When we know who we are, we can stop trying to be someone we're not. I feel like that's one of my biggest refrains these days. But I feel like its so important that we understand this concept. Because as long as you're trying to be someone you're not--and that's what man-centered, performance-based religion is all about--you're robbing yourself of being who you really are. You're robbing yourself of the gift of God. The gift of eternal, everlasting, abundant, Resurrection Life that Jesus gave to us on the cross when He gave His life for us, and to us. Which means that the gift has already been given. Which means that we already have it. Which means that we can't earn it. We can only receive it and release it. Receive it BY releasing it. Which is why I'm defining a God complex as a love complex. Love is giving. Giving everything you have and everything you are. Laying your life down for your friends. And understanding that you destroy your enemies by making them your friends. Understanding that everyone is your friend. They just may not know it yet, and you may not know it yet. See, a God complex isn't about being better than everybody. Its about loving everybody. That's who God REALLY is: Love. Not an angry, distant, judgmental taskmaster, but a present, loving, heavenly Father. See, we don't "get" a God complex by trying to be the world's idea of a god. We HAVE a God complex when we understand that God is love and He loves you. And because He loves you, and lives in you, you can love Him back by loving people. That's what's important in this life: God and people. Loving God and loving people. Loving God BY loving people. So this God complex, this love complex, is simply using the mind of Christ. Letting the mind of Christ, that's already in us, BE in us. Thinking the thoughts of God, which are of peace, and not evil. The expected end that came 2,000 years ago on the cross. When the old man, Old Covenant, ended and the New Man, New Covenant, came forth. To have a complex about something means to fixate on it. And that's how we fix our minds, by fixing our minds on God. On love. Setting our affection on things above and not on things on the earth. Knowing what's inside us--the inner man, the hidden man of the heart, Jesus--and letting it out by believing its in there. Because you can't believe something you don't know. Faith comes from hearing, and hearing from the Word of God (again, Jesus. Love). So when we have love as our foundation, everything else builds off of that. When we know who we are, we can BE who we are. By walking by faith. LIVING by faith. Not trying to be like some worldly idea of "god" but knowing that as He is, so are we in this world. Knowing that we don't have to try to be like God because we're already like Him. Created in His image in the beginning. And conformed to the image of His Son on the cross. A God complex is a good thing. A very good thing. As long as we understand what it really means. I'm kind of obsessed with love. Because I can't think of anything more important than love. I have a complex about it (Him). It (HE) is always on my mind. And then, because its (He's) in there... it (HE) comes out. Naturally. Love inside has to come out, because its too big, and too good, to keep to ourselves!

When it comes right down to it, we should ALL have a God complex. We should ALL know who we are, and in knowing, BE who we are. Who we REALLY are. But, like they say, if it was EASY everybody would do it. Its pretty hard sometimes to set your affection on things above. Because there's a lot of stuff on the earth that's right in our face. Its pretty hard sometimes to hear that still, small voice of God when the world is screaming at the top of its lungs. And, unfortunately, we seem to be doing the world's work for it a lot of the time. That's what I was trying to say in my Lighthouse Rant series: We don't shine the light to "expose sin" and put people on blast. There is no condemnation in Christ. We shine the light of the world so we can see things clearly. Not to PUT things in Divine Order, but to see that things are already IN Divine Order. Having a God complex isn't what the movies portray it as. Its not about BECOMING like God. Having a God complex--or a LOVE complex--is about understanding that we are already like Him. And understand what He is like. When Jesus said He is the truth... He is the truth about God--God in the flesh, love in a body--and He is the truth about US--God in OUR flesh, love in OUR body. We don't NEED the mind of Christ. We HAVE the mind of Christ. We need to LET the mind of Christ that's already IN us BE in us. We need to be less concerned with what we're not--we are NOT sinners. If we WERE sinners saved by grace, that means we're NOT sinners anymore. And those who are born of God CANNOT sin because His seed remains in them--and more concerned with who we ARE. We ARE the righteousness of God in Christ. We ARE kings and priests equipped and empowered to rule and reign on the earth. So its not that old, "You want to dominate and control people... you're trying to play God" idea. Because that's not who God is. A true God complex is not, "I'm better than everybody else." A true God complex is, "I love everybody else." Jesus knelt down and washed His disciples' feet. That's what God looks like. That's what LOVE looks like. Jesus was lifted up from the earth and drew us all into Himself so that when He died, we died. So that when He rose again, we could rise again. So that we could experience HIS life as HE lives it in us, and through us, and as us. That's what God looks like. That's what love looks like. In fact, that's what the greatest expression of love that a man can have looks like: Laying your life down for your friends. Giving everything you have and everything you are. Not worrying about the fact that a lot of times, the more you love someone the less they seem to love you. When Jesus was being nailed to the cross He asked His Father to forgive them. That's love. That's how God acts. And that's how we ought to act. That's how we CAN act. When we know who God is, and who we are. When we know that we ARE loved... we CAN love. We simply receive it and release it. Let it flow out of us as we fill ourselves to overflowing with what we've already been filled with. As we learn to listen to that still, small voice and ignore the lie that the world screams at us. "You're not good enough!" Oh yes I am. My Daddy says so! That's a true God complex!

