What color is the grass at night?

As I continue in my Inductive Bible Study course on the Gospel of John, I find that the majority of my mind's time is focused on this portion of Scripture. An interesting theme that is found in the Gospel of John is the concept of light and darkness.

This makes me think back to my Physics course in high school. I loved that class. We learned things that surprised us and intrigued us. One thing that stuck with me since that class is how light works. Allow me to explain.

I often ask people the question, "What color is the grass at night?" The common response is something along the lines of..."Green...duh!!" Well...I am sorry to burst bubbles here (not really), but green is the wrong answer. No object, whether grass, a car, a book, water, etc... has a color. They simply reflect color.

There is an inevitable stat that you are bound to hear at some point that red cars get more tickets than any other color car. Some would call this prejudice toward red cars by police officers. Some would even call this auto-racism. The fact of the matter is this...the radars that are used by police officers operate with a red laser beam. That red beam travels to the travelling automobile and bounces back. Based on the pigment in the paint of the car the beam will travel back to the radar at various strengths. Since a red-pigmented car reflects red, it is easier to get a reading from a red car. Have you noticed that black shirts are hotter than white shirts? That is because, white pigmented shirts relfect all colors while black absorbs all colors thus holding the heat.

I have tried numerous times to explain this concept to loved ones but to no avail. Sometimes people just want proof. I have even seen people go out with a flashlight to check the color of grass. I hope that this sounds as stupid to you as it did me. In case it does not, just to let you know, adding light to an object will cause it to reflect some of the light...so the grass appears green. So, there is really no way to "prove" this concept.

It is simply a fact that is supported by scientific facts of how light and pigments work. The presence of light is what makes things take on color. The absence of light brings darkness which eliminates color.

In the Gospel of John, Jesus (or the Word) is described as the Light. There was the true Light which, coming into the world, enlightens every man." (John 1:9). The presence of Light give every man color. Jesus brings life and fills the void and darkness of our souls. It is only by this light that we are able to become who we were created to become. God created grass to be green, but it is only by the presence of light that makes this possible. God created each of us to be something, but it is only by the presence of the true Light that this is possible for us.

One of my favorite verses now is John 1:5 which says, "The Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it." You will find many different translations of the Greek here, such as; understand, comprehend, overcome, conquer, etc. The importance here is that Light is in contrast with darkness.

Throughout the Gospel of John there seems to be a "battle" between the Light and darkness. You see this played out. Those who believe in Jesus have the Light while those who do not walk in darkness. The darkness is trying to overcome the Light (as seen in John 1:5). Here is where the similarities with grass break down. The light from the sun will give way to the night sky on a predictable cycle. Jesus however, has conquered darkness. Darkness will never "overcome" the Light. This is extremely important! Jesus Christ has come to this world to give Light to every man! A Light that darkness cannot drown out.

On a final note, when Jesus was placed on the cross, one of the things that happened was that the sky turned dark. As Luke puts it, "It was about the sixth hour, and darkness came over the whole land until the ninth hour, for the sun stopped shining." (Luke 23:44-45). I may be stretching things a bit but there was darkness when Jesus died. It seems that darkness has won at this point. However, we know the rest of the story. Jesus lives! I imagine that when Jesus walked from the tomb, the sun was shining bright because Light overcame darkness. And, it is by this Light that we are able to have life...because the true Light gives us color.

Too willing to praise

As Christians, we try really hard to ensure that we do not hurt someone's feelings or make someone feel like they are important and gifted. This is a good thing. On the Worship Development Team, we have a sort of team Scripture. It is as follows...

My purpose is that they be encouraged in heart and united in love, so that they may have the full riches of complete understanding, in order that they may know the mystery of God, namely Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. (Col. 2:2-3)

I think this is a good purpose statement for a group to have. Allow me to list a few conceptions about Christianity and the behavior of Christians. They may not all be from the Scriptures but few would argue that they are good virtues of a Christian.

1 - Treat others as you wish to be treated.
2 - If you don't have anything good to say...don't say anything at all.
3 - Love one another.
4 - Encourage one another.
5 - Share in others' struggles.
6 - Be respectful.
7 - Be kind.

I stopped the list at seven because of the implications of perfection. Also, because I knew that I could go on for quite some time but I think seven of them get the idea across.

As Christians we try very hard to accomplish these things. When someone gives their testimony, preaches, sings, prays, or does any other act of service, we give encouragement and support. If we didn't, then we often feel as though we have not succeeded at the seven (and many others) items listed above.

The other side of this issue is criticism. We, as Christians, do not want to be critical of our fellow believers. When they are finished, let's say preaching, we encourage them and praise them for a good message. We make them feel good. The last thing we want to do is be critical and make them feel inadequate. Many times, we see cases of people being too critical which is contrary to what we believe we should be doing. One case takes place on Asbury campus every day. All I have to do is say the name Joel Osteen and criticism will happen. We criticize him, people criticism Rick Warren, Bill Hybels, John Ortberg, and pretty much anyone who preaches on TV.

My point is, regardless as to whether or not any of these people should be criticized, there are times that we go too far. However, I believe that we, much more than we know, go too far with encouragement and praise. Let me say that again...I think we are too quick to praise someone for a job well done.

I believe that at many times our ambition to be good Christians and encourage and praise blinds us to reality. Maybe what that person preached was heresy or horrible theology or against what the church is about. In this case, when we praise them and encourage them, we are only adding fuel to the poor teaching.

If we get right down to it accomplishing the seven goals that I laid out above may look different than we think. Maybe, if the teaching and/or preaching was bad...we should tell them. Consider this:

1 - Treat others as you wish to be treated.
-If I am wrong...I want you to tell me because I desire to be right about this faith.
2 - If you don't have anything good to say...don't say anything at all.
-The question is...who is it good for. If it is good...then it will lead me to a better relationship with Christ because I will have a chance to correct my mistakes. Besides, shouldn't we worry about what is good for the Kingdom rather than what is good for me?
3 - Love one another.
-When you truly love one another you can voice these things. Did you read my last post? It read, "The fear of conflict breeds false harmony." If you are afraid to approach me, then the "harmony" that we have is false. I want real harmony.
4 - Encourage one another.
-If you showed me how to correct my mistakes, I would be encouraged for next time. You can be encouraging and still be honest.
5 - Share in others' struggles.
-Obviously, if I was off-base, I will be struggling. Walk that road with me.
6 - Be respectful.
-If you respected me, expressing your concerns would be respectful.
7 - Be kind.
-The right thing, and kind thing, to do would be to tell me.

There is a lot of overlap within the seven listed above. In case, you don't like my perspective...let's look at what Proverbs has to say within its wisdom.

Better is open rebuke than hidden love. (Proverbs 27:5)
He who rebukes a man will in the end gain more favor than he who has a flattering tongue. (Proverbs 28:23)

Do I have a point in all of this. Maybe. We must keep our eyes open. All too many times we hear or see something that is wrong and we do and say nothing. Maybe we simply choose not to act...maybe we don't realize the wrongness...maybe we are simply blinded with our drive to encourage and praise that we fail to evaluate and scrutinize what we heard or saw.

To encourage does not mean to praise and lift up. It does not mean to overlook negatives and only stress positives. As a Christian...sometimes encouragement means taking that difficult step and speaking out in some fashion for the gospel. And sometimes, just sometimes, that means rebuking another person.

Being able to rebuke openly and honestly will breed true harmony. And nothing sounds better than true harmony.

Harmony

The fear of conflict breeds false harmony.