Thoughts on Discipleship by Dr. W. A. Dillard - HTML preview

LIGHT BULB LEADERS

“And it came to pass, when Moses came down from mount Sinai with the two tables of testimony in Moses' hand, when he came down from the mount, that Moses wist not that the skin of his face shone while he talked with him. And when Aaron and all the children of Israel saw Moses, behold, the skin of his face shone; and they were afraid to come nigh him.” Exodus 24:30

In a world of conflicting presentations of religion, it would appear that each seeks to convince everyone else that his bulb is brightest. Some are bent on extinguishing all other bulbs around them to emphasize the brightness of their own. They forget that blowing out the candle of another does not make their own burn any brighter. But such is the state of spiritual affairs as the age rushes to its climax and subsequent close.

It is interesting to note that the brightest bulb is that which burns with the light from the Father of Lights. Such was the radiance of Moses. Although personally unaware of the brightness of the skin of his face as he descended Mt. Sinai, he was soon to learn that his brethren could not steadfastly behold him. That brightness radiating from his skin after meeting with the Great Creator, Redeemer God was blinding. That brightness was symbolic of the ultimate truth they received from God through Moses, and foreshadowed the tremendous light of Christ Jesus, and the New Testament faith once delivered to the saints.

To be sure, the modern-day, Christian world is a world of light bulb leaders. The problem is that too many of them burn with a self-generated brightness destined to fade into obscurity when exposed to that light which is from heaven. Nothing quite rectifies the charade of self-generated lights like the readiness of God’s people to “let their little light shine!” Jesus said, “I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.” John 8:12. His is a light that shall not be extinguished, nor driven into obscurity by the self-generated lights of designing men. His assurance of this is summarized in a simple, but profound verse of scripture, Matt. 5:14, “Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hid.” In a world of self-generated light bulb leaders, it is this non-extinguishable light the whole world needs to see! Is your light brightly burning in the candlestick, or is it hidden under a basket?

FOR THOUGHT: Great crowds may be attracted to self-burning lights, but what have they learned about the contents of the unified, symmetrical, non-contradictory Bible? Do you have a vision of the plan of God with man or do you see the Bible as a library of mixed up teachings?