In the last couple of years, I have seen good people taken out because they were not living in the light. Among those taken out were leaders in the Church who thought they could get away with a hidden sin just one more time until the next time came, and that assault brought them down. 

As a young SWAT cop, I was sent to an officer survival school held at a military base near San Luis Obispo, California. I thought the week of training was to prepare us on how to survive on the streets by employing the latest equipment and tactics. It did some of that, but the real takeaway was to reveal how vulnerable and misinformed we were regarding our assumptions about street-level combat.

One demonstration had to do with car stops. As we sat in bleachers adjacent to an open field, a demonstration was set up to mimic a typical car stop that positioned a patrol vehicle behind a suspect van with blackened windows. We were asked to imagine stepping out of our patrol vehicle and approaching the van when all of a sudden, the back doors swung open to reveal a tripod-mounted .50 caliber machine gun. The training officer manning the weapon opened up and literally made Swiss cheese out of the patrol vehicle. We were invited to imagine what would have remained of the officer caught flat-footed in the line of fire between the van and the patrol car.

The next demonstration was on the other end of the caliber spectrum. It was a full auto .22 rifle called a Laser-Lok that looked like a smaller version of an old Thompson submachine gun.  It had a very high rate of fire spewing out a continuous stream of ammunition. 

Again, we were invited to sit in the bleachers. Out in the field, a cement block wall had been constructed. We were asked to imagine if we had taken refuge behind the block wall assuming we were safe. One of the instructors pulled out the Laser-Lok and began to fire. A single shot from a .22 would do nothing to the wall, but after hundreds of .22 rounds were fired into the wall, a man-size hole was created. In the ensuing lecture, we were instructed about the difference between cover and concealment and the need to keep moving while under attack.

I have thought back on that week of training on numerous occasions over the years when I taught about what really protects a believer. Is it our natural savvy, our education, or a title we hold in the Church?  Jan and I have reduced the survival of our faith to one thing – living in the light. No surprise attack by the enemy when hell swings open the back door of an evil plan will find its mark if we are living in the light and demonstrating a life of ongoing confession and repentance. Living in the light never allows us to assume will are safe hiding behind a wall of pride or self-confidence.

We are all vulnerable unless we are living in the light. No one is immune. Living in the light surrounds us with supernatural protection not available when we choose to live in secrecy and assume our attempts at self-protection and preservation will save us from the next assault on our personal integrity.