Walking in the Light of Christ: Insights from the New Testament

Walking in the Light of Christ: Insights from the New Testament

Quick answer

What does it mean to walk in the light? It means living honestly and in the open, in the presence of God, rather than managing how you appear to everybody including yourself. The New Testament uses the phrase of the earliest Christians, and it carries more weight than we usually give it, because it describes a deliberate and sustained way of living that the writers believed was possible and uncomfortable. At Zion Worship Centre London we teach it as a practice.

There is a phrase in the New Testament that gets used far more often than it gets properly understood, and the gap between the two is where most of the confusion lives. To walk in the light is neither a metaphor about optimism nor a technique for managing difficult feelings. It is a picture of a life lived openly, in the presence of the One who is light, and the New Testament uses it almost as a synonym for belonging to Christ.

Zion Worship Centre London was built around three words: Deliverance. Healing. Restoration. Walking in the light is how those three stop being a slogan and become something a congregation can actually do, which is why our Senior Pastor, Reverend Dianne Namara Ntale, teaches it plainly.

Where the phrase comes from, and what it does not mean

Three passages carry most of the weight, and they are far more useful read together than when quoted in isolation.

• 1 John 1:7. “If we walk in the light, as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another.” The condition is not our effort. It is where He is, and our job is to be there.
• Ephesians 5:8. “Walk in the light, as children of light.” Paul uses children, not employees. This is family identity, not a performance review.
• John 8:12. “I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall never walk in darkness.” Following is sustained; the tense is continuous, not momentary.

What the phrase does not mean matters just as much. It is not a claim that the person walking in the light has nothing left to confess, and any church using it that way has misunderstood. The same letter says in the next breath that if we confess our sins He is faithful and just, and the two only make sense together. Light is not reserved for the sorted, because it is what makes confession possible.

Walking in the light is costly, and it was always meant to be

There is a reason the New Testament treats this as a deliberate act rather than an atmosphere. Walking in the light means your life becomes available to be examined by God and, at least partly, by other people who know you, and no version of that is comfortable. It is also the only way a community can be trustworthy, since a congregation that never examines anything has no reason to be trusted.

Scripture is unusually blunt about what happens to people who prefer to stay in the dark, and the warning is not aimed at outsiders. The same passage in 1 John that commands us to walk in the light immediately warns that anyone claiming to have no sin is deceiving themselves. Concealment is presented as something that costs you something real, not a boundary to be respected.

So a church that genuinely means this will do uncomfortable things, whether or not they are popular. It will correct you, sometimes badly and sometimes in public. It will ask about the parts of your life you would rather not mention, and it will not accept a private version of the truth sitting alongside the public one. If you want a congregation that never questions anything, this is the wrong church and we would rather you knew now.

What it looks like in the life of a local church

Again, a description is not evidence. Here is the practice as lived at 132 Lewisham High Street, London SE13 6EE.

How the departments fit together is on the ministries page, and when we gather on the services page.

A short checklist for anyone asking if this is real

If you are considering joining any church, these are fair questions.

1. Will someone tell me when I am wrong?
2. Does anyone here admit to being wrong?
3. Who is responsible for the money, by name?

Questions about walking in the light

Do I have to be a Christian to come to Zion?

No. Walking in the light is what we aim for, not a ticket you buy at the door. Plenty who attend describe themselves as searching. Come and see whether it holds up in person.

What if I have something I am ashamed of?

Then this is the situation the teaching is for. Nobody at Zion will make you explain your private life in a group. Talk to someone one to one, and it stays with them.

Will going to church change my situation?

We will not promise that. No church can promise a mended body, a rescued marriage or a settled doubt, and any that does is telling you something untrue about itself. What we can say is that you will be among people who pray for one another.

Who leads Zion Worship Centre London?

Senior Pastor Reverend Dianne Namara Ntale leads Administration with Minister Savana Kyle and Rita Nakimera, who also runs the Reverend’s Office.

Who is responsible for this church?

Senior Pastor Reverend Dianne Namara Ntale, and the named leader of each of our eleven departments, all of whom are listed on the ministries page. Zion Worship Centre London is charity number 1199496, and every one of those is a person you could ask for by name.

The Finance Department exists so stewardship has a name.

How do I start?

Come to a Sunday service, 11:00 to 13:00, or write to us. Either is fine.

Walking in the light, and what it asks of you

To walk in the light is to stop managing how you appear and let your life be examined, somewhere it is safe and you are not alone in doing it. It is slower than hiding, and it costs more, and it is the only version of faith the New Testament describes.

Zion Worship Centre London stands for Deliverance. Healing. Restoration, and walking in the light is how we hold those three without claiming more than we can deliver. Come to a service, or ask us first.