"...nor does anyone light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house." Matthew 5:15
What is the most difficult thing you do each day? Somedays it might be to get out of bed. For me it is being seen.
I work in a large building, and over the years there have been multiple occasions when somebody I have zero knowledge of will call me by name as they pass me in a hall. I hate that. How do these people I have zero recollection of know my name? Leave me alone! I don’t want to be seen! Yet, if I were truly invisible how could my light be seen? How could my light be useful to anyone? My life under that basket would be without purpose.
I don’t have the freedom to share details regarding who the three people involved in this example are, but it is the reason I am more comfortable with removing the basket of anonymity.
My wife and I are not real “evangelists”, we don’t share the four spiritual laws with people we meet, or hand out tracts as we walk through the mall or airport. We are evangelicals, but not evangelists. Yet, we had three people allow us to help them in meeting Christ. Much to our surprise. Why were we surprised? We never actually shared the gospel with them. So how did this come to pass? Well, distilled to the essence, it was because we allowed these three people to see us. They saw our warts, they saw our relationship, they saw our worship (flawed as it may be), they saw our highs and lows and they could see that at the root of all of it was our faith in Christ. This is in no way to our credit, we just risked letting them see us. The Holy Spirit took care of the heavy lifting, we just had to show up. He is the light, we are merely the vessel.
One final thought on this scripture. If you’ve ever been in a confined space with a too-bright light you’ll know it is really not pleasant. A light as bright as Christ is meant to be released. You, as a believer, are designed to be seen. Hiding under a basket is not only wasting the light, it is eventually going to be hard on you, maybe the hardest thing you do today.