Seeker Mode

 

“You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden.  Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house.  Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.” – Matthew 5:14-16

It happens so often that I’m somewhat embarrassed to tell it.  I’ll be searching through the house for my phone, diligently turning over every newspaper, every pillow, every book, checking jacket pockets and purses, having someone call it so I can hear it ring…only to find it in my left hand!  I’ve come to depend on my phone for more than phone calls.  I use it to connect with friends in text messages, to keep track of a busy schedule, to calculate mathematical equations, to shop online, to study God’s word, and even to make notes of things I need to do.  When I lose my phone, I panic and go into seeker mode and don’t stop till I find it.    

It occurred to me recently that we have gone about trying to bring others to Jesus the wrong way.  We’ve not allowed them to go into seeker mode.  Inviting people to church invites them to know the church, but the church can’t save them.  The church, being made of imperfect and fallible people, cannot love them the way they seek to be loved.  With our many programs and special events, we sometimes mask the value of Jesus with the value of the church.  We fail to make Jesus famous, known not just for His historical actions, but His current daily actions in our lives.

To seek anything you must know what it is, what it looks like, where it would be found, and that it is of value to find it.  If someone were to want to help me find my phone I would describe it as 2”x4”, white and turquoise, and tell the last place I saw it or used it.  If they’d never seen a cell phone before, I’d also explain how it’s used, why I needed to find it, and what it means to me, causing them to see its value.

Why then when we want others to seek Jesus do we say things like “I’d like you to come to church with me sometime” or “We’re having a special service at our church Sunday.  Why don’t you come? They’re be fried chicken!”  We invite them to fellowship with us, but fail to invite them to Jesus.  We don’t explain what He has done for us, how He is active in our answered prayers, how He meets our needs, how He comforts us when we’re hurting.  We don’t open up and share our testimonies of great pain and His healing of our circumstances.  We don’t talk about the last time we encountered His faithfulness.  We don’t make Jesus famous.

In Matthew 5:14-16 Jesus says “You are the light of the world.”  We’re not just the light of our life, our family, or our town, but the WORLD.  We have the ability through technology and travel to reach more people for Christ than ever before.  “A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden.” We should set our lives on a hill, exposing our trials and the things God has brought us through, making ourselves vulnerable to public opinion and ridicule by sharing our struggles in our faith and our trials in life.  “Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house.” What good is your testimony if it’s not shared?  It’s a light under a basket, serving only your life, where it is nothing but history.  “Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.”  We have to boldly expose our inner light, spotlighting and magnifying Jesus in our lives.

When others see His value and the good He has done and continues to do in our lives, they will seek Him.  When they enter seeker mode, we are promised that they will find Him (Matthew 7:7). 

“Let all those who seek You rejoice and be glad in You; and let those who love Your salvation say continually, “Let God be magnified!”” – Psalms 70:4