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| Salt and Light? |
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| By Tom Gray | |
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I've
been giving this whole "salt of the earth", and
"light on top of the hill" thing quite a bit of thought
recently. Of course, I have had to do a lot of introspection; but, I
have also been thinking about the church at large, the body of
Christ. It seems that somewhere along the line, we have dropped the
ball, individually and corporately. Face the facts; who do most
Christians hang out with? I know that I prefer to be with my
Christian friends vs. my friends that do not have a relationship
with Christ. For starters, we have one very important thing in
common, our brotherhood in Christ. Plus, it's a lot easier to talk
about Jesus with someone else that knows Him vs. someone that
doesn't. But, what does that really say about us? I believe we are
being unfaithful...terribly unfaithful. Think about who Jesus hung out with; commercial fishermen, prostitutes, tax collectors, thieves, drunks, and the physically and emotionally wounded. We, on the other hand, prefer the company of people who think they (like us) have their spiritual acts together, as opposed to people who do not share our spiritual beliefs. Now give this some serious thought. What would happen if you went out and chose a group of people to go camping with for three years. Out of this group you had to choose some common laborers (preferably poorly educated) that smelled bad (like the fishermen), a prostitute (whose mere presence could potentially ruin your reputation), throw in a known thief, and a couple of folks that were known for taking advantage of others financially. Does that sound like a great, fun-filled adventure? Just imagine sleeping in tents together under every possible type of weather, backpacking every where you went, and cooking meals over an open fire together. Can you imagine the squabbling and back biting that would be going on? The distrust? But isn't that what Jesus did? We, on the other hand, go to church to worship God with our church friends, dine out with our church friends, invite our church friends over to watch the Super Bowl, have our church friend's kids over to play with our kids, go to church socials with our church friends, and pretty much communicate via phone, e-mail, whatever, almost entirely with our church friends. Then, here's the clincher, we have the nerve to say, "the world is going to Hell in a handbasket!" This should be a no brainer...duh, I wonder why?!? Whoever penned the old adage, "you are known by the company you keep", obviously didn't know a thing in the world about Jesus, much less "know" Him. Don't get me wrong; I am not advocating devoiding ourselves from our Christian relationships, or stopping church attendance. I am advocating balance. Being with our brothers and sisters in Christ is extremely important. Sharing our burdens, telling our Jesus stories to each other, fellowshipping together, and praying for each other is critical! But, where's the balance? Where's the salt? Where's the light? If you walk into most average churches on an average Sunday morning, who will you see there? Chances are, there will be the same people who were there last week, last month, even last year. Look in the immediate future. Who do you see? Probably the same people. Of course, there will be a few new faces scattered about from time to time, but not many. Now, understand this, the point never has been, is not now, nor ever will be, getting people to come to church. The point is, assisting people in developing a relationship with a risen God, and helping usher them into His Kingdom! I know that God cannot always be found within the brick wall and stained glass edifice known as a church. He can be found whenever and wherever His people are doing something that glorifies Him! Shamefully, it appears that we have barred the doors and windows of our churches to decrease the chances of a "sinner" coming in. We have gone from rescue mission to country club. We pretty much dress the same, have the same language; and unfortunately, don't allow anyone in that might challenge us to be Jesus in their lives. Are we afraid that they might discover that, we too, are sinners, also in dire need of the grace of God? Jesus said, "whatever you have done for the least of these, you have done for Me. Whatever you have not done for the least of these, you also have not done for Me". How do we go about this? How do we bring Jesus into our workplace, our times of play, our "chance encounters" with people that need Him in their lives? How do we go about "doing for the least of these"? How do we become the salt and light? How do we turn our churches into rescue missions? How do we go from country club to "soul-filling stations"? I think we can begin when we realize that we too were once separated from God, and only by the grace He has exhibited through His son are we able to crawl up in His lap, and cry Abba, Father. But, we can't stop there in our thought processes. We have to understand that we are, literally, His army. God has chosen us to carry out His divine orders. Of course, He really doesn't need us to do this, He is, after all, God. But, He has chosen us for this mission! He wants us to join Him in His work because of His amazing love for us. He wants us to see what He is capable of. This has nothing to do with what we can do for God; but everything to do with what He can do through us! We are the people that God has chosen to utilize