Salt and Light

Saturday, June 17, 2017

Salt and Light

Urgent! - 

We are the light and the salt, and when we lose our ability to shed light and the salt loses its taste!

Actually, Jesus said we become good for nothing, meaning our goodness becomes useless.

Matthew 5:13

Being salt and light is not optional. 

Jesus did not say you can be...or you have the potential to be...He said you are!

Everyone who has trusted Christ for salvation and is born again is the salt of the earth and the light of the world.

Jesus did not say you are the honey or sweetener of the world. 

Instead, Christ-like believers may aggravate wounds like salt in a cut; be an irritant.  Why"  Because the world in which we live is decaying and rotting.  It is in need of a preservative! 

In the ancient world, salt has two primary functions. The first was a preservative. Salt was rubbed into meat to slow down decay. 

Preserving food was very important in a society that didn’t have refrigerators. Salt was also used the same way we use it...... to add flavor and zest.

So, yes, we should see ourselves as flavoring agents! 
It is part of our identity. 
Jesus begins Matthew 5:13 with “you” and you alone are the salt of the earth. This is our function and role to society—to preserve and flavor.  Jesus wanted His disciples to give flavor and zest to the world through His teaching; to preserve the truth as He proclaimed it to the world; to make the world thirst for more. He is describing the influence He wants His followers to have in this world.  

**When salt is contaminated it becomes corrosive and poisonous. Contaminated salt cannot even be used for fertilizer on the field, so it has to be thrown on the road. If we allow disobedience, carelessness, discontent, and indifference to rule our lives, we can become contaminated salt and lose our saltiness. 

                                                              

                                     

Thought I'd share this illustration of the salt shaker – "Here we are inside the church (inside the salt shaker). We love each other, support each other, encourage each other, and serve alongside each other. Inside the salt shaker, it’s really salty. If you like salt, there’s no better place than in the salt shaker. As more and more people come, we’ve been filling the salt shaker with more and more salt in here.
As long as the salt is still in the salt shaker, what good is it? What happens to salt that stays in the salt shaker a long time? It gets crusty. We enjoy being cozy with other grains of salt. We enjoy the safety of being in the salt shaker. We can talk and study and read books about the adventures other salt had when they dared to get out of the salt shaker, but as long as we’re comfy in the salt shaker, we’re having no influence on the culture and the community around us and we’re not fulfilling our purpose."

Friends, we are to shake our salt out into our communities!  Our world desperately needs the transforming power that only the Gospel message provides.
For salt to have influence and for light to have effect, both have to be let out. For the body of believers to have its effect, Christians cannot be bottled up in themselves or remain in the four corners of the church, but must be out and about in the community and in the world!
           
                                                                         

The light of the world is only needed if the world is dark, blind, and in need of illumination. Being the light of the world means for Christians, spreading everywhere the light that comes from on high. It means fighting darkness due to evil, often caused by ignorance, prejudice and selfishness. The purpose of light at night is to help you see. That’s why nobody puts a bowl over a light at night; it defeats the purpose. As "light" we are to illuminate, make visible, make a difference.  It is important, however to not that it is not our light, but the reflection of Jesus Christ that people will see in and through us.  

Shining is not optional for light. It is a key feature of light. 

Jesus concludes with “Let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.” (Verse 16) 

"In Philippians 2:15, the apostle Paul says, "Believers, you are to shine as light in the world". 
The Greek word used here is very similar to the word for the beacon that a lighthouse emits. 
The beacon is bright and unmistakable in its purpose. It warns of danger and directs to safe harbor. 
It provides hope for those who have lost hope. 
Everyday we are surrounded by people in the darkness, separated from the God who loves them. 
God uses His children, like beacons from a lighthouse, to show the way to Him."

A final note.... salt and light are most effective when they do not call attention to themselves. Just as in well seasoned food, the salt is not noticeable, and in a properly lit room, the lamps are not the focus of attention, so a follower of Jesus Christ good deeds do not redound to themselves.......but lead others to glorify God.