The Church must be distinctly different.

Nobody likes bland food. If food is bland, it needs flavor. Hot sauce, catsup, garlic, but honestly… salt and pepper usually does the trick. Bland food is unacceptable.

Jesus said that we are to be salt and light in our world. As the church, we are to be distinctly different from our world. We must live life with the mindset that life without Jesus is bland. So as Christians… Jesus followers… disciples of Christ we must be distinctly and refreshingly different from our world. When people come in contact with with us, we should bring out their very best. Just like salt brings out the best in food, we can bring out the best in others, in our community and in our boring and confused culture.

Jesus says we must be distinctly different from the world. Jesus said…

Matthew 5:13–16 ESV

13 “You are the salt of the earth, but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled under people’s feet. 14 “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. 15 Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. 16 In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.

PRAY

As salt, distinct and full of flavor… and

As light, shining bright in the midst of darkness. As unashamed, unwavering and uncompromising follower of Jesus who are led by faith.

When we know who we in Christ and remember who we were without Christ, we can relax and rest in Jesus, being thankful and confident in our new identity.

Stay Salty

Erin and I love to try different foods from different parts of the world and we like it spicy. It’s the unique combination and the balance between salty, sweet, acidic and heat. Too much of one element and it takes over. When it comes to food, balance is the key.

Salt brings out the flavor.

Back in my army days… we lived on MRE’s and they were boring, bland and very unhealthy.

One important thing that was in every MRE was that little bottle of Tabasco. It made this meal palatable because it definitely needed something, they were bland.

They were unhealthy… on average, a single MRE contains a whopping 3800 milligrams of salt!

Salt preserves… that explains how MRE’s have a shelf life of up to 7 years without refrigeration.

Matthew 5:13 ESV

13 “You are the salt of the earth, but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled under people’s feet.

Salt can be used to preserve.

Curing meat… MRE’s… pickling and canning meat puts salt to work. Salt is a preservative.

In days when they didn’t have refrigeration, when Jesus taught this, salt was valuable. Without salt, nothing like meat and fish could be preserved. When we follow Jesus, we resist moral and sinful corruption. Sin corrupts, sin decays, our sinful choices have real deadly consequences.

When we preserve Biblical standards and determine that we are going to glorify the Lord in all things we will influence on culture.

Salt creates a thirst.

As we continue to follow Jesus, there should be a spiritual thirst in others to know more about God.

Without the power and presence of the Holy Spirit, as the church we will loose our effectiveness and will be rejected and “thrown out” by God.

When we become more focused on politics and less on the Gospel… earthly pleasures and less on eternity… selfish ambitions instead of loving and serving others like Jesus… the negatives instead of the goodness of God… we will loose our saltiness.

In the ancient world, salt was taken from the sea but was susceptible to deterioration that eventually would leave salt only useless crystals. Jesus’ question How can its saltiness be restored?

Once salt has deteriorated, it cannot be used as a preservative. Jesus warned them against being defiled by impurities. Even today in Israel, people scatter salt on the flat roofs of their homes to harden the soil and prevent leaks. These roofs are still used for children to play and for group gatherings, so the salt is still literally trampled under foot.

As salt preserves and brings out the best flavor of food, so believers should affect others positively. If a seasoning has no flavor (has lost its taste), it has no value.

Jesus clearly told his disciples that if they wanted to make a difference in the world, they would have to be different from the world.

God would hold them accountable to maintain their “saltiness”… their usefulness. If we are too much like the world, we are useless. As Christians we should not blend in with everyone else.

Jesus tells us, as he told the disciples, that we must be different if we want to make a difference.

We dare not allow the world to dilute our effectiveness. If we do, we are of no value to him.

Church, Stay salty...

Let your light Shine

As salt makes a difference in people’s food, so light makes a difference in their surroundings.

Matthew 5:14–15 ESV

14 “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. 15 Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house.

Jesus came to our world as the “light to all people” So as believers, we need to shine brightly in the midst of our spiritually dark world.

Jesus came as “the light of all people”

John 1:4 ESV

4 In him was life, and the life was the light of men.

As followers of Jesus we are all called to be the light of the world. As we live for Christ we shine bright in this dark world, showing clearly what Christ is like.

Since Jesus is the Light of the World, HIS followers need to reflect Jesus.

Jesus asked “Why would anyone try to hide a light?” Unfortunately there are many Christians who hide their light by being quiet when we should speak… allowing fear to control us… being ashamed to pray for someone in need in public… letting sin dim our witness for Christ… not being willing to explaining the truth to others… ignoring the needs of others.

