No Private Faith: Turning Up Your Light in a Dark World

Day 1: No Such Thing as a Private Faith

Scripture Reference: Matthew 5:14-16 (ESV) "You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven."

The Rundown: We’ve been sold a lie by our culture that faith is supposed to be private—a neat little separation that exists just for you and your family inside the walls of your own house. But Jesus shatters that idea entirely. There is absolutely nowhere in Scripture that supports keeping our knowledge of Jesus to ourselves. Just as you don’t turn on a lamp in your house only to immediately cover it with a basket, God didn’t call us out of darkness just so we could keep the light a secret.

Church tradition shows us that the apostles were martyred precisely because they were public with their faith. When Jesus calls us the light of the world, He is calling us to look radically different than the culture around us. If we claim to believe, our lives must actually produce the fruit of that belief. If you go to an apple orchard, you expect to pick apples. If we claim Christ but hide our light, we are acting like hypocrites—just playing a part. God’s greatest desire is the redemption of His creation, and He uses us to show the world exactly who He is.

The Challenge: Are you trying to live in two different worlds? Does anyone in your day-to-day life actually know you are a Christian, or are you operating as a "one-watt bulb" trying not to offend anyone?

Action Step: Have one conversation today with someone outside your immediate family where you intentionally bring up your faith or what God is doing in your life. Do not hide the light.

Day 2: Light is Meant to be Seen

Scripture Reference: John 1:9 (ESV) "The true light, which gives light to everyone, was coming into the world."

The Rundown: We often group being "salt" and "light" together, but they serve very different purposes. Salt is a preserving force; it permeates the meat and restrains evil. But light has a completely different function. You don’t turn on your kitchen lights and assume your food is seasoned. Light exists for one primary purpose: so we can see. When God first spoke light into the darkness, there was no previous point of reference. He created it so we wouldn't have to blindly navigate our surroundings. As much as we might think it would be cool to use echolocation like a porpoise or a superhero to get around, we are designed to walk in the light.

When John’s Gospel calls Jesus the true light, and then Jesus turns around and tells His followers that we are the light of the world, He is paying us a massive compliment. He is telling us that we are on the exact same mission He was on. We aren't equal to Him, but we are called to reflect Him. He called us out of the dark so that the invisible God could be made visible through our actions.

The Challenge: What light are you reflecting right now? Are you shining brighter for the world—your hobbies, your politics, your opinions—than you are for Jesus?

Action Step: Identify one area of your routine where you have been leaving Jesus out of the picture. Turn the light on today by explicitly giving God the glory for a blessing or success in that specific area.

Day 3: The Mahi Effect

Scripture Reference: Matthew 5:16 (ESV) "In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven."

The Rundown: When you are fishing miles offshore in the vastness of the ocean and you hook a Mahi Mahi, you don’t immediately reel it in. You let that first fish fight for a minute. Why? Because underneath that fish, there could be thousands more. When the rest of the school looks up and sees the activity, they swarm to it, thinking there is food. Suddenly, the whole surface erupts in a feeding frenzy, and you can catch them just by tossing a bare hook in the water.

The church is called to create the exact same "Mahi effect." Being the light of the world means shining so brightly that people who are stranded in the vast darkness look over and say, "There is something happening over there." True revival is simply people in darkness swarming toward the light because they see real needs being met. When we step up and meet physical needs in our community—whether it's handing out clothes, feeding people at a barbecue, or fixing an AC unit—the community takes notice. They realize someone actually cares, and through that care, they see Christ.

The Challenge: Are you isolating your light, or are you shining it in a public way that draws others to the source of your hope?

Action Step: Do a highly visible good work for someone in your community today—mow a neighbor's yard, pay for a stranger's meal, or meet a tangible need. If you take a before-and-after photo to inspire others to serve, do it to point to Jesus.

Day 4: Take Off the Veil

Scripture Reference: Exodus 34:33-35 (ESV) "And when Moses had finished speaking with them, he put a veil over his face. But whenever Moses went in before the LORD to speak with him, he would remove the veil, until he came out. And when he came out and told the people of Israel what he was commanded, the people of Israel would see the face of Moses, that the skin of Moses' face was shining. And Moses would put the veil over his face again, until he went in to speak with him."

The Rundown: When Moses came down from the mountain after speaking with God, his face was literally radiating glory. But the Israelites were so uncomfortable with this blinding light that Moses had to put a veil over his face just to talk to them. Sadly, this is exactly how most of us treat our Christian walk today. We come into the church building on Sunday with our faith uncovered, but the moment we hit the doors to go back into the world, we throw the veil on. We hide our shine because we are terrified of making the culture uncomfortable.

But physically speaking, darkness and light cannot exist at the same time. The only way for darkness to be dark is to have a complete absence of light. We don’t have to walk around with a defeated mindset thinking the world is just getting worse and worse. The world only gets darker in the places where the light refuses to shine. Yes, speaking truth might cost you relationships, and Jesus warned us about that. But we cannot let the fear of making someone uncomfortable stop us from bringing light to the darkest places.

The Challenge: Are you wearing a veil outside of your home and church because you are afraid of losing friends or causing offense?

Action Step: Post something today—a Bible verse, a Christian podcast, a devotional, or a personal testimony—that unapologetically points to Jesus. Take the veil off in your public square.

Day 5: Created for Good Works, Without Fear

Scripture Reference: Ephesians 2:8-10 (ESV) "For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them."

The Rundown: We often get tripped up by Matthew 6, where Jesus warns us not to let our left hand know what our right hand is doing. We wrongly assume this means we can never share, post, or talk about our good works. But Jesus was warning against building our own personal kingdoms and being a show-off. If our true heart’s desire is to make Jesus known, how do we make Him known without sharing anything?  

Paul tells us that we were created in Christ Jesus specifically to do good works. And because God prepared these works beforehand, it completely removes our fear of failure. When a father is helping his son rebuild a truck engine, the son doesn't have to understand every single part, because the father who knows how to do it is right there working with him. God is already there walking with you. We don't have to have all the anxiety. Furthermore, faith isn’t just believing facts are true—even the demons know exactly who Jesus is. True faith is saying, "Because I know this is true, I will do it."  

The Challenge: Are you using "humility" as an excuse for silence and inaction? Are you holding back from serving because you are afraid of failing?

Action Step: Commit to one serving opportunity today. Stop waiting for the perfect time. Step out boldly, knowing your Father has already prepared the work for you to walk into.