The Beautiful Accomplishments that Magnify God

"Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven."

Christ continues to use light as a metaphor for knowledge, but here he makes an important connection between knowledge and action. He is saying that our knowledge of God leads directly to our accomplish great things. These accomplishments are what gives glory to our Father.

The original words translated as "good work" are kalos ergon, but these words don't quite carry the sense of charity that "good works" carries in English. Kalos mean "beautiful," "excellent," and "praiseworthy." It doesn't mean charitable or kind. Ergon means "business," "productivity," or "accomplishments." It doesn't mean any action but an act that requires effort or work.

It is in these great accomplishments (not simple acts of kindness) that we give to God. The word translated as "glorify" here is doxazo, which doesn't exactly mean "glorify" or "praise." Doxazo primarily means to think, imagine, or suppose. Secondarily, it means to magnify or extol, which is where we get the "glorify" used in the translation. The idea is that excellent accomplishments makes us think about God and imagine the greatness of God.

Personally, I have always had a problem with this "glorifying God" stuff, since humans can do little to add luster to God. The amazing universe glorifies God plenty. We can add little. However, our accomplishments can make people think about God.

Perhaps a better translation of this verse would be "Let your light shine before men so that they will see your excellent accomplishments and think about your Father in heaven."