Page 8 - Demo

But what does salt do? Scientists and chefs tell us that salting something is basically turning the volume up on whatever you are salting. Salt makes something taste more like itself. Same with the Kingdom of God. The “rules” of Christianity don’t stifle us. As we become more like Christ, we will be most clearly who we were created to be.
Jesus follows up His calls for us to be salt with a warning. Unsalty salt is worthless. How does salt loose its saltiness? Most salt in the ancient world wasn’t all that pure. It had other things mixed in with it. Often, what you thought was salt could look white but had the salt drained out.
Jesus is saying the same about us. We can look like salt but not be salt. What happens if there is no salt in the salt. Sometimes in order to make the gospel acceptable to our culture, we end up selling the salt out of our message. Sometimes we are still attracted to the sinful, decaying parts of the world.
The purpose of the church has always been to challenge us to live in a different way than the world. The reason you come to church is not because of all the things that we have like good music, or coffee shops that make us look like the world. The reason you come is because your life is in decay. You come to escape that decay and find your true self at the foot of the cross.
You are the salt of the earth. You are designed to change the world. Too many times we let the world change us.
The Light of the World
Most of us have never been in real darkness. We have the opposite problem: light pollution. We have so much light that it keeps us from seeing other things. But, before electricity, when the sun went down, it got dark... fast. Imagine traveling at night and trying to find your way without the help of light. It would be very easy to get lost and not know which way you were headed. In such a world, a city full of people all lighting individual fires to heat and illuminate their homes, and to cook their food would be hard to miss. It would stand out and draw people to it. It would be a beacon of hope, safety, and security in a dark and dangerous world.
Jesus says that his kingdom is supposed to do the same thing. We are supposed to offer hope, direction to those who are in darkness. How do we do this? In Matthew 5:16, Jesus says, “Let your light shine before
men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven.” Our lives are supposed to draw attention not to ourselves but to God. We are called to shine like the moon. The moon doesn’t generate its own light, it simply reflects the light of the sun. We are supposed to live in such a way that we point people to God.
Sometimes we misunderstand glory. We think it means credit. We think Jesus is saying that we should give God the credit for the things we do. It sort of means that but not really. Glory is a testimony that you give to another person to demonstrate to them what happens when you trust God with your life. The world is full of evil. We are all wondering who we can lean on, what will bring life and hope, what will bring encouragement and guidance. The question isn’t between faith or not. The question is what you will put your faith in: God, self, money. We all have faith in something. What we depend on to get us through, what we look to for security, that is what we have faith in. We all trust something. What is it? Does it work?
Being the light of the world means helping other people learn to trust God more. When we see others do it,
we gain confidence to do it ourselves. You will find more encouragement to trust God when you watch what happens when other people trust God. You are called to be a light that draws people to God by living a life that testifies to the hope that is found by relying on Him and living in His kingdom.
Conclusion
Jesus came to fill up what is lacking in our lives, to fix what is broken, and to point us in the right direction. He calls us to be used by Him to fulfill this function. What kingdom are you living in? What is influencing you? What effect are you having on the world around you? Do you realize that the world is decaying because of
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