“You are the light of the world–like a city on a hilltop that cannot be hidden. No one lights a lamp and then puts it under a basket. Instead, a lamp is placed on a stand, where it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your good deeds shine out for all to see, so that everyone will praise your heavenly Father” (Matthew 5:14-16, NLT).
Sometimes I hear people say that their Christian witness is the good deeds they perform for others, as though those deeds are a suitable substitution for a verbal witness. More often than not, the people we serve see our good deeds and praise us for being good people. Good works are certainly a part of light bearing, but I believe the purpose of those deeds is to provide us a platform, or lamp stand if you will, for our verbal Christian witness. We cannot bear the influence we need to bear in the world in total silence. In order to clearly point people to Christ there comes a moment when we must confess that our good works are not offered because we are good. We do them because God is good. To silently perform our good deeds without a verbal testimony is like hiding our lights under a basket.
