Shadow Christians

The Lord says of those who would be His disciples, ‘You are the light of the world’ (Matthew 5:14), and so we must beware of living in a way that makes us to be only shadow Christians, for the world, already so dark, has little need of these.

Jesus says, ‘If you love Me, you will keep My commandments’ (John 14:15). He is not here referring to what is known as ‘the Ten Commandments,’ which He already assumes we are obeying. Instead, it is as Abba Isaac of Syria writes,

The will of the Spirit is for everyone that loves Him to abide in labor. God’s Spirit does not dwell in those that are living peacefully. The sons of God are distinct from others, because they live in grief while the world boasts of extravagance and tranquility. God did not deign for those who love Him to rest while they are still in their bodies, but for now, to dwell in grief, burdened, in labor, in scarcity, in bareness, in want, in humiliation, in insults, in bodily inconveniences, in sad thoughts. Thus are the words fulfilled about them, ‘In the world you will have tribulation,’ (John 16:33). God knows that those who live peacefully are incapable of loving Him and, therefore, denies the righteous this temporary peace and enjoyment.

Yes, brothers, it is as Jesus Christ says, ‘I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world’ (John 16:33).