The City on the Hill: Does the Light Still Shine?

This article was first written for the ICBF blog in April 2015. I hope the reposting of it here today reminds us of important truths and encourages us to forbear willingly with one another.

Did you hear of the city on the hill?
Said one old man to the other
It once shined bright and it would be shining still
But they all started turning on each other
You see, the poets thought the dancers were shallow
And the soldiers thought the poets were weak
And the elders saw the young ones as foolish
And the rich man never heard the poor man speak

And one by one, they ran away
With their made-up minds to leave it all behind
And the light began to fade in the city on the hill
The city on the hill


Each one thought that they knew better
But they were different by design
Instead of standing strong together
They let their differences divide

And one by one, they ran away
With their made-up minds to leave it all behind
And the light began to fade in the city on the hill
The city on the hill
(“The City on the Hill” by Casting Crowns)

I heard these lyrics awhile back, and I was struck by the message they portrayed. This song addresses the subject that divides friends, families, and churches at a terrifying rate. You see, we forget that God created different individuals with different personalities and gave them different gifts and impressed on them different personal convictions. And in our pride, we sometimes see our way as the only right way, not realizing that the very gifts God gave us were exactly as different as necessary to make the body of Christ complete. We can easily point out a person’s weaknesses once we’ve known them long enough, and when we’ve known them even longer, their weaknesses seem to overpower their strengths.

I’m going to take an educated guess and suppose that these song lyrics were based off of Matthew 5:14-16 because it’s almost a direct implication to Christ’s words in this passage. And if that’s not where the lyrics come from, the passage still fits.

You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. (ESV)

This is part of Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount. He calls His followers the light of the world. And the city on a hill cannot hide its light. It stands at a higher elevation and shines to those down below. One doesn’t light a lamp and hide it. A light is no use when covered and hidden away, but instead it is placed on a stand, higher up to spread its rays around to those who need it.

This city on a hill in Matthew was referring to the disciples first, and then, through the disciples, churches, families, and individuals carry on the light of the Gospel to those who live in darkness. One way believers accomplish that today is by using their gifts and by living in unity with fellow believers.

The lyrics of “City On the Hill” begin with one man sharing with another the story of a city: a city full of light and goodness. But it was quickly destroyed when the citizens turned on one another. Despising each person’s differences, the once peaceful people caused the city to crumble inward. Their united front was broken, and, in division, they tore into each other, shattering the harmony. They saw, not each other’s strengths, but the weaknesses that mirrored some of their own ways of life.

Not knowing that unity created strength, the people ran from the brokenness, from their differences, thus quenching the light which had for so long shone on the hill. They would not be dissuaded. Fear had bound its chains tightly, and pride had kept them there. So they ran down the hill, instead of facing the pain and humility that healing could bring. And because they were set on a hill, the change was noticed by many. A city set on a hill cannot be hid.

Each thought they knew better than the other. The poets thought the dancers were shallow./The soldiers thought the poets were weak./The elders saw the young ones as foolish./And the rich man never heard the poor man speak. They let their differences divide them, oblivious to the knowledge that they were different by Divine design.

The body of believers today is that city set on a hill. We have the true light, and when we hold a united front, the glory of God shines out to those around. We aren’t perfect, but the pure light of Christ shines through the weakness of our flesh and portrays a redeemed brokenness, rather than an unresolved brokenness that divides relationships.

We’re called to be one body by the grace and strength of God. We cannot do without one another. If we run away in pride or fear, the light will diminish. Therefore, we are called to stand by faith and live in unity with other members of Christ’s body. But we’re all created differently, and while walking in the liberty of grace, we’re called to live in unity to display the Lordship of Christ—for He is our Head.

Perhaps one of the best descriptions of spiritual gifts comes from Romans 12. Paul lists seven gifts, warning the church not to let pride take control, but to use discernment in exercising their strengths. Jesus’ followers are nothing in and of themselves, and the knowledge of this keeps pride and fear at bay, knowing that only our Head enables us to live out our strengths for His glory. We are to be as one body, functioning together as one whole unit. Each individual carries different strengths, specifically assigned to him by the grace of God, but we all have the same function as the body of Christ: reflecting our Head in all we say and do.

Listed here are the spiritual gifts given to believers in this age. (I currently believe that some spiritual gifts given to believers at the time of the apostles have ceased. Therefore, I’m listing them as they would apply to us today.) I believe there are a few more throughout Scripture, but I’m detailing some of the main ones.

The preacher gifting is one that often desires to see a person make things right with God. Their passion is to see people’s lives align rightly with Scripture, and if that means confronting sin, then they aren’t afraid to do so. They want to see people released from sin’s chains. They might not be preachers in the sense of leading a congregation, but they love to declare the truth of God’s Word, and their joy comes from seeing people walking in that truth.

The servant is one who loves to meet the practical needs of those around them. Their strength lies in doing good for other people and being concerned with a person’s well-being. The servant would give what they don’t have if it would only fill a gap in someone else’s life. They enable others to use their strength more fully, by taking on practical tasks. They like to use their time, resources, and money to fulfill needs, and they receive joy knowing that God worked through them to help another person.

Those who are gifted in teaching desire to explain God’s truths. They go down deep, pulling up the treasures from God’s Word. They study and find the little details and explain things to people. The teacher pours his time into studying just to see the light in people’s eyes when they suddenly understand a truth. They have the heavy responsibility of declaring truth and making Christ known to themselves and others. They passionately pursue studying Scripture, and their joy comes from presenting knowledge in and understandable way to those around them.