to win the hearts of everyone on the face of this earth, for Him. Furthermore, He will not allow me, or you, to stand in His way. His will, will be done. He will go to whatever lengths necessary to accomplish His goal, any lengths. When we come to these realizations, we will be on the right track to becoming useful in His eyes. God has already shown us that He will not accomplish His goal by military might. We are not soldiers in an army housed in barracks, and uniformed to be separated from the world. On the contrary, we are to be infiltrators, seeping out into the workplace, the road sides, our neighborhoods, even as far as the ends of the earth. We assemble to hear His word, be encouraged, hear Jesus stories, praise Him with song, and to be so infused with the Holy Spirit that we become like Jesus for the rest of the world. We are to literally become the body of Christ, so that we may infiltrate our society with God's love; going to whatever lengths necessary to usher people into His Kingdom. We can't leave "church" at church in order to accomplish this. We can't put Jesus back in the hymnal racks, and God back in the Ark, and still be salt and light. We have to keep Him with us wherever we go. We have to keep our eyes on Him, our hearts on Him, and our ears listening to His every direction; meanwhile, keeping our fingertips on the pulse of the society in which He has placed us to minister to His world. We have only one role model, one measuring device; and that is Jesus, and Jesus alone. Our minds should be in tune to the One whose idea of strength and leadership was demonstrated by washing the feet of those He led, and ultimately demonstrated by His death on the cross. Jesus didn't hang out with "church folks", aka Pharisees. He hung out with the poor, lost, sick, depraved, and mentally ill. Oh yeah, He also spent a lot of time hanging out with His Dad.......a lot of time! We should be ashamed at how we have translated God's words into a method of isolating ourselves from the woes of the world! "Be in the world, but not of the world". Remember, we still have to be "in the world"! So, I guess some suggestions are in order. What good does it do to find fault if there are no remedies? The 60's adage "you're either part of the solution, or part of the problem" still has some life left to it. For starters, spend more time hanging out with your heavenly Father. Ask Him what is He up to these days, and where would He like for you to join Him in His work. Then keep your eyes, ears, heart, and mind open for His movement. He's probably been waiting to hear from you! Then, start looking at the people you come into contact with, the situations and circumstances you find yourself in, and don't forget, READ YOUR BIBLE! God will not tell you to do something that has not already been done in His word. Think about this, all the people you come into contact with either know Him or they don't. Pretty simple, huh? The ones that don't, need to hear about Him, and those that do probably need to know that you are their brother or sister in Christ. Ask God what He wants you to do, He will let you know! Remember all those people you have relationships with, through work, play, etc. that don't know Jesus? Ask them over for supper. Ask them to come to a church social with you. Invite them to come over when you have your Christian peers over for study/prayer/etc. Go to their homes and ask if they have any special needs or prayer concerns. Gosh, even invite them to your church and/or Sunday school. When you attend a worship service that is made up entirely of "church goers", you are not reaching out into your community. Plain and simple. Don't forget, everyone needs to be healed in some way, and everyone is in dire need of having a life changing experience with God. Everyone. That means you and me too. Believe me, joining God when He invites you will provide a life changing experience! Start looking for ways to be a "servant evangelist". Another way to state this is, look for ways to practice "random acts of kindness". Isn't that what Jesus did? He saw a need, and He met it. Think about the homeless, house bound, broken down motorists traveling through your community, the kid down the street without enough money for school books, prisoners, single parents, flood, tornado, and hurricane victims. Gosh, the opportunities to exemplify the body of Christ are downright overwhelming! These, and so many more I could never, ever list them all, are ways that we can say, "you matter to God, and you matter to me". Don't forget, sooner or later, when the time is right, you gotta tell them about Jesus. God will provide the opportunity, He's that kind of God. So, what are you going to do? The choice is yours, as always. Are you going to be content with being a member of a "status quo" church, or are you ready to be what God is calling you to be? Are you ready to be a full fledged member of the body of Christ, or are you going to spend all your time here warming a pew? Don't forget, God has called you into a relationship with Him because He loves you, and because He wants you to make a difference in this world. He wants you to be the "salt of the earth", and the "lighthouse on top of the hill". He wants people to see Him, through you. He wants you to suit up in the full armor of God, and, with His direction and guidance, rescue the prisoners. Just do it. I
pray you become transparent, Tom Gray is a potter, and a friend and reader of Next-Wave....http://www.atomic.net/~tgraypots/index.htm |
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