The biggest problem I have with the idea of, "You have a God complex!" is that we use that in a negative connotation. Its like, we somehow think being like God is both something to aspire to... and a bad thing. When the truth of the matter is, we don't have to aspire to being Godlike, because as He is, so are we in this world. And that's not a bad thing at all, its a good thing. Its the best thing. Faith, hope, and love, right? And the greatest is love. Because that's what a true God complex is: Its a love complex. Being obsessed with the only thing that really matters. And, as always, I'm not saying things like having somewhere to live or something to eat aren't important. I'm just saying those aren't things we're supposed to worry about. Because your heavenly Father knows what you need, and has already provided it for you. So we don't need to focus on those things. I'm not saying you don't have to take care of business. Of course you do. Paul wrote, basically, "If you don't work, you don't eat" (see 2 Thessalonians 3:10). But at the same time, Moses went 40 days and 40 nights without eating or drinking, right? And then Jesus did the same thing. Once under the Law, and once redeeming us from the Law. I'm not telling you to try to do that. I'm simply saying there are things that we think are important--that we MAKE important--and then there's the MOST important thing, which is love. Everything flows from love. Everything we do is connected to love. Either we think we don't have it, and we do whatever we can do to try and get it... or we know and believe that we do have it, and we do everything we do in order to share it. But, as 2 Corinthians 5:14 in the NLT says, "Either way, Christ's love controls us. Since we believe that Christ died for all, we also believe that we have all died to our old life." And that part there on the end... that's a very important part. The old is gone, the new has come. The Old Man died on the cross with Jesus, and the New Man rose again to life--and not just any life, but Jesus' abundant, everlasting, eternal, Resurrection Life--three days later. That's when, and how, we were given all things that pertain to life and godliness. That's when, and how, we were conformed to the image of God's Son. The image that we were originally created in. Remember that verse in Psalms? We are Gods. As He is, so are we in this world. Because He is as He is... in us. And as us. And through us. So having a God complex, and seeing ourselves as we truly are, that only has a negative connotation when we don't understand what it truly means to be God-like. When we think of God as a distant, angry taskmaster who is just waiting for us to mess up so He can get us. When the truth of the matter is... 2,000 years ago on the cross, God GOT us. He drew us all into Himself and planted Himself in us. He gave His life FOR us, and He gave His life TO us. So that we could have it. So that we could experience it as He lives it (again) in us, and through us, and as us. The God complex isn't about us trying to be "like" God. The God complex is about us knowing and believing that we are who God says we are. His beloved Son in whom He is well pleased. Jesus. God in the flesh. Love in a body. God in OUR flesh. Love in OUR body!

