Lenten Perspective: No Double Agents

I share these thoughts hoping they are of help to someone else.

Comments are always welcomed.

If you find these thoughts helpful, please share.

No Double Agents

The people who walked in darkness

have seen a great light;

those who lived in a land of deep darkness -

on them light has shined.

Isaiah 9:2 (NRSV)

I want to be in the Light

As You are in the Light

I want to shine like the stars in the heavens

Oh, Lord be my Light and be my salvation

'Cause all I want is to be in the Light

From "In the Light" by DC Talk

Looking back on my previous two Lenten perspectives, I noticed a recurring theme, specifically the age-old battle between light and darkness.

In my first Lenten perspective, I pointed out that, before Jesus forayed into the wilderness, He spent some time at the river.  In the wilderness, He faced temptation, but, at the river, He was empowered by the Spirit and reminded of who He was by the Father.  I suspect that maybe the light Jesus received at the river is what helped Him to withstand the darkness He faced in the wilderness.  Like Jesus, we too would do well to spend some time basking in the light of God's love before we confront the darkness.

In my previous perspective, I noted that the coming of one kingdom means the downfall of another.  The coming of the Kingdom of God, which Jesus proclaimed, means the downfall of the demonic kingdoms of oppression.  As we read the Gospels, we watch these kingdoms clash when Jesus and his followers heal the sick and drive out demons.  Like Jesus' first disciples, we too are called to shine the light we have been given in order to fight back against the darkness, as we confront demons of oppression like greed and bigotry.

As followers of Jesus, we too are drawn into the battle between light and darkness.  I cannot emphasize enough that we are not in a battle against other people.  In the words of St. Paul, "Our struggle is not against enemies of blood and flesh, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers of this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places."¹  Other people are not our enemies.  We are all brothers and sisters, since we are all children of one God, and we are all created in the image of God.  Our battle is against the darkness, and we fight for the sake of people trapped in darkness.

One day, some of Jesus' detractors called into question Jesus' side in the battle.  Jesus had just exorcised a demon that rendered a person unable to speak.  In a deliberate attempt to smear Him, His critics started claiming that He was using demonic power to drive demons out of people.²  They were claiming, in other words, that Jesus was acting as a double agent of sorts.

The battle between light and darkness does not lend itself to double agents.  Light and darkness cannot coexist, because darkness is, by definition, the absence of light.  As soon as light is introduced into an environment, darkness has no choice but to flee.  Forces of darkness create dark places by blocking out light.  Forces of light fight back against the darkness by bringing light into dark places and by tearing down the things that block out light.  To borrow a phrase from Robert Louis Stevenson, they "knock holes in the darkness."

Jesus began picking apart His critics' accusation, suggesting that "every kingdom involved in civil war becomes a wasteland" and that "a house torn apart by divisions will collapse."³  Jesus had just driven a demon out of a person, thereby bringing light into a life taken captive by darkness.  It would be counterproductive for someone on the side of darkness to spread light, because the darkness would lose ground.

Jesus said to His critics, "Whoever isn't with me is against me, and whoever doesn't gather with me, scatters."⁴  In the battle between light and darkness, there are no double agents.  Either we either bring light into dark places, or we block out light.  It is not possible to do both.  During this season of introspection and repentance called Lent, perhaps we should question our own side in the battle and examine our actions.  Are we to "knocking holes in the darkness" by shining the light we have been given, or are we blocking out the light?


Notes:

1. Ephesians 6:12 (NRSV)
2. Luke 11:14-15
3. Luke 11:17 (CEB)
4. Luke 11:23 (CEB)

Christ Exorcising a Mute is an illustration by Gustave Doré originally published in 1865.