When I first read this text I immediately thought that it was my Christian duty to go around and point fingers at as many unbelievers as I could and "expose" their sin. Though that did not seem the most tactful way to make sinners aware of their sin, I thought that is what the Bible was telling me to do. I, of course, did not do that, but instead took a closer look at this text. The idea behind exposing the sin of the unbeliever has more to do with "imitating Christ" than anything else. Look at Ephesians 5:1, just a few verses prior, and you see that we are called to imitate God who is best portrayed in Christ(5:2). We are called to imitate Christ as believers. So my first question to you is this; do you imitate Christ? I could spend a lot of time explaining what it means and what it looks like to imitate Christ in many ways. But I will focus on what Paul focused on in Ephesians chapter 5.
As imitators of Christ we are to "take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness". One may argue that Jesus came to save sinners, and that one of the pharisees problems with Jesus was that He hung around sinners. Also that we should always be involved with the unrepentant sinner. I would agree with that. But this text does not tell us to not relate to the unrepentant, it tells us not to participate in their acts of evil or sin. The verse goes on to say "but instead expose them". This is exactly what Jesus did in His relationships with unbelievers. He exposed the reality of their sinful hearts to them to make it more clear and visible their need for a Savior. So our role as Christ imitators is to expose the sins of those who are lost in the dark. Think about being in a room that is pitch dark. That room represents the lost world. We, as Jesus did, are to go into that room and turn on our flashlight. This light we shine is our way of exposing the darkness with the light of Jesus Christ. This is what it means to "expose them". Just as someone would be lost in a dark room, there are people lost in this dark world. And we are the light of Jesus Christ in the midst of the darkness. That is why Jesus tells us not to hide our light under a bushel.
So we do not expose the sins of the lost in order to condemn them. Rather we are to be Christ imitators and expose the darkened hearts of the lost with the light of Jesus Christ which is His perfect gospel. So I ask again, are you an imitator of Jesus Christ in the midst of this dark world? Or do we enter the dark room shouting claims of salvation without ever turning on our light and never exposing their sins that enables them to see their need for Jesus. I must admit that I struggle with this myself and I need to, for the glory of Jesus Christ, turn on my light. We must be the light of this world in the midst of darkness and expose the sins of the wicked by being imitators of our King and Lord, Jesus Christ.
We must be imitators of God through Jesus Christ!
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