What does it mean to walk in holiness and not be Pharisaical in the process? It must be possible because The Lord has commanded it of us. There is an interesting passage in Luke 11:34-36. Your eye is the lamp of your body. When your eyes are healthy, your whole body also is full of light. But when they are unhealthy, your body also is full of darkness. See to it, then, that the light within you is not darkness. Therefore, if your whole body is full of light, and no part of it dark, it will be just as full of light as when a lamp shines its light on you.
There are two parts of this which stand out to me. First, “See to it.” This is a clear directive about something we are to do, an action we are responsible for. It is not sufficient to pray that God do it. “See to it!” means it is something which demands our attention. Clearly His objective is that we should each be full of light. Light carriers, light bearers, light shiners. But getting there is something we must tend to.
Second, we usually read “If your whole body is full of light, it will be just as full of light as when a lamp shines its light on you.” But wait. There is that little phrase between commas which is usually not noticed: “and no part of it dark.”
This means that part of our being can have light within, but there may be places still in darkness, where the light does not shine. It is as if I invite you into my great room, even the guest bedroom and bath – just don’t go down the hall to the laundry. There may be dragons and beasties in there. Yet that is the very place where Jesus wants us to “see to it.” Jesus wants access with His light to the whole house.
We have to have healthy eyes in order to “See to it,” for when they are unhealthy our whole body will be full of darkness. To have healthy eyes means being willing and able to recognize that which defiles us and keeps us unclean. Perhaps this is why the Lord says “I counsel you to buy from me gold refined in the fire, so you can become rich; and white clothes to wear, so you can cover your shameful nakedness, and salve to put on your eyes, so you can see. Rev.3:18 In every part of this verse reliance on the Holy Spirit is essential; to become like gold, and to receive a robe of righteousness, and finally to see ourselves clearly are all a part of his work in us. We are never self-made men in the kingdom. At the same time, our desire, cooperation and obedience are necessary to see any change come about in us.