Gary Thomas went to Japan to share the gospel and speak to a group of people. The next two posts will be two parts of his article about what he learned about sin, its effect, and his effect on those around him.

“Our trip took us into Singapore, an impressive cosmopolitan country justly deserving its title of “The Garden City.” As we strolled past the Clarke Quay, I began praying for the people, including those who would hear me speak in a couple days’ time.

My mind wandered to a series of emails I had received from a Christian ministry working in Thailand. They warned of a rising “sexual tourism,” in which young women and men were often lured into the country with promises of false jobs, and then virtually imprisoned and forced to sell themselves into sexual service for the tourists.

Because I was an outsider in Singapore, I thought of what I was bringing to the country: truth, I hoped, as well as encouragement, a passion for God, and, I prayed, some sense of the manifestation of the risen Christ. All of these things would be good gifts to bring to Singapore, precious splashes of glory that I prayed God would spread through me.

But there is another war within me. Like the “sexual tourists” in Thailand, I could bring something much different: my lust, my pride, my selfishness, or my ambition.

It brought me up short to think about it: Spiritual weakness is real, and it is possible for the consequences of our spiritual illnesses to be far reaching. I can bring lust into a country with me, as well as greed, arrogance, prejudice, racism, and condescension.

Or, I can bring Christ.

Because of the ongoing work of the Holy Spirit, I can literally bring Christ wherever I go. Paul taught precisely this truth when he wrote in Galatians 2:20, “I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me….” He also told the Corinthians that we are temples of the Holy Spirit, but these temples can move! Wherever we go, we can bring a holy place of worship and adoration.

But do we? Do you?

Let’s make this thought personal: Every time you enter a room, you bring something with you. Is it lust? If you allow your thoughts to roam into impure places, at that moment, you are creating and bringing lust into your environment. When you walk along a sidewalk, stroll through the marketplace, or gather at a church, what are you bringing with you: lust, or the Spirit of Christ?

When you walk into your house following a long day at school or work, do you bring selfishness, negativity, harshness, condemnation — or the meekness and gentleness of Christ?

When you go to church on Sunday, what marks your manner, more than anything else? Christ, or some spiritual failing?

It was a stunning thought for me to realize that wherever I go, I bring something with me. I can bring Christ to people, or I can bring spiritual sickness, weakness, and sin. I can walk around, casting off splashes of glory or spraying people with showers of sin. What do I want my life to leave behind?”

What are you “splashing” on others today? Though we have spiritual sickness, weakness, and sin as a very real part of our experience, we have Christ also within us. And He is greater than our sin and weakness (1 John 4:4)! So today, wherever we are, we can cast of splashes of glory in spite of our weakness. We have the power of Christ at work in us to glorify our Father. We have all that we need to live lives worthy of the gospel today (2 Peter 1:3). We have God Himself, the Holy Spirit, within us equipping us for Godliness.

This is a song on Sovereign Grace’s new CD. I have shed many tears listening to this song. This song is a portrait of the paradoxes of this Christian life. We live to die. To be low is to be high. Although the world tries to escape the valleys, Christ tells us the valleys are the very place we will see Him. In the valley we are humbled. Someone once said, “Anything that humbles us is a good thing”. The world would say the opposite. God says this is truth. Bob Kauflin said, ‘My prayer is that the song will encourage those who are in times of suffering or confusion, or simply facing the ongoing struggle against indwelling sin. All these are signs that we are living in the ‘already but not yet.’ We haven’t experienced the fullness of God’s salvation yet, but one day we will be completely delivered from the effects of the fall.”

When You lead me to the valley of vision
I can see You in the heights
And though my humbling wouldn’t be my decision
It’s here Your glory shines so bright
So let me learn that the cross precedes the crown
To be low is to be high
That the valley’s where You make me more like Christ

Let me find Your grace in the valley
Let me find Your life in my death
Let me find Your joy in my sorrow
Your wealth in my need
That You’re near with every breath
In the valley

In the daytime there are stars in the heavens
But they only shine at night
And the deeper that I go into darkness
The more I see their radiant light
So let me learn that my losses are my gain
To be broken is to heal
That the valley’s where Your power is revealed

I thank Him that we can smile in the valley, this the world cannot do. You can listen to this song here.