CCF: Live God’s Purpose - Be Salt and Light
By: Paul Tan-Chi
“The greatest tragedy
is not death, but life without purpose.” – Rick Warren
Is our world getting better? In terms of
technology and innovations, maybe yes but statistics tell us that in terms of
suicide rate, divorce, incarceration and HIV/Aids, all these problems are
increasing in count today more than ever. What does these stats tells us?
Because of SIN our world is decaying. But this is only true if Christians in
this world will not do anything. History accounts the great impact through the
lives of Christian in children, women and education.
13 “You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt has become tasteless, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled under foot by men. – Matthew 5:13
There are few good uses of salt in this world.
It is a good preservative, an antiseptic, it adds flavor to anything and it
creates thirst. As believers of Christ one of our purpose is to create thirst
for people around us, for them to have desire to know about the faith that we
have by living a life that will draw them to Jesus Christ.
14 “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden; 15 nor does anyone light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. – Matthew 5:14-15
Light’s purpose is to illuminate its
surrounding. Regardless of distance, whether you are near or close the source
of light, you can still see the light in total darkness. Because the smallest
light can dispel the greatest darkness. As Christian we are to reflect the love
of God to the darkness around us.
12 Then Jesus again spoke to them, saying, “I am the Light of the world; he who follows Me will not walk in the darkness, but will have the Light of life.” – John 8:12
Lights operates on a distance while salt
impacts those who are close and near to it. As salt of this world we have to go
out of the salt shaker, have encounter and contact with the people close to us
so we can interact with them and show them love just like how Jesus loved them.
In Matthew 5:13, the Bible also gives us a
warning about salt losing its taste. Chemically speaking salt or Sodium
chloride is a very stable ionic compound, but it will lose its saltiness when
you allow impurities to be added. Spiritually speaking, when we allow
impurities of this world to penetrate our Christian life, we compromise, we
lose our effectiveness.
Similarly, it’s not the ship in the water but
the water in the ship that sinks it. So it is not the Christian in the world
but the world in a Christian that could potentially hinder his/her
influence.
16 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. – Matthew 5:16
The purpose of good works is not for us to be
saved. For Christians the ultimate purpose of good works is to glorify God. We
do good works out of the love that overflows from us, the same love we receive
from Jesus Christ.
At the same way we should not go to church for
the sake of going to church. Be the church wherever God has placed you to be.
Because the world will not come to you to understand your faith, Christians
should step out to the world and share the gospel. It is time to go out of the
salt shaker!
We are not called to save the world, but we are
called to make a difference. We can’t do everything. But we can do something.
What we can do, we ought to do. That’s what being salt and light is all about.
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| Image courtesy of Etsy.com |
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