Where Is Your Lighthouse?

Read Matthew 5:12-17

A few years back I read a story about the moving of a lighthouse on the east coast. It was an interesting story. The most intriguing thing to me is when I realize that we are the lighthouse to our world. It is the lighthouses of this world that can show forth the light of safety in this drowning society.
The thing that struck a chord in my heart while reading this story was that they were moving it. The lighthouse was more than 100 years old, and had been the safety beacon for many ships. The lighthouse had been placed when it was built at 1600 feet from the rocks along the shore. Someone thought it was safer to bring the lighthouse back because the shoreline had grown closer. They moved this lighthouse to where it was still 1600 feet from the water, but it was now 3200 feet from the dangerous rocks along the shore. The surf moved closer to the lighthouse so they simply moved the lighthouse.
While they were moving this enormous structure, they obviously could only move it inch by inch. It was a long and gradual shift. It was so slow that, “…the 500 people or so watching when the lighthouse moved the first few feet did not respond until a park service volunteer announced that it had been moved."
The other thing that concerned me was what one worker stated upon the finish of that move. He exclaimed, “It was much easier to move than I imagined it would be.”
Today, lighthouses all over the spiritual world are being moved back from the dangers of the surf. While people are sailing along the shorelines, lighthouses have shifted away. No longer can you look at the name of a church and trust that it is in the same spiritual position that it was a year ago.
Under the guise of safety and accessibility, churches have wavered on their core principles. They have given away some of their identity. They have compromised the things that got them to where they are. It frightens me to think that little by little some churches have gone so far as to give up their core beliefs and doctrines because the “surf” has come too close.
I am thankful that I belong to a church that believes in its foundations. A church that believes in its core principles and will not waver is becoming unheard of. I believe it is up to us to withstand the beatings of the sea and stand as the lighthouse to safety and salvation. We will not move, we will not waver. We will consistently and conscientiously shed the light of truth to those around us.