A God complex is a love complex. It is (or, at least, should be) our focus. Like when I hear people say, "God wants to be a part of your life." I don't think so. I think God wants to BE your life, because He IS life. And since God IS love, that's what it comes down to. When Jesus identifies Himself as the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end, that means that LOVE is where it starts and where it "ends." And I use quotation marks because every new beginning is some other beginning's end. So its not an "end" of the sense of finality. How could never ending life (LOVE) ever end? My point being, its all about love. And if we take this term "God Complex" to mean "Godlike" well... "According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue" (2 Peter 1:3). We hae been given all things that we need in order to experience this God complex. "Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment: because as he is, so are we in this world" (1 John 4:17). Its what I've been Ranting about recently, about having His mind and USING His mind. Letting the mind of Christ (that's already in us) BE in us. Being who we are by KNOWING (and believing) who we are. Not having a complex ABOUT God--and I think a lot of people do, in a negative sense, have a immediate turn off when someone mentions anything even remotely Spiritual--and not trying to be like this erronous idea of a cold, mean, distant, dictator "god." But understanding what it means that as He is, so are we in this world. Because as He is... so He is in us, and through us, and as us. Its a total and complete identification with our true identity: Jesus. God in the flesh. Love in a body. God in OUR flesh. Love in OUR body. That's what truly having a God complex is all about. Loving each other with that love that God loves us with. Which, by the way, is the New Commandment. Love one another as Jesus has loved you. Not as you hope He will love you someday. You don't love others in the hope that you will get something from it. That's not love. Love is not about getting. Love is about giving. Love IS giving. You can give without loving, but you can't love without giving. So a God complex--love complex--is giving everything you have and everything you are. Without expecting anything from anybody. This whole, "I'll scratch your back if you scratch mine," thing... it doesn't work. Because if you expect something from someone, you're setting yourself up for disappointment. And if you're "loving" someone because you feel obligated to return the favor, that's not really love. Love flows freely when you fill yourself to overflowing with what you've already been filled with. Remember now, we love one another because He FIRST loved us. We love Him BY loving each other, because HE loved us first. Its receiving it and releasing it. Its feeding that love, so that it will grow. Feeding it by feeding the hungry. Experiencing it by giving it away. What you feed is what will grow. What you magnify in your life is what will manifest in your life. You fix your thoughts by fixing them on things above. You have a God complex--in the correct, true way--when love is the most important thing in your life!

So I was watching this show the other day, and one of the characters accused another character of having a "God Complex." Because that character wanted to control, and dominate... well... the entire world, really. And that got me to thinking. Because that, unfortunately, is how we seem to think of the idea of a god. And I saw a meme once that was split into two halves. One half was a dog and his thought was, "They feed me, and shelter me, and take care of me. They must be gods." And the other half was a cat and his thought was, "They feed me, and shelter me, and take care of me. I must be a god!" The difference between cats and dogs, right? But we seem to lean more towards the cat's opinion. We seem to think about God as someone who demands sacrifices. Someone who is sitting on a cloud, with a bolt of lightning, just waiting for us to mess up so He can strike us down. And while this might be more along the lines of a Greek god... it is NOTHING like our heavenly Father. And it kind of bothers me a little bit that this is the picture that we associate with God. To us, a God complex means something pretty kind of negative. So I want to spend the next few days clearing this up. Because, in my humble opinion, we SHOULD have a God complex. As He is, so are we in this world. We have His mind. We know His thoughts. All the things He did, and greater things, are available for us to do. For HIM to do in us, and through us, and as us. To me, a God complex is us being the true us. And don't get all relgious on me. Look at Psalm 82:6, "I have said, Ye are gods; and all of you are children of the most High." And remember who God is. God is love. So a God complex is a LOVE complex. Being who we are--Jesus, God in the flesh, love in a body--is simply letting what's inside us come out by knowing and believing its in there. Receiving it... by releasing it. Experiencing it... by giving it away. And while I'm building the foundation for this Rant series, according to dictionary.com, the most pertinent defintion of the word, "complex" is, "a fixed idea; an obsessive notion." I've said it many times... I'm kind of obsessed with love. It (HE) is the Alpha and the Omega. The beginning and the end. And, when we begin to see things clearly--with that all-important light that IS love--shining, we begin to see that love is also everything in between. We begin to see it (HIM) everywhere we look. It is a fixed idea. The foundation that everything else it built on. And that's why 1 Corinthians 13 (commonly known as the Love Chapter) is so important. It lays out the characteristics of love. It is a personality profile of Jesus. Which means it is the mirror that we look into in order to see our true selves. Not what we must aspire to be... but what we already are. Deep down inside. That inner man. Hidden man of the heart. Christ in you, the hope of REVEALED glory. The glory is there. It simply needs to be revealed. And we reveal it by filling ourselves to overflowing with what we've already been filled with. We reveal it as Jesus reveals Himself to us (and, again, in us, and through us). So a God complex isn't a bad thing. Its a necessary, important, life-giving thing. Because... and this is my whole point... a true God complex is a love complex!

