|
September/October 2002
Volume 13 No. 5
|
|
Salt and Light
"You are the salt of the earth." Matthew 5:13 NAS
"You are the light of the world." Matthew 5:14 NAS
Jesus said we are salt and light. Salt and light have no volition. They are only that which God has made them. When God created salt He gave to it specific characteristics. The same is true about light. Those characteristics have not changed since His creation.
We know the same is not true with mankind. Although God made Adam and Eve without blemish that was all changed by The Fall. The character of man has been changing, to man's detriment, since that time. God's ordained purpose for mankind, however, has never changed. His purpose for us, like His purpose for salt and light, has remained even as we have lived in rebellion.
It is God's intent that we live with the characteristics He intended for us. That intent is so important to Him that He sent His Son to redeem us from our rebellion. Jesus did not say, you were the salt of the earth, until your ancestors fell. Nor did He say you might have been the light of the world, had Adam not fallen. No. Jesus declared our state of being by these declarations. He stated who we are to be in the world, salt and light. This statement is God's ordained plan for mankind.
The characteristics of salt and light remain unchanged by time and circumstances. Both have their impact on the world despite any set of circumstances. Salt may lose its savor if it isn't used. While active, however, the impact of salt is predetermined. The brightness of light may vary, depending on its surroundings, but it is always light. It would be ridiculous for us to light a candle in a darkened cave and hear the light say, "I'm uncomfortable with all this darkness. I may not be well accepted here. As a result, I am not going to shine at this time." So too is it ridiculous for us to tell the Father we are uncomfortable with who He wants us to be or the purpose for which He made us. If we live in the God-ordained relationship for which He has made us we will naturally be who He wants us to be in the world: salt and light.
Being light in the world begins with a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. Belief in Jesus as Savior and Lord is different than accepting Him as a part of your life. Jesus cannot be added to one's life. Belief in Jesus requires total denial of self (Luke 9:23) and living in Christ and Him in you (John 15:4-5). If you don't live in Him, you don't have a relationship with Him. The difference is one of focus and ownership. The child of God understands that life is about bringing glory to God, period. All personal ambition, expectations and hopes are in Him rather than family, job or personal success. Understanding who we are in Christ frees us from all other burdens in the world.
As a spark cannot light a stadium neither can one person light a world, or even their corner of it. As such, the "independent individual" mentality of American Christians today must be abandoned for the God-ordained concept of us being individually members one of another (Romans 12:5). All values, goals and desires of the God-ordained individual flow in Him and through Him. Like salt and light, the God-ordained individual reacts based on who they are rather than the fallen nature of what they think or what they want. Obviously, this relationship in Christ impacts their every relationship which changes their family, their congregation and their community.
God has ordained children to learn from their parents all aspects of life beginning with God and their relationship with Him (Deuteronomy 6:6-9). From that they are to learn who they are in Christ and every other aspect pertaining to life. This order is essential because everything flows from God. Knowledge and understanding of The Truth cannot be possessed without first knowing God. As God draws a child into a relationship with Him the child is able to respond in obedience because of the foundation laid by the parents. A child with an understanding of how God has made him, and why, is open to accepting that role for which God has ordained him.
The God-ordained child learns that God is the center of the universe and that he is not. As such, the God-ordained child learns that life is about being who God has made him to be rather than what he desires, what he thinks or what seems right in his own eyes. The God-ordained child will learn that God is love by seeing His love poured out to him through his parents. The God-ordained child will learn that God is a God of discipline by receiving righteous discipline from his parents when he violates God's standards. The God-ordained child will learn about justice and mercy as he is taught about God's justice and mercy in his life. The God-ordained child will learn how to honor God by giving honor to his parents, to older men (girls, older women), to those in authority in the church and to those who are in civil authority over him.
To the world, the God-ordained child is reflective of the Holy Spirit who hears from Christ the things of God and relays them to others. The child has no authority of his own, only that which is given through parents who teach the roles and responsibilities of life defined by God.
The God-ordained child will learn that marriage is a Holy covenant before God to which God brings him for His glory, honor and praise. The selection of a spouse, therefore, is not about personal pleasure but about God's ordination. God draws the God-ordained child to the mate of His choice, for life, for a God-ordained marriage.
The God-ordained child will move smoothly into the role and responsibilities of a God-ordained spouse for it is merely an extension of who they have already become in Christ. The roles and responsibilities here become diverse between that of the husband and the wife.
The God-ordained husband will love his wife as Christ loved the church. This love will be focused on the spiritual well-being of his wife and, God willing, children. Earning a living, hobbies, church and sports are never allowed to interfere with his role as a spiritual leader in his home. The God-ordained husband takes seriously Christ's admonition in Matthew 6:33-34, "But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness; and all these things shall be added to you. Therefore do not be anxious for tomorrow; for tomorrow will care for itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own." NAS
The God-ordained husband is reflective of God in his family. He is the authority in the home to whom there is appeal but whose decisions stand. He is to be representative of God's love, justice, mercy and discipline. The God-ordained husband is head of the wife even as Christ is head of The Church and God is the head of Christ (Ephesians 5:23). The God-ordained husband is completely dedicated to bringing glory to God and magnifying Him in every way. His focus and purpose are defined by who he is in Christ. Sons learn spiritual leadership from the father's role, under God, of leading the family.
