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Friday, November 04, 2005

John 3 and Conflict

Be aware: this article does not offer medial advice and does not call for the cessation of the taking of medicines.

While speaking to Nicodemus, Jesus stated the following:
“Light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than the Light, because their deeds were evil. For everyone who does evil hates the Light, and does not come to the Light, lest his deeds should be exposed” (John 3:19-20).


Understanding this statement will give you a clear insight into virtually any and every conflict, it may save you hundreds of hours and hundreds of dollars for therapy.

Notice the claim that there is light, which means that lack thereof is not the problem. The problem is that humankind loves darkness but why? Because their deeds are evil and they do not want those deeds to be exposed. Imaging sleeping in a dark room when someone suddenly comes in and turns the light on, what would be your instant reaction? You would instantly cover your eyes in order to keep the light out and say, “Turn that light off!” Since you were in darkness, and were accustomed to it, you hide from the light because it is irritating to you.

Have you ever told someone that what they are doing is wrong? What was the reaction? Did they say, “Thank you so very much for pointing out my wrongdoing.” Or did they say, “Just who do you think that you are to tell me that I’m doing wrong?” A common reaction is the latter, since at that point the person would be in darkness and you would be shedding light on them. Instead of coming into the light they prefer to put your lights out. Consider salt (since Christians are called to be salt and light), salt can be very irritating. If you have ever been in the ocean you know that if you have a cut on your skin mere seconds after entering the water it will start to sting. But while this is irritating it is, at the same time, cleansing to the cut.

There is a common misconception that claims that if a person would merely have an experience with God they would instantly become saintly. Some people think that if God would appear to them, or if they could see a miracle, they would follow God. But this common misconception goes against the text of John 3 and others. This is because if this person was living in darkness and the light would shine on them, the light of God-the miraculous, they would sink further into the darkness in order to hide form that light. Since God would represent the pure light and you would represent darkness you would not want your dark deeds exposed by His glorious light. Is a drastic turnaround possible? Certainly, this is the first step in being born again. This turnaround would necessitate facing the light that is at first irritating and becoming accustomed to it.

Thus, virtually all human conflicts center around a wrongdoer who will not have the light shone on their evil deeds and who instead lashes out at the light bringer—they will become angry at the light bringer instead of admitting their own evil deed.

Yet, shine on!

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