Jesus is calling us to be a beacon of truth—don’t shut off your light from the rest of the world.

Let your light stand out. When our faith in Christ is genuine, it cannot be hidden.

John 8:12 ESV

12 Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”

Our faith will be evident to those around us. People are looking for direction and hope in their lives and we have the answer. As Christ followers, we have the privilege of lighting the way to God by reflecting the life, love and light of Jesus.

This is accomplished by more then what we say, or what we do but by how we live. If we are going to effectively show people who Jesus is we must follow HIS example and be a servant like Jesus.

Luke 22:27 ESV

27 For who is the greater, one who reclines at table or one who serves? Is it not the one who reclines at table? But I am among you as the one who serves.

It doesn’t take much to find people who need to know the love and the light of Jesus. As people created in the image of God and ambassadors for Jesus to our world, we are to reflect Jesus clearly and genuinely. It starts at home and at church and then carries into our schools, our jobs, the places we shop, our neighborhoods and communities.

Matthew 5:15 ESV

15 Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house.

We can’t hide it under a bushel… NO… I’m going to let it shine. Let Jesus shine brightly. We reflect Christ by serving people the way Jesus loved people.

Matthew 20:26–28 (ESV)

26 …whoever would be great among you must be your servant, 27 and whoever would be first among you must be your slave, 28 even as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

Greatness in the Kingdom of God comes to those who serve not from those who want to be served.

It’s not about acquiring a bunch of stuff to make life comfortable.

People are more important to God then possessions. We are generous because we have our hope in the Kingdom of Heaven and our reward eternal not temporary.

1 Peter 3:15 (ESV)

15 In your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect.

“If someone asks about your hope as a believer, always be ready to explain it.”

The reality is that people will not pay attention to the message unless they know the messenger genuinely cares.

Start small… take care of your own family… get your own house in order.

See the need around you… Fix a meal for a family in need… help clean up a neighborhood… Share food and clothing…

Isaiah 58:10 (ESV)

10 if you pour yourself out for the hungry and satisfy the desire of the afflicted, then shall your light rise in the darkness and your gloom be as the noonday.

We shine like Jesus through practical service… seeing needs and doing something… interacting with people in a loving way, even when we disagree.

Jesus living in us is the only thing that makes us good.

Matthew 5:16 ESV

16 In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.

Be faithful, keep praying, give it time, keep loving, keep shining Jesus and the doors will open to share the bold and true message of Christ.

It’s our good deeds that make our light shine brighter. Be good... make good choices. There are great personal benefits when we choose righteousness over sin, wisdom over foolishness, love over hate, and goodness over selfishness.

We might not see the benefit immediately but over time, day by day, as we plant those seeds, we will reap a good harvest. God is our source of blessing and if God is the one who blesses, HE gets all the glory.

Let our good works being with our circle of influence… our family… our spouse… our kids and grandkids... our church people… At work… how we treat our boss… our fellow team members.

We have the ability to make a positive influence on those who are around us.

God knows that we aren’t going to be perfect. We’re not always going to measure up... we will sometimes fall short… we have moments of weakness… we make selfish decisions… we occasionally can lash out in frustration and anger.

Don’t live under the weight of perfection because we will never be perfect. People should not look for perfect pastors, or perfect Christians. We will always be limited in our resources but we can show them Jesus. Jesus is and will always be the ONLY ONE who is unlimited in HIS resources and totally perfect.

If we are going to shine brightly, reflecting Jesus, we must keep coming to Jesus. Jesus knows us better then anyone, yet still loves us. HE knows our moments of struggle better then we do yet God’s grace will always be more then enough.

In the next few verses, Jesus talks about the Law and HIS righteousness and how we can never measure up to God’s righteousness.

Matthew 5:20 ESV

20 For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.

We will never be perfect but as we live by God’s grace through faith, HE will always forgive, we can never earn HIS love and HE is still strong in our weakness.

We will always suffer the consequences here on earth for our sinful and selfish choices but don’t try to hide it… when we mess up fess up. Humbly confess, learn from it and get back up. Don’t give up, keep pressing on, keep moving forward, learn, and then make better choices next time.

As others see you get back up, God gets all the glory, because it’s not about you, it’s all about Christ in you!

We are alive in Christ to fulfill our purpose… to LOVE, LIVE, and DECLARE JESUS in our world together.

TAKE AWAY:

Stay Salty

Let your light shine

Always remember… Jesus living in us is the only good thing worth shining so shine bright for Jesus.