You are the salt of the earth, but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness by restored? It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled under people’s feet.
Matthew 5:13
One of the identity pieces as Christians, as Jesus highlights in the Sermon on the Mount, is that we are the salt of the earth.
What does this mean?
Well I think what Jesus means to say here is that Christians are the primary change agents of the world for God. Here’s some things about salt which formulate what I think he means:
Salt is a flavoring agent. It changes the taste of whatever it touches.
We bring change to the world around us as salt brings flavor to food. As salt brings a particular flavor, so Christians bring a distinct flavor. The truth is, every single person affects / changes the world; it’s just a matter of…”in what way?”, “with what power?”, and “for what purpose?”.
For Christians the answer to those questions are, “in the way of Jesus.”, “by the power of the Holy Spirit in our lives,” and “for the love and glory of God.”
Salt is unique in its taste; there’s nothing like salt.
Nobody can do the job that Christians do in the world. No Muslim, no social agency, no government, and no humanitarian group can do what Christians can do because we are mandated by God to do what we are to do.
It doesn’t authorize everything we do, as if every thing that Christians do is of God, but the things we do of for God, by God’s power–no one can do those things. We are miracle workers in ways the world around us can never be.
As God called his church from the book of Acts, he called us the transformative hope of the world. The world will continue and be completion based on God’s role in the church at large, and in the lives of believers everywhere.
Salt is useless if it is not salty.
Christians are without purpose if we are not world-changers for God. It is in our DNA to change the world for good. Whether we are photographers, work at Starbucks, high school teachers, business owners, students, missionaries, pastors, God has called every single Christian to be a change agent in the world.
And if we are not change agents (or not working towards being one), we are as Jesus says, useless. What is a hammer that doesn’t hammer? What is a bicycle that doesn’t transport? What is a ball that doesn’t bounce? The same as that of a Christian whose life and fruit doesn’t change the world around them–lacking in the purpose it was designed to do.
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So as Jesus challenges people to walk in the way of the kingdom of God in the Sermon on the Mount, inherent in that lifestyle is that that lifestyle produces powerful godly change in the world around them. The lifestyle of following Jesus is never a private matter; it is a high calling and mandate by our Lord and Savior.
If you are a Christian and you’re reading this, God has called YOU to be a change agent in your world today and until you die.
1 comment
I wanted to print this lesson but there were areas that were blocked due to obstructions. In my refilling of the Holy Spirit I did not expect the joy and excitement I felt. I am determined by the grace of Gid to fully transform to that state of surrender to pray in the presence of God. I was timid at first but my excitement overcame my shyness. Now any flesh temptation would not squash my zeal as I proceed daily on this humble journey. I must have already shared my heart with my prayers and seeking of the Holy Spirit as I do not feel I am alone but rather escorted along my transformation. The more I study the more I seek. I will say the only disappointment was the realization that this experience has been detailed in the Bible but I am only now going deeper in my quest. It saddens me dare I say shames me that in learning about the disappointment God felt from his people along the history God was denied and disobeyed many times as though He was unbelievable whereas His compelling teachings were full of truth, not to be denied. I was full of dismay that the plan He has for us was not taken more seriously by generations whose paths were detoured instead of following God’s will. So in my journey I will say that I am taking God seriously and going deep in my seeking God. My hunger and thirst for God is only equal to my humility and gratefulness that I have this opportunity. My own desire for my obedience is renewed with the understanding that even Satan will not be able to trick me with the support of the Holy Spirit’s generous comfort and protection. In my time on earth I have not experienced any possible flesh desire that can equal what I am experiencing in this, my final journey, walking in Christ-love. My peace is stronger than any temptation along with my own self-awareness and conviction to keep me strong. I want, need, and long for a close and personal relationship with God. I am ready.