Written by Pastor Jack Wellman– Francis Chan
Salt Stings
Salt that stays in the shaker never makes a difference, but salt that gets out of the shaker and into the world will enhance the flavor of life for those around them, but this same salt will also sting those who are infected with sin (as we once were). Even a paper cut with salt on it stings like crazy, but salt is also a preservative, and in ancient times (and today), it acted as a preservative agent, so we have the preserving message of the gospel which brings eternal life to those who receive it. If we remain in the salt shaker, we’re no different from the world, and that’s a sign that something’s very wrong.
Light Hurts
We were called out of the darkness and into the light only to go back into the darkness and bring others the light. We are not that light. Jesus is the Light of the World (John 8:12), but we are to be a light (Matt 5:14), however our light is only that which reflects off Jesus Christ and onto us, so that others can see Him in us. Sometimes, the eyes of those sitting in great darkness will be hurt by the light, because if you’ve ever sat in the dark for a while, you know how the light hurts your eyes at first….but slowly, our eyes get used to it, so be a light, but not shining directly in their eyes!
Come Out of Her
The Apostle John writes about a “voice from heaven saying, ‘Come out of her, my people, lest you take part in her sins, lest you share in her plagues’” (Rev 18:4), but this theme of coming out of the world is found throughout Scripture and coming out of the world means coming out of the sins of the world, because we still have to live in the world. Isaiah the Prophet wrote, “Depart, depart, go out from there; touch no unclean thing; go out from the midst of her; purify yourselves, you who bear the vessels of the LORD” (Isaiah 52:11). The Apostle Paul reminds us “You shall be holy, for I am holy” (1st Pet 1:16).
Not of the World
I am sometimes troubled by people who are professing Christians and yet they use swear words and have filthy language, watch sexually explicit movies full of profanities, and act and talk just like the world that they live in, including drug abuse and drunkenness. If there’s no appreciable difference between them and the world, then maybe those are the ones that Jesus called “tares.” Jesus said that the tares will grow up with the wheat and it’s not easy to always tell them apart from the wheat; that is until harvest time (Matt 13:24-30).
Conclusion
Jesus prayed, “I do not ask that you take them out of the world, but that you keep them from the evil one” (John 17:15), but is it like Francis Chan said; “Something is wrong when our lives make sense to unbelievers?” It made me think. What about you? Let us all work together and get the salt out of the shaker and into the world; let us be a light to a dark and dying world; but make sure we come out of the world, because we might have too much of the world in us, and if we’re not that different from the world, we still might be of the world.