A lighthouse doesn't depend on light from without. It lights up the darkness from within. Just like when God spoke into the darkness and said, "Let there be light." And let's be clear about something: Light trumps dark every time. Its like in Psalm 68:1, "...Let God arise, let his enemies be scattered..." When the light shines, the darkness flees. And that's why we don't use the light to EXPOSE so-called darkness in people's lives. I've quoted this verse a couple of times in this Rant series but I want to end with a part of it that I haven't really touched on: 1 John 1:15, "This then is the message which we have heard of him, and declare unto you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all." God is light. And God is love. So light is love. I think (I hope) I've kind of started to plant that seed. But I want to end at the end of the verse. There is no darkness in Him at all. How could there be when He IS light? And, extrapolating on that, WE are the light of the world. So there is no darkness in US at all. Believe it. How could there be? Look at one my favorite verses that I never hear anybody except me quote: "Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin; for his seed remaineth in him: and he cannot sin, because he is born of God" (1 John 3:9). If sin is unbelief, then by definition a believer cannot sin. If you ARE the light of the world, how could there be any darkness in you? "Well, its dark until you make it shine, right?" Guys... we don't MAKE it shine. The sun (the SON) shines because that's its nature. And it shines whether you believe in it or not. It doesn't always shine on YOU, and you certainly can--in a sense--hide from it. But that doesn't stop it from shining. What we do, by knowing and believing that the we not only HAVE the light, but ARE the light, is we LET it shine. We let what's inside come out. And when we stop trying to stop it, or stop trying to make it, it comes out naturally. Because, again, that's its (HIS) nature. God doesn't try to love. He doesn't love sometimes and not other times. God loves because He IS love. We shine because we ARE the light. We don't just HAVE it, we ARE it. And that's why I used the picture of the lighthouse. Wherever the lighthouse is... the light is. Because it comes from within. Light within means no darkness within. And light within coming out means things are shown as they truly are. Not exposing sin, or sinners, because we WERE sinners but then we got saved by grace, and that means we aren't sinners anymore. Jesus took away the sin of the world by giving us something (someONE, Himself, love) to believe in. He lit the light inside of us, if I can say it that way. Uncovered it. Showed us what was inside, so that we could know it and believe it. Showed us who we really are by showing us who HE really is. Not an angry, distant taskmaster who is always out to get us every time we mess up, but a loving heavenly Father who would rather die than be without us. Who gave His life (His love) FOR us, and TO us. Simply so that we could have it. Experience it. Share it. That's what the lighthouse does: It shines the light of love so that people can avoid the rocks. So they can stay on the right path. So that they can see things as they really are. The light shines, and there is no darkness at all!

This little light of mine, I'm gonna let it shine. Right? To me, its the difference between being a thermometer and a thermostat. The difference between just taking the temperature and SETTING the temperature. And I think, in this case, its vitally important that we understand one simple thing: The fire in us is ALWAYS hotter than the fire we're in. I don't want to quote the whole story of the three Hebrew boys in the firey furnace, but I do want to point out that the fire they were in only served to burn away their bonds. And I do want to point out that three men were cast into the fire, but when the light shined a fourth man was revealed to be right there with them. And that fourth man looked like (WAS) the Son of God. That's what happens when the light shines--hidden things are revealed. And not necessarily the hidden sin that we seem so intent on uncovering. There is no condemnation in Christ. So if you're looking for someone's "secret sins" so that you can bust them... you've completely missed the point. The point of the uncovering is so that the inner man, the hidden man of the heart, can be revealed. Colossians 1:27 says it like this, "To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory." Its Christ IN you coming OUT through you! Its the hope of REVEALED glory. Its the light shining ON you, and IN you, and THROUGH you! Its not something external. Its something internal. Because God is light. And God is love. So when the light shines, love shines. We CAN arise and shine BECAUSE the glory of the Lord IS risen upon us! Its not something that needs to happen. Its something that has already happened. And our part is simply to know and believe that it has happened. Through the cross God made the Way of Grace. And we respond with the Walk of Faith. We don't need to finish the work. The work is already finished. And when we see this finished work--and totally identity ourselves with and in the One who finished it--we can rest. Its like this: If its your job to mow the lawn, and you don't do it, you might feel guilty about it. Even if someone else says they will do it for you, you might still worry about it. But if SEE the lawn being mowed--if you take the Six Steps to the Throne that Jesus took both for us and as us--then you KNOW that the lawn is mowed. Then you can rest. Not because YOU put forth the effort to finish the work, but because you KNOW that the work is finished. What am I trying to say? I'm trying to say you don't have to MAKE your light shine. You LET it shine. You don't have to be someone you're not in order to be "worthy" of God shining His light on you. His light is IN you. His light IS you. Because, again, light... and God... and love... are all the same thing. We love one another because God loves us. We receive it and release it. We fill ourselves to overflowing with what God has already filled us with. We shine the light wherever we are, onto whoever we come into contact with. Not to expose the "bad" but to reveal the good. To reveal the GOD. To reveal someone who NEEDS love, and to reveal the love that they need!

