, it brings with it great restfulness of heart.”
