September 15, 2024 Preaching | Ptr. Peter Tanchi
Start with yourself and your family. We are “the salt of the earth” and “the light of the world” (Matthew 5:13-14). In Greek, the emphasis is on the pronoun YOU. This was part of the greatest sermon ever given – the Sermon on the Mount– where Jesus addressed His disciples and followers.
BE AN INFLUENCER FOR CHRIST: BE SALT AND LIGHT! What does it mean to be SALT and LIGHT?
1) SALT
Salt is a preservative, an antiseptic, flavoring, and creates thirst. Salt is crucial for survival. Without salt, meat will rot. During the time of Jesus, there was no “refrigerator” yet. You needed salt to survive! Don’t blame the meat when it is rotting. We should ask, “where is the salt”? Colossians 4:6 reminds us to “season our speech with salt” so that we can respond better in our conversations. When the world is decaying, we should look for the “salt” – Christians who need to affect the world around them. Jesus tells His disciples, “YOU AND YOU ALONE” are the salt of the earth.
Jesus talked about how when salt becomes tasteless, it becomes useless. Salt is a stable compound and will not rot but loses its saltiness when contaminated. As Christians, we also lose our saltiness when we compromise our Biblical values. To remain “salty” you must live out Christlikeness and model the life of Christ. Matthew 5:13 reminds us to be useful because if we are not functioning according to this purpose, nothing can be done to us but be “thrown away”.
1 Peter 3:1-2 is an instruction that shows how this concept works: Peter writes to the church and instructs the wives to win their husbands with their “chaste and respectful” behavior, “that they may be won without the word”. For men and women, this is something we could do when we relate with others!
To be “salt of the earth”, we need to build relationships and connect with people. For salt to be useful, it must spread, and come in contact with food to preserve and add flavor to it. The problem with Christians is that we are satisfied just being with fellow Christians. Are we associating with people who are not yet Christians?
Jesus gave a good example (Mark 2:15-16), Jesus was dining with His disciples, and many tax collectors and sinners were with them. The religious people (scribes of the Pharisees) saw this, they questioned why Jesus was eating and spending time with sinners. He addressed the question in v.17 saying “… I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners”. As Christ-followers, we are “in the world”, but “not of the world” (John 17). We must be able to build relationships with those whom we want to influence and lead to Christ.
We are all influencers – but the question is, do we draw people to Christ, or further away from Christ?
2) LIGHT
Jesus tells us that we are the “light of the world” (Matthew 5:14). When our friends do not understand the gospel, don’t get angry at them…the world is in darkness and the blind do not see. Jesus claimed, “I AM THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD” (John 8:12), and those who follow Him “have the Light of life”. Since we have the Light, we need to function as light in this world.
Those who are perishing and those “who cannot see” are so because “the god of this world”, Satan the devil, “has blinded the minds of the unbelieving” (2 Corinthians 4:3-4). In this world, we must know the reality of the devil, and the reality of truth. What is the purpose of light? To illumine, guide, and warn against danger like a lighthouse prevents shipwrecks. This too is our responsibility as followers of Christ. We are to shine the light of Christ to others. We must point people to the Truth!
We must intentionally embrace this responsibility to show the light and not hide it (Matthew 5:15.) When we light a candle when electricity is out, we don’t put it in a box. We let it shine! The command to “Let your light shine” (v.16) is in the permissive imperative tense, meaning you must allow your light to shine intentionally, so that others may see your “good works” –so that others can glorify God in heaven. We must reflect Jesus in the “good works” (Gk. Kalos) that we do and attract others to Christ, impacting their lives and the communities we live in.
To shine this light: we must check our behavior; watch out for grumbling, etc., and be as lights in the world, behaving as Christians should (Philippians 2:14-15). Historically, as Christianity grew, culture has been impacted. Respect for life and children, empowering and elevating women, creation of hospitals, caring for the sick – these were transformed by Christians who wanted to shine the light of Christ. Prestigious schools like Princeton, Harvard, Cambridge – were all started by Christians. Christians were great examples of good working habits, bringing success to the business sector. Arts and music were greatly influenced by Christianity and Christians led the movement to abolish slavery and the slave trade. Most government constitutions are based on Christian values. Christians today should be able to impact the world!
Tracing generations of Jonathan Edwards’s family shows many successful descendants in politics, education, etc. Compared to the family of “Max Jukes” who rejected God, many descendants were paupers, notorious for debauchery, murderers, thieves. The difference was the alignment to Jesus and the Word of God. You can impact your family and the next generation towards Jesus. Let us all be influencers for Christ: BE SALT & LIGHT!