Walking in the Light (Without a Spotlight on Them)

One of our church members came forward after the sermon last Sunday.

He wanted to apologize to the church for his sins and to ask for our prayers. He has been in prison 5 times and in jail even more often. He has been in numerous fights, has stabbed people, and has been stabbed. He has consistently battled the allure of crack cocaine and alcohol.

He also wanted to thank fellow Contact Church members for saving his life a couple of weeks ago. Four of our members had been concerned about him. They went to his home to see how he was doing. When they found him, he was semi-conscious. He had overdosed on drugs in an attempt to commit suicide. Immediately, they called for the medical attention that saved his life.

Even though he was so ashamed of his sins that he felt like never returning to the church, he knew that members of the Contact Church loved him and had saved his life. He recommitted his life to following Christ. The church welcomed him back with warm embraces.

Something stood out to me about this incident: I never knew about our 4 members who had saved his life just a few days before. They had not mentioned anything about what they had done. (Knowing them, I doubt that they ever would have.) They were following Jesus' instructions: "Beware of practicing your righteousness before other people in order to be seen by them, for then you will have no reward from your Father who is in heaven" (Matthew 6:1).

They were walking in the light without a spotlight on them. They were doing good without drawing attention to themselves.

It makes me wonder: How much more good is being done today by Christians who are not seeking attention? I have a feeling that it's much more than I can imagine.