I am the father of a ten-year-old. One of my duties as a father is to remind my daughter of a simple trick to being poor in the future: leaving the lights on when you leave a room. I have become the stereotypical father, wandering through the house, poking my head into empty rooms, flipping switches off, and reminding everyone how much it costs to light up the whole neighborhood. The switch is right there on the wall as you leave! It is so easy — convenience at its finest.
And convenient it is, to be able to turn a light on or off at a moment’s notice. In a way, that speaks to something deeper about us. We also have the ability to switch parts of ourselves on and off. When you come home from work, are you still in work mode, or do your thoughts and mannerisms change when your children greet you at the door? Can your mood shift when something unexpected or catastrophic happens? We have the ability to flip these internal switches — our attitudes, our reactions, even aspects of our personality — for better or for worse.
Peter (Cephas) did this, as recorded in Galatians 2:11-13: “But when Cephas came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face, because he stood condemned. For before certain men came from James, he was eating with the Gentiles; but when they came, he drew back and separated himself, fearing the circumcision party. And the rest of the Jews acted hypocritically along with him, so that even Barnabas was led astray by their hypocrisy.”
Peter understood the truth about the Gentiles — that they were no longer unclean, but were fellow recipients of the Holy Spirit. In fact, it was his own actions in Acts 10 that confirmed their place in the inheritance. Yet there was still great controversy among some Christians who insisted that circumcision was necessary (Acts 15:5), not yet understanding that the Old Covenant had been fulfilled and nailed to the cross (Colossians 2:13-14).
And so Peter, likely trying to save face, changed his behavior. When these men arrived — those who were stirring up controversy about circumcision — he suddenly withdrew from Gentile Christians. In doing so, he became a hypocrite, and Paul said he stood condemned. His light, in that moment, had gone out.
Jesus spoke about light in Matthew 5:14-16: “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.”
When we speak of spiritual light — the light of salvation — it is meant to shine. It would be foolish to light a lamp only to hide it under a basket. That is the first-century equivalent of flipping the switch off — except, in this case, everyone is still in the room. Once that flame has been lit, once a Christian is shining, that light should remain visible, giving light to all around. To turn it off is not only foolish in the context of Jesus’ teaching — it is, as Peter’s example shows, sinful to dim that light and allow sin to smother the flame.
Lance Byers