A lighthouse has a light within, that shines out, in order to keep others safe. That's why I chose that term as my title for this Rant series. Because so many times we get so fixated on "uncovering sin" and "getting the sin out of the camp" that we seem to forget that when people are in trouble... they don't necessarily need punishment. More likely, they need help. And, as always, I'm not saying you should just let anything and everything go. As I tell my son all the time, "This isn't a free for all." If you don't stand for something, you'll fall for anything. And the thing to stand for--to stand ON--is love. That is our foundation. That is the beginning and the end. The alpha and the omega. That's what is important in this life: God and people. Loving God and loving people. Loving God BY loving people. And that, truly, is what happens when we let our light shine. (Notice I didn't say when we shine our light. This isn't about forcing something to happen. This is about letting what's inside come out, naturally, by knowing and believing that its in there.) Because God is light (and there is no darkness in Him at all) and God is love. So light is love. When God said, "Let there be light," He was saying, "Let there be love." He was giving us His only begotten Son. He was giving us His Word (Jesus, love), and making that Word become flesh. Which is charity. Love in action. When we shine the light on people we are not exposing them in order to shame them. There is no condemnation in Christ. If your goal is to make yourself look bigger and better by making someone else look smaller and worse... you really need to reevaluate your goals. And, honestly, how you treat people says a lot more about YOU than it does about them. Trying to control people does not--and will never--work. People are gonna do what they're gonna do regardless. Behavior modification through fear is the best thing religion has. But that's why so many people are turned off by religion. And that's why we must understand that Jesus didn't come to give us religion. He came to give us LIFE, and that more abundantly. He came to give us a RELATIONSHIP with our heavenly Father. To show us who we really are by showing us who God really is. That's what happens when the light shines--it reveals things as they really are. It reveals things to already BE in Divine Order. Jesus taught His disciples to pray, "Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven" (Matthew 6:10). And then, on the cross, the Kingdom came! We are IN the Kingdom, and we ARE the Kingdom. We are now able to experience the days of heaven ON earth. Because we are in heaven. Because heaven is in us. We don't need to pray for things to happen anymore. The move of God that everybody seems to be waiting for happened over 2,000 years ago. What we need now is a revelation of Jesus, so we can know what the move of God was, and what that move of God means. (Interesting that it was BEFORE the cross that Jesus identified us as the light of the world, but I'll have to save that for some other time.) What that move of God means is that we can identify ourselves fully and completely as God's Son. We can stop trying to be someone we're not--and disqualifying ourselves because of our mistakes--and we can BE who we are. We can arise and shine, because the light IS COME!

