Accentuate the Positive

Accentuate the Positive

By Rev. Lonnie C. Crowe

During the 1940’s, the decade of World War II and its aftermath, Bing Crosby, accompanied by the Andrews Sister, encouraged their listeners with Johnny Mercer’s classic lyric:

“You've got to accentuate the positive
Eliminate the negative
Latch on to the affirmative
Don't mess with Mister In-Between

You've got to spread joy up to the maximum
Bring gloom down to the minimum
Have faith or pandemonium’s
Liable to walk upon the scene.”

Soul singer Sam Cooke revived the song in 1958, that supposedly utopian time that we revere as the epitome of the “American Dream.”  In just a few short years, the American dream became a nightmare of riots, sit-ins, and demonstrations fueled with the passion of those who had been unable to share in that dream. 

Accentuating the positive is Biblical.  It is part of the abundant life found in Jesus Christ (John 10:10).  Accentuating the positive does not mean ignoring the negative.  It means recognizing and evaluating both the positive and the negative and coming to an understanding that the positive is more powerful than the negative.  

We are often confounded with improper definitions.  Many times, those improper definitions weaken our theology.  

We have been taught that darkness is the opposite of light.  True opposites have the same force, the same weight, the same power.  They can balance the teeter-totter of our thinking and keep us struggling to remain on the fulcrum of life. If darkness has the same force, the same power as light, then light cannot overcome darkness.  If evil has the same power as good, then good cannot overcome evil.  If hate has the same force as love, then love cannot overcome hate.  If ignorance has the same weight as wisdom, then wisdom cannot overcome ignorance.  Thinking this way, we entrap ourselves in an existential conundrum that leaves us hopeless.

In truth, darkness is not the opposite of light.  It is the absence of light.  In the darkness, we need light only one candle to find our way.  Light dispels darkness

God said that light, that which dispels darkness, is good.  He did not say that the darkness, the absence of light, is good.  In the same matter, evil is not the opposite of good.  It is the absence of good. Good is greater than evil; love is greater than hate; wisdom is greater than ignorance.

The Church, the Bride of Christ, must submit to the admonition of Isaiah 60:1-3 (NKJV):
 “Arise, shine; For your light has come! And the glory of the LORD is risen upon you.
For behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, And deep darkness the people; But the LORD will arise over you, And His glory will be seen upon you.
The Gentiles (unbelievers) shall come to your light, And kings to the brightness of your rising.”

Jesus said to His listeners, “You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.” Matthew 5:14-16 NKJV).

Nearly 80% of the people in the United States call themselves Christian. Our potential for light is far greater than the darkness that seems to be consuming us. It is time for God’s people to lead the way.  We must stop feeding the negative with our fear, doubt, unbelief, anger and strife.  It is time for us to call forth the promises of God, to quit wallowing in the problems and to seek the solutions.  We must walk in the light, speak in the light, and vote in the light. 

Our Lord is an overcomer. “These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world." (John 16:33 NKJV).   

Let’s allow Him to do that through each of us.

Determine to let your little light shine.