The exhorter is an encourager. They give hope to the discouraged, and strength to the wavering. They love to tell people that God is greater than any difficulty. Encouragers exude love and compassion, and they take the time to help people see the good in a bad situation. They want a person to pick up their life and press forward in the strength of the Lord. They find joy in lifting spirits and giving people hope.

The gift of giving is one that often manifests itself in financial means. These kinds of people love to invest their money in the work of God. They can never give too much, and they desire people to find material needs fulfilled by their giving. The giver will give you the shirt off his back just to relieve a physical need because they love sharing what God has blessed them with. They find joy knowing that God uses their abilities to diminish someone’s empty resources.

The ruler is an organizer. They run around with the to-do lists. They put chaos into order and take charge in emergencies. They administrate and oversee things so the to-do lists end up with a nice row of checkmarks. The ruler’s strength lies in directing people to schedule and organize things, so everything is done on time and in the right way. The rulers have their sights set to the goal, and they take joy in seeing God’s work completed in a precise and accurate manner.

The mercy-givers empathize with others. They are emotionally empathetic with people. They cry with those who are crying, and they genuinely rejoice with those who are rejoicing. They can feel the internal emotions of a person even if they’ve never been in the situation. They are the ones who are often willing to walk with a person through the healing process. Mercy-givers take joy in bearing others’ burdens.

These are all huge strengths, and everyone has some of them as their main strengths. They are good things, God-given things. Each carries the weight of a specific mission with it. Each one includes a passion that weighs on a person’s heart until they fulfill it. Each one is different. And when you put them all together in a group, the body of Christ is supposed to work as a physical body would—in harmony with one another, and all with the goal of bring benefit and glory to the Head.

The problem comes when people turn inward and start attacking their own members. The mercy-giver says the preacher has no compassion. The ruler says the giver has no organization or restraint. The exhorter says the teacher wears people out with details. And the preacher wonders how crying with someone could ever possibly teach them truth. The person who serves tells the giver that handing out money doesn’t fix the unmet practical needs. The teacher complains that the encourager has no sense of reality. The giver is confused as to how preaching at someone shows love to them. And when a person’s gifting helps an individual, the other members are jealous that their gift wasn’t needed. They started turning on each other. Each one thought that they knew better/But they were different by design/Instead of standing strong together/They let their differences divide.
The body of Christ requires every gift and every individual in the church of Christ to work together with its strengths and weaknesses. They need each other, for without the balance, each gift would swing to an unbiblical extreme. The preacher needs the balance of the mercy-giver. The strength of serving must be balanced with the responsibility of the ruler. The teacher needs the encourager. The Exhorter needs the reality of the preacher and teacher. The giver needs to balance out with serving. The ruler needs the compassion of the mercy-giver. And the strength of mercy needs to balance with the truth of the preacher. The weakness of one is the strength for the other. To run and hide from the weaknesses is to put out the light of city on the hill. To run is to live in pride instead of accepting that others might have something you lack. To run is to ignore the gifts the Sovereign God gave and reject the command to shine the light.

We can’t do without each other. If we could, that would mean we were fully capable of meeting all needs with our gift alone. And that’s impossible. There are all different characters, personalities, struggles, and strengths; it’s the body of believers who need to demonstrate unity through diversity. Strengths were given to benefit believers and glorify Christ. Weaknesses were given to curb pride and show us the sufficiency of Christ.

The world is searching still. It is rooted deep in people to know they need others, and even unbelievers want companionship. Let’s show the brotherhood of Christ to the unbelievers by standing strong instead of running, showing the diversity of unity when we meet the weakness of another with our strength, and accepting the strength of another when we cannot do it all. Tearing into one another, despising the gifts of one another, and fearing the unknown isn’t compatible with a God who created differences. Differences were never meant to divide, but to bring broken people together. We’re all broken in some way, and sometimes it’s the gift of another that provides the strength we need.

The body is to resemble the Head. It’s to be small likeness of the future Kingdom which will live in complete harmony under the King of Kings. But the light of brotherly unity is fading quickly all over the world. Doctrinal issues, personal convictions, deep struggles, and differing interests divide people sooner than they build them up. Is our city going to shine? Have we made up our minds to stay? Or are people going to see a darkening city with the citizens running in fear and pride? Are we going to face the unknown and work through it or disappear into the darkness? Does the light still shine in the city on the hill? The city is our God-given home, and if that light goes out, there may not be another to light it immediately. The light from one city creates the strength for the next city to keep on shining. One person’s strength gives strength to another. It’s up to all the believers across the world to carry the light. United we stand and divided we fall.

And the world is searching still
But it was the rhythm of the dancers
That gave the poets life
It was the spirit of the poets
That gave the soldiers strength to fight
It was the fire of the young ones
It was the wisdom of the old
It was the story of the poor man
That needed to be told
­(“The City on the Hill” by Casting Crowns)

Behold, how good and pleasant it is when brothers dwell in unity!

(Psalm 133:1)

We are to grow up in every way

Into him who is the head, into Christ,

from whom the whole body, joined and held together

by every join with which it is equipped,

when each part is working properly,

makes the body grow so that it 

builds itself up in love.

(Ephesians 4:15-16)

Arise, shine, for your light has come,

and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you.

For behold, darkness shall cover the earth, 

and thick darkness the peoples;

but the Lord will arise upon you,

and his glory will be seen upon you.

And nations shall come to your light,

and kings to the brightness of your rising.

(Isaiah 60:1-3)