How Christians See Others
We see Christians differently from nonChristians. Here's why, and how we can engage.
The Christ-Light Trailer
I wrote The Christ-Light because I had a burning passion to explore how Jesus, the light of the world, engages with his people. I also wanted to learn how we might learn from him as we engage with our brothers and sisters in the church. Here’s a little trailer you can share with others. In other words, this is a book for Christians inside the church.
Engaging with NonChristians
But what about those outside the church? Early on in the book, I had to make the distinction between those whom God foreknew (Rom. 8:29) to be his children in Christ, and those whom he would create in his image and yet who wouldn’t believe in him. How does seeing the light in fellow believers matter for how we interact with nonChristians who don’t have the light of Christ inside them? What’s the main difference, in other words, between engaging with Christians and nonChristians?
With Christians, seeing the Christ-light in them is an act of persevering encouragement and confidence. We see the light in them and act in the Spirit of Christ to brighten it because that’s their destiny. Christians are children of light—housing the persons of the Godhead by grace, filled with resurrection life and hope, carrying the will, heart, and work of God. They need to be prodded to own their God-given, grace-bestowed identity in a world that longs for restoration. The light we see in Christians is brightened by the Spirit’s ongoing work of sanctification. Our prayer should be to encourage our brothers and sisters with confidence in what God has already done in their hearts and in the great things he is about to do.
With nonChristians, however, it’s different. While they are still image bearers of God and are responsible for believing in him and imitating him faithfully, they have not yet by God’s sovereign grace opened themselves to the light of the world (John 8:12), the true light (John 1:5). And because of that, we’re limited in what good things we can see in them. They have chosen to remain in the domain of darkness, and we can’t see much in the dark. All we can see are the bits of light that fall on them from God’s common grace.
We do know with certainty that they have a relationship with God (covenant), that they long to be with him (communion), and that they’re always reacting to a world that everywhere reveals him. So, we can still ask the same sorts of questions we might ask Christians, but the answers would be wildly different. Are you faithful? Do you love God? Do you hear God? There is a hard “no” for each of these questions, and not the sort of “no” that means the Spirit is progressively making them more like Christ. It’s a “no” that refuses the light of God, that wills to stay in darkness. They need Christ’s faithfulness, love, and obedience in order to have a restored relationship with God. And the Spirit needs to open their souls, like tight clam shells, in order for that to happen. In that sense, our call is to draw such people to the beauty and forgiveness of Christ himself, praying that God might open their hearts to believe in his Son.
So, we might ask a different set of questions when it comes to non-Christians.
Where is there a longing for relational faithfulness that can’t be met apart from Christ?
What substitutes does the person have for communion with God, and what are the effects of these substitutes?
What elements of God’s revelation are being ignored or combatted, and why?
These questions may help us see what is holding the person back from believing in Christ, and how lasting fulfillment and purpose will be absent until that person’s heart is moved by the Spirit to embrace the Christ-light. Talking about our faith openly with such people is our Christ-given calling. And I’ve suggested an approach to that in Insider-Outsider.
Why am I saying all of this? Because while we all bear God’s image as humans, that doesn’t mean we’ll interact with everyone in the exact same way, with the same assumptions and goals. Christians have had their doused and fuming wicks lit by Christ. They don’t just know God and long for him; they have God hidden in their hearts and enjoy his presence each day. Because of God’s presence, Christians are able to live a life of Christ-conformity by the Spirit. That’s not something nonChristians can do. And because of that, we shouldn’t suggest that nonChristians can “shine” as brightly as Christians.
I know it’s unpopular to say that one human being burns brighter than another—that not all people burn with the same glow. But we have to say that in order to acknowledge the necessity of Christ’s work. What Christ did changed things; he changed us. That distinction has to hold. No matter how much we might be tempted to say, “Well, we all have the same brightness before God,” or “we’re all God’s children,” we have to stare at the truth of God’s word and affirm that apart from the Spirit of Christ, it’s not even possible to please God (Rom. 8:8).
I say this not to encourage a sort of pride in Christians but to emphasize the missional task of the church. Many people need the light of Christ. They won’t skate merrily through life without him. They won’t see themselves or the world rightly apart from his life-giving light. They need the great Chandler to light their wick. And it’s our task to point to that Chandler with our words and actions.
We can’t force anyone to believe in Christ, but we can and must claim that apart from him, no one will ever burn eternally with God in love and peace. And here on earth, our wicks are black and fuming unless Christ enters the heart chamber. Burning brightly isn’t a matter of trying harder, some sort of stark moralism that’s void of grace. That would leave God out of the picture and suggest that we can all burn brighter if we just make the extra effort. God is at the center. He is the light. It is only through him and in him that we’ll be our truest selves and illumine others around us.
To put it shortly, seeing the light in Christians is a matter of encouragement in the faith, while engaging with nonChristians is a missional and apologetic task, aimed at pointing them to the glow of the gospel.