Saint Paul, in his letter to the Ephesians 5.11-14 gives some details of just how clearly the Lord defines the ways we are to stand for him:  Have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose them. We are never free to ignore what is being done in the arena of life which will bring about a darkness within our spirits and therefore in our lives. We cannot ignore them either, but must battle them.

This is not a pass for us to merely speak about those things which take away the light of Christ from the believer. Talking about the enemy and his people and their efforts within the Body of Christ is never to be seen as satisfactory:  For it is shameful even to mention what the disobedient do in secret. We are to stand firmly against that influence in the lives of believers, declaring:  ‘Here’s the enemy; and here’s God!’

When we are strong in our desire to shed the Lord’s light on those areas of darkness with which we are faced day-by-day, the true depth of that darkness can be seen:  But everything exposed by the light becomes visible, for it is light that makes everything visible. When God’s light is shed in the areas of the enemy’s influence it becomes possible to then decide what action is required to stand firm against him.

The call of our Lord is for us to be alert! We’re not to search out things just to point out to others, but to be awake when the Lord makes us aware of dangers ahead:  This is why it is said:  ‘Wake up, O sleeper, rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.’ By waiting and watching for the Lord’s movement in our midst we will be of effective use to Jesus in bringing about his strong light into the hearts of others.