The God-ordained wife submits to her husband as unto Christ. Her God-ordained role in the home is reflective of Christ's position before God. She humbly responds to the authority of her husband although she is clearly capable of making her own decisions. It is under the authority of her husband that she is blessed for this is how God designed marriage. Through her example their children learn how to live under God-ordained authority.
The God-ordained Church Member
Participation in a congregation is not an option. We are told in Ephesians 4:16 that we each have a part in the Body of Christ for which He has made us. The God-ordained member will fulfill that role to which God has called him in the congregation. God has ordained some as apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, teachers, elders and deacons. Fulfilling the role and accepting the responsibility God has given is vital to a God-ordained life. The Body of Christ can only function properly when each member of the body is functioning in the manner and for the purpose for which they were made.
Within the congregations, elders are reflective of God, deacons reflective of Christ and the congregants reflective of the Holy Spirit. This is lived out best when it is first modeled in the home.
It seems we have deviated from our conversation about salt and light. Actually we have come full circle. The Body of Christ can only be salt and light to the world when each member of that body lives the life God has ordained for them in relationship to those He has given to them. Each life is lived in Him and through Him. The roles and responsibilities each person is to live is reflective of some part of the Trinity in the home, the church and the community. Thus, it is in each individual God-ordained life that men see Christ in us. It is in each God-ordained marriage that people see the literal working of God in and through us. It is in every God-ordained congregation that the world sees Christ in and through it, because the church would stop living for the salvation of the world and begin being the tool through which God is revealed to the world. As we live and work in the community, being in Christ, fulfilling our God-ordained roles and responsibilities, the community is impacted by the salt and light which comes into their lives through us. We are salt and light not by what we DO but by who we ARE, reflections of God to a darkened world surrounding us. The Fall, salvation, redemption and sanctification are reflected in who we are in Christ individually, in the home, in The Church and in the community.
The American Christian church has been caught up into Doing religion for far too long. We need to repent and step out of the world arena. We are sick. Until we get well we will continue to spread the disease of Phariseeism. We need to quarantine ourselves for the salvation of the world. As we repent before God, we need to ask Him to teach us how to deny ourselves (Luke 9:23), how to fix our eyes on Jesus (Hebrews 12:2), how to live in the God-ordained relationship of abiding in Him and He in us (John 15:4-5) so that it may be Christ living in us rather than us living for Him. We need to ask Him to purge us of the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life (1 John 2:16).
We need to both teach and model God-ordained relationships. We need to ask God to make us into the Christian American Church, His Body. This requires us to abandon all methods and concepts not ordained by God. It means abandoning friendship with the world (James 4:4) which we have tried to use as a tool to introduce them to Christ. We must begin to define all things through His Word and not our own wisdom.
Yeah, but people are dying out there without Christ! If we turn inward to heal ourselves they will go to Hell. That would be like removing all the light from the world!
The Truth is, the American Christian church is having very little impact on America because she is not reflecting Christ in her. The light being shown in the world is only by the grace of God, not by the faithfulness of His people. This argument is tantamount to saying we can't afford to pull the people off the rocks to clean the lighthouse windows because then there won't be anyone on the rocks. As God transforms His Church He will draw others to Him through the work He is doing there. Members of the Body would then be equipped to minister in what ever setting God places them in.
Yeah, but this is too extreme! We should both work on repentance and transformation and continue the work we are doing.
This is arrogant thinking and places value in our collective rebellion against God's ordained purpose and plan.
Yeah, but things are so completely messed up in our congregation, there is no hope to bring each member back into their God-ordained roles!
This is what Satan would love for us to believe. Satan wants us to play with what we have to try and make it right. It doesn't work. Congregations have been trying everything in the book under the sun except living by The Book in The Son! It is time to abandon all other techniques.
The church is in a hopeless state . . . until you realize she is the bride of Christ. How will He redeem her? You are the key! If you live in the God-ordained relationship in Christ for which He has made you then He will live through you touching the lives of those whose path you cross.
Where are you in living out your God-ordained role? Are you living in Christ or for Christ? Are all your relationships defined by who you are in Him? Are you living humbly under the authority He has placed over you? Are you providing Godly leadership where He has placed you? Are you completely His?
Contact us at InFocus@GrowLeaders.org
Life Focus Ministries is a faith
mission serving churches without regard
to their ability to pay. For information on
how to support this mission outreach with a
tax-deductible gift please go to Feedback.
