"A Strange Kind of Sparkle"--October 22, 2019

"A Strange Kind of Sparkle"--October 22, 2019

"Do all things without murmuring and arguing, so that you may be blameless and innocent, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, in which you shine like stars in the world.  It is by your holding fast to the word of life that I can boast on the day of Christ that I did not run in vain or labor in vain." [Philippians 2:14-16]

This is the place in the Bible where it says, "Don't be a jerk--and that will be the way you stand out against the rottenness, the crookedness, and the lies that are out there."

Did you wonder if the Bible said that?  Because it does.  Right here.

Seriously, I was caught off guard yet again paging through my Bible, and I happened upon that phrase of Paul's that illuminates my imagination every time: "in which you shine like stars in the world."  I paused, and I thought to myself, "Go back and read the first half of that sentence.  Go see again what it is that makes us shine like stars in the world.  What is it--what's the key to letting our lights shine against the darkness?"

And you know what?  It was not what I expected.  It was nothing heroic.  It was nothing extraordinary, really.  It required no walking on water, preaching with power, daring deeds of extreme faith or passionate sacrifice. And it was manifestly NOT about wowing people with money, power, a reputation for being "great," or political pull. None of those is the way to shine likes stars. Instead, it was, in so many words, "Don't be a jerk."

Really.

That really took me aback.  Maybe it was especially surprising to me because I'm so used to the way our culture uses the language of people being like "stars." We usually reserve it for people who have some performed talent, outstanding charisma, or captivating attractiveness.  We talk about "the stars" who dance, who act in movies, who sing and create movies, or who simply seem to exist for the sake of filling out magazine covers and social media articles.  Our culture talks about "stars" as those prima donnas and divas who can afford to be rude to their entourage and staff precisely because they are celebrities, or the people who cultivate a persona for reality TV audiences of being bossy.  We talk about stars as the big names from entertainment to politics to media, and they seem to all just assume that their fame exists for its own sake, and that because they are famous, they should have a right to a platform to shout things at us or sell things to us.  We usually use the word "stars" to talk about the exceptional people, the beautiful people, or the well-known people.

And here Paul the apostle just says, "Don't be a jerk--and against the backdrop of a world full of crookedness and rottenness, you'll stand out just for that."

And while at first, I found it hard to swallow, the more I think about it, and the more I just pay attention to the daily news cycle or the tone of people who have loud opinions on the internet, the more it occurs to me that Paul is more right than I realized.  When we are used to people being rotten to each other, it will come as a surprise when someone can act with kindness regardless of whether it is returned or not.  When we become accustomed to the idea that everyone is crooked and self-serving all the time, it becomes noteworthy to see someone actually seek the well-being of others without first asking, "What will I get out of it?"  When we are just used to petty name-calling or loud shouting past each other, it is downright startling to have a conversation with someone who can genuinely listen to what you have to say, ask how you reach the conclusions you reach, and not run away in anger if they reach a different conclusion that yo udo.  When you are used to bickering and back-stabbing, it is a stark contrast to meet someone who is not angling for anything but just cares about telling the truth regardless of how it helps them or disadvantages them.  When you are used to people being selfish and not wanting to be put out of their way to accommodate others, there is a strange kind of sparkle when you run across someone who is perfectly willing to be inconvenienced for your sake.

And that's just it.  Paul isn't challenging us to become big-name celebrities so we can "win followers" for Christ who are allured by our fame or notoriety.  He is simply saying, "In a world where people have gotten used to rottenness, crookedness, and self-serving lies, you will be a bright spot in someone else's world just by being honest and decent."  It really is a radical thing when you live in a time and a culture that doesn't care about what is true or good or compassionate anymore, to be the one who insists on being genuine.  It really is a remarkable thing to be able to look everybody in the eye when you live in an era that has stopped asking, "What is the right thing to do?" in favor of asking, "What will make the markets go up?" 

It's funny--in that way things can be terrible and tragic and yet "funny" at the same time--that something that seems so ordinary can shine such a startling light, but that's really how it is.  In a time that has gotten comfortable with justifying crookedness, it's a surprising thing to be the ones who say, "It's better to be a decent person and poor than to be rich and crooked-as-hell."  In a culture that just assumes, "Everybody is a schemer and a con artist looking out for Number One, so just get over it!" it will always stand out to be people who insist on integrity, even when it costs them.  What seems ordinary turns out to be a bright light, because it is seen against the murky backdrop of crookedness and petty yelling.

So today, what the followers of Jesus are called to be is ordinarily decent--don't be a jerk.  Don't be a crook or a schemer.  Demand integrity from yourself and from others.  Insist that truth-telling matters, and that crudeness and cruelty are not acceptable prices to pay for profits.  Refuse to settle for petulant yelling in place of thoughtful conversation, and do not settle for saying, "Everyone else is acting like a self-interested crook, so let's all just play along."  And resolve never to be one of those people who says, "Character doesn't matter as long as my 401(k) is trending up," or "You just have to look out for yourself in this world, no matter what you do to anybody else."  These things should go without saying.  They should be ordinary and they should really be the bare minimum for our public life together, rather than something to aspire to.

But in an age that has gotten used to crookedness--and that seems to go out of its way to justify that crookedness as the path to being "great"--it really is an extraordinary thing to insist on not being a jerk... to insist on integrity and gracefulness.  When everybody else seems bent on finding a way to make crookedness and cruelty seem OK, there is a strange kind of sparkle to ordinary acts of decency and truth.

You don't have to be a diva or a household name to be a shining star.  Maybe... just don't be a jerk.

That could give us all enough starlight to walk by in a dark and murky night.

Lord Jesus, let us shine with the ordinary light of being decent people in indecent times.