Author: Tom Sanders

Being Transformational – Salt and Light part two

We as Christians have the ability to influence and transform the world around us.  This is what Jesus was telling us in Matthew 5:13-16

“You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled by men.

“You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden.

Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house.

In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.”

We have the ability to influence the world around us because salt by its very nature influences everything it touches.  Salt always makes a difference. Even if we never get to see the difference being made.  Light also makes a difference, but its effects go deeper.

We are able to be salt in the world by living out our faith for people to see.  Letting the world around us see by our lives that there is a better way.  We are being light when we are helping people connect the dots between who we are, and what God is doing in us.  Being light involves us sharing God’s goodness with the world around us.  Using things like our testimony to direct people’s view from our character to God who is the reason for the hope that we have.  Jesus said “In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.”

Our task in the world is to live our faith for the world to see – Salt, and to help people connect the dots so that they can make the connection between our lives and our Father in heaven.  Let people see our good deeds so that they can give glory, or honor and credit, to God in heaven.  Our lives are a testimony of God’s goodness, and we simply need to help people come to understand this testimony.  And we are able to do this,  whether we feel we are able to or not.

God knows we are able to do this because He has strategically placed us where we are to be able to have the greatest impact.  The Greek word for “Set” is ‘Keimai’ which involves divine appointment and strategic planning.  Now not many of us feel like we are strategic.  We most often feel that our lives are random, or the product of our circumstances.  But God sees us like a city on a hill.  The city wasn’t just dropped down anywhere.  It was place where it would be visible, and often made of white limestone which would reflect the sun during the day, and the torch light of the city at night, making it visible from a distance both day and night.  He knows that we don’t place a light any old place.  We place it where it will illuminate the largest area, giving light to the most people.  God sees us as strategically placed in our situations and relationships, and knows that we are able to transform the world around us.

God knows that Salt always makes a difference, and people are in darkness are drawn towards light, even the smallest one.  We can influence and transform our world.  All we have to be is Salt and Light.

Being an Influence – Salt and Light part one

If your like me you have wondered just what Jesus was talking about when He called His disciples Salt and Light in Matthew 5:13-16

“You are the salt of the earth, but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled under people’s feet.

You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.”

I have read these verses many times and wondered just what being Salt and Light was.  I even tried to the best of my ability to be what I thought Jesus meant when He called us this.  Until recently I had never really understood what Jesus was talking  about.  I began to look at what Salt was used for in the lives of the people Jesus was talking to.  Because being salt didn’t mean we were to make life taste better for people.  In Jesus’ day salt wasn’t used for its taste.  It was used as a preservative.

Jesus was calling us to be a preservative in our society.  He was calling us to be a moral barometer in the world we live in.  Not so that we could judge the lives of those around us, but so that by our lifestyle they could see a better way.  Jesus was asking us to live our faith for the world to see, and be ready to give a reason for the hope that we have.  He was calling us to be an influence on the world around us.  Not by being preachy and telling everyone to believe what we believe, but to be an example that people could see follow.

But Jesus was also saying that we are able to preserve people as well.  In the story of Sodom and Gomorrah, where God is going to judge the cities for their actions, and if you read any history of the cities they were not nice people, Abraham stands between them and God and after talking for awhile God says He will not destroy the cities if He can find 10 righteous people in them.  I never connected this story to Jesus’ comments about being Salt before, but this is what Abraham was doing.  We have all wondered at times why people get away with so much in our world.  I have heard the comment many times “If God is so just, why doesn’t He deal with these people?”  And I have come to learn what Abraham knew.  With God a little bit of righteousness goes a long long way.

God is not wanting anyone to perish.  2 Peter 3:9 “The Lord isn’t really being slow about his promise, as some people think. No, he is being patient for your sake. He does not want anyone to be destroyed, but wants everyone to repent.” When God looks at the world, He does see the wrongs being done in our society.  But the presence of those who know Him personally allow Him to withhold judgment.   God wants everyone to come to know Him and He sees the wicked people in our world, but He also sees the righteous.  We are able to make a difference in our world just by living out our faith for the world to see.  With God a little bit of righteousness, or Salt, goes a long long way.  And God knows that Salt always makes a difference.

We are important in God’s plan.  Each one of us is able to make a difference if we will accept the call of Jesus to be Salt in our society, to be an influence in the world around us.   God loves and values people very deeply.   We are not insignificant to God.  We are important and able to make a difference.  Remember that a little bit of salt goes a long long way, and Salt always makes a difference.

Giving up on Christianity?

Today’s I decided  to ask a question.  This entry was taken from http://marquee.blogs.cnn.com/2010/07/30/anne-rice-leaves-christianity/?hpt=Sbin

Legendary author Anne Rice has announced that she’s quitting Christianity.

The “Interview with a Vampire” author, who wrote a book about her spirituality titled “Called Out of Darkness: A Spiritual Confession” in 2008, said Wednesday that she refuses to be “anti-gay,” “anti-feminist,” “anti-science” and “anti-Democrat.”

Rice wrote, “For those who care, and I understand if you don’t: Today I quit being a Christian … It’s simply impossible for me to ‘belong’ to this quarrelsome, hostile, disputatious, and deservedly infamous group. For ten years, I’ve tried. I’ve failed. I’m an outsider. My conscience will allow nothing else.”

Rice then added another post explaining her decision on Thursday:

“My faith in Christ is central to my life. My conversion from a pessimistic atheist lost in a world I didn’t understand, to an optimistic believer in a universe created and sustained by a loving God is crucial to me,” Rice wrote. “But following Christ does not mean following His followers. Christ is infinitely more important than Christianity and always will be, no matter what Christianity is, has been or might become.”

So my question is Can you give up on ‘Christianity’ and still be a follower of Christ?