A lighthouse doesn't look for light. A lighthouse provides the light. And it lights up the way for others, so they don't get hurt. I think that's one of the most important aspects of this Rant series--we do NOT shine light on people in order to put their faults on display. We are not on a sin-hunt. We shine light on people so that they can see clearly. See themselves clearly, and see God clearly. See that God is love. And see that they are loved. God IS light, right? And God IS love, right? So shining the light is shining the love! Look at Isaiah 60:1, "Arise, shine; for thy light is come, and the glory of the LORD is risen upon thee." We don't arise BY shining... that's backwards. That's works and labor. And works and labor don't work. We shine because we have arisen. Because His glory is risen upon us! We don't have to build a tower to get up to God and make a name for ourselves. He came down to us and gave us HIS name. "He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the hidden manna, and will give him a white stone, and in the stone a new name written, which no man knoweth saving he that receiveth it" (Revelation 2:17). I believe there is only one white stone. And I believe it only has one name written on it. Our new name, which is our TRUE name. Jesus. God in the flesh. Love in a body. God in OUR flesh. Love in OUR body. And the reason that no man knows that name except he receive it is because no one knows LOVE until they receive it. We rob ourselves, and each other, so many times by looking for love in all the wrong places. Because we think we aren't worthy of actual love. So we settle for anything that we can squint our eyes and convince ourselves, "Well... I guess this is as good as it gets." But Revelation speaks of him with an EAR to hear. Because love starts as a Word. THE Word. "Let there be light." And then we don't have to squint into the darkness anymore. We can see clearly. We can ignore the lie--the same lie that the serpent whispered into Eve's ear that says you have to DO in order to BE. We can hear that still, small voice inside of us saying, "I love you, I love you, I love you." The ultimate truth of the universe: God is love and He loves you. That's the glory of the Lord. What else would bring glory to the God who IS love, but when His people love each other? But you can't give what you don't have. And you can only give what you do have. Faith comes from hearing, and hearing from the Word (Jesus, love) of God. You can't believe something you don't know. But once you know it--with a knowledge that passes knowledge--you can throw it. Once you receive it... you can release it. When you know that you ARE the light of the world, in the same way that Jesus was (and is) the light of the world, that's when you begin to shine. Naturally. Not by trying to force things, but by being filled to overflowing with what you've already been filled with. Knowing you are light is how you let your light shine. You don't MAKE it shine. You are not the vine. You are a branch. You don't produce the fruit. You simply bear it. You simply enjoy it by offering it to those who are hungry. You simply share it. You don't look for light from somewhere else. You simply let what's inside come out. Because its too good, and too big, to keep to yourself!

I like to preach, and Rant, about light. I think, in a very real way, the first thing God ever said is the only thing He ever said. "And God said, Let there be light: and there was light" (Genesis 1:3). Now follow me on this one: 1 John 1:5 declares that, "This then is the message which we have heard of him, and declare unto you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all." Right? God IS light. Where there is light, there is God. So when God said, "Let there be light," what He was really doing was injecting HIMSELF into the darkness that was US when we were void and without form. He was filling that God-shaped, love-shaped void with the only thing that CAN fill it. God. Love. Himself. John 3:16 says it like this, "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life." He said, "Let there be light." He gave us His only begotten Son. Now watch this, because this is what I really want to focus on for the next few days: "Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life" (John 8:12). And, "Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid" (Matthew 5:14). See what I'm getting at? Jesus described Himself as the light of the world. AND He described you and me as the light of the world. Its that same light that IS God. That's who Jesus is--God in the flesh, love in a body. That's who WE are--God in OUR flesh, love in OUR body. So when we quote verses like Psalm 119:105, "Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path," we usually direct these kinds of things toward the Bible. (And, obviously, I'm a Bible man. I may read it a little differently than you do, but I'm CERTAINLY not AGAINST it.) When, really, the lamp, and the light, and the word are all the same thing. Jesus. Love. And its not something external. Its something internal. Its you. The true you. The inner man. The hidden man of the heart that is revealed when the light shines. Remember that old song? This little light of mine... I'm gonna let it shine... That's what God did when He said LET there be light. There was light. He let what was inside come out. He didn't try to force it out. He LET it out. By knowing and believing it was in there. We receive BY releasing. Love is giving. So the best way to "get" it (experience it) is to share it. That's why I called this Rant series, "Lighthouse." Because instead of trying to find the light, or go to the light... we need to start to understand that we ARE the light. And nobody puts their light under a basket in order to hide it. They use the light to illuminate things. To show things as they really are. To reveal what was hidden. The light shines, and we see things clearly. And the whole point of a lighthouse was to keep ships from hitting the rocks. To keep people safe. We don't try to "expose sin." We don't try to put people on blast, if I can say it that way. We expose who God really is. He is light. And there is no darkness in Him at all. He is love. And love doesn't keep a record of rights and wrongs. When the light shines, we see the Divine Order of things, and we run TO God (love) instead of running FROM Him!