Do you ever find yourself in a pattern of approval seeking? It seems to be such a common thing these days – even if you’re not a self-described people pleaser, you may fall into this pattern. People pleasing and approval seeking can present itself in a number of ways, but one predominate way I’ve noticed is posting to social media, and continually checking stats. We want the likes, the comments, and the thumbs ups. It’s a tiny, and almost inconspicuous way we seek approval. What does gaining approval have to do with light and darkness, you ask? Well, I’m happy to tell you my thoughts.
01. The tiniest light dispels darkness
There’s a funny thing about light… even in its smallest dose, it dispels the darkness.
For example, we have black velvet blackout curtains in our bedroom, but the tiniest bit of daylight will creep in and dispel the darkness. There is a little yellow light on the internet box that hangs on our wall, a tiny green light on our Sonos speaker, and a blinking red light on my heated blanket. Even as small as they are, they light up our room at night so that I must sleep with an eye mask in order to get rest.
One night, my mask slipped off and woke me up. Even with my eyes closed, lying there in the darkness, I could still perceive those three tiny lights.
02. Blessed are those
I was recently reading the book of Matthew, and started reading through chapter five where the beatitudes are written. I think I’ve focused my entire life on what comes after the ‘blessed ares.” But for some reason this particular morning, I found myself pondering who Jesus called blessed…
- Blessed are the poor in spirit
- Blessed are those who mourn
- Blessed are the humble
- Blessed are those who hunger and thirst after righteousness
- Blessed are the merciful
- Blessed are the pure in heart
- Blessed are the peacemakers, and finally,
- Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness…
Then a funny thing happens in the text. Jesus goes into a new thought. He says to them, ” You are blessed when they insult you and persecute you and falsely say every kind of evil against you because of me. Be glad and rejoice, because your reward is great in heaven…” (Matthew 5:11, 12) CSB Text Edition: 2020
He tells them about these groups of people who he categorizes as blessed. To our human understanding, I don’t believe any of us would openly categorize these attributes as blessings.
But what I found curious was that this wasn’t just a single sermon – no – it appears rather to be a preface an introduction of sorts.
03. You are salt and light
What came directly after this opening on blessings, which to my eyes don’t feel like blessings at all, was something more like a directive… He said, “You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt should lose its taste, how can it be made salty? It is no longer good for anything but to be thrown out and trampled under people’s feet.” (Mt 5:13)
And then he continued, “You are the light of the world. A city situated on a hill cannot be hidden. No one lights a lamp and puts it under a basket, but rather on a lamp stand, and it gives light for all who are 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 in heaven.” (Mt. 5:14-16)
04. Putting the pieces together
Why do I tell you this? How does this relate to approval seeking and people pleasing?
Jesus gave nine ways that people are blessed, and none of them relate at all, in any way, with approval from others. In fact, the blessings he mentions are what some would consider disapproval. And after he mentions the poor in spirit and those who mourn, he speaks about those who are insulted and persecuted and spoken badly about.
THEN, he speaks directly about being salt and light [and I add, anyway…]. It is as if he was giving a word of warning and a word of encouragement in the same sermon… Allow me to paraphrase.
{People are going to dislike you. You aren’t going to have their approval. They are going to speak badly about you, persecute you, malign your name. But you are salt and light. They’re going to be mean and hateful…be salt and light anyway. They’re going to disrespect you…be salt and light anyway. They’re going to lie about you….be salt and light anyway.}
And so what would I leave you with today? Why have I said all of this?
I tell you because, we may not get the thumbs up or the approval we often seek – especially in the context of social media. We may not get the approval of our friends or our relatives. People will disagree with our beliefs, they’ll disagree with our standards, they’ll disagree with our methods. But be salt and light anyway!
You can be a light in a dark world and make a difference in someone’s life. Share a smile, offer a kind word, lend a helping hand. Make people feel seen and heard today. Go the extra mile. Be the silver lining to someone’s dark cloud.
Your heart may mourn…you are blessed. Your spirit may be poor…you are blessed. You may be disrespected because of your beliefs…you are blessed. You may be insulted, lied about, and negated. But you are salt and light. Be salt and light anyway.
Be blessed today friend. Be a blessing to others.
