Kingdom Citizens are to influence the world

Open: Kim Kardashian has approx 450 million followers across multiple social media platforms. That’s about 5.6% of the world population. She is one of the heaviest influencers in the entire world and she has not accomplished anything except being famous.

Kardashian is in rarified territory in terms of numbers, but she has lots of company in the social media world. Influencers are a growing breed and even get paid to peddle their influence.

Transition: It is difficult for some of us to understand why a company would pay a person just to talk about their product, but influencers with large platforms actually bring about real change in the market place.

The question for us in the church is this: who are we influencing? If we were getting paid based on our influence in terms of real cultural change would we be able to feed our family or would we be living in a blue tent city and dumpster - diving?

Jesus discusses His expectations for His followers in terms of influence in this next passage of the Sermon on the Mount. READ Matthew 5:13-16.

The Scope of a KC’s influence is expected to be broad (Matt 5:13a, 14a)

Explanation: Jesus uses two common substances (salt and light) to illustrate His point on influence. The substances are different, but the scope of each is the same: the salt of the earth and the light of the world. Jesus intends and expects His disciples to have influence in and on the world system. It logically follows that for a disciple to influence the world, he or she has to be involved in the culture.

Illustrate: In the 4th century certain believers retreated to the desert to live out their faith. The idea, over simplified perhaps, was that isolation was necessary in order to pursue holiness and to conform to the image of Christ.

Argument: The example of Jesus hardly supports this idea. He was very much involved in the culture of His day and engaged people in Kingdom business wherever He went. Jesus was the One who prayed for His followers in this way:

“I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil’ … As thou has sent Me into the world, even so have I also sent them into the world” (John 17:15, 18)

Disciples are to accept our position as being IN the world, but NOT OF the world. The option of retreat is not a biblical one.

NOTE: Pulling children out of the state-run propaganda machine is NOT equivalent to a cultural retreat. Choosing to equip and prepare our children with a comprehensive biblical worldview so that they can more readily engage the culture in a decidedly Christian manner as young adults is a good and necessary development.

Application: Christ - followers are to understand and accept our calling to influence the culture for the glory of God. After all, we are called ambassadors for Christ (cf 2 Cor 5:20); what good is an ambassador if he or she is out hunting and fishing in the wilderness in an attempt to avoid cultural engagement?

KC’s are called to preserve the culture and slow down the corruption (Matt 5:13)

Explanation: Jesus makes an indicative statement when He declares: “You ARE the salt of the earth.” His statement reveals our true nature as disciples. By the new nature of the Indwelling Holy Spirit we HAVE (present tense) the calling to exert an influence on the culture around us in ways similar to salt. Salt acts as a preservative: it slows down the decomposition of foods.

Argument: Jesus reveals our calling to influence the culture in a negative sense - we are to be Jesus people to the point where our influence slows down the corruption around us. This means that we publically stand for God’s truth, even when it is unpopular. We allow biblical conviction to guide our words and actions. We stand against the blatant sin and immorality that surrounds us.

Salt is rubbed into meat when it is being preserved - it is forced into the texture itself. Salt has a bite! When confronted with a person with biblical convictions, the world is going to react!

NOTE: Jesus also asks a very important question about the effectiveness of some of the salt. He asks what good is salt that is no longer salty? The answer is to throw it away because it no longer has a useful purpose.

The Expositor’s Bible Commentary, Volume 9: Matthew–Mark (Revised Edition) Commentary

Strictly speaking, salt cannot lose its saltiness; sodium chloride is a stable compound. But most salt in the ancient world derived from salt marshes or the like rather than by evaporation of salt water, and therefore contained many impurities. The actual salt, being more soluble than the impurities, could be leached out, leaving a residue so dilute it was of little worth.

While not the main point of this teaching, the idea of Eternal Security is present. A true believer cannot lose his or her salvation. Sadly though, we can lose our influence. As John Stott puts it, “If Christians become assimilated to non-Christians and contaminated by the impurities of the world, THEY LOSE THEIR INFLUENCE. The influence of Christians in and on society depends on their being distinct, not identical.

(The Message of the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7): Christian Counter-Culture, The Bible Speaks Today by John Stott, p. 60.)

Application Points:

This world does not need camouflage Christians!

Develop biblical convictions, not just opinions. Know what you believe and WHY you believe it. Then be willing to stand for your biblical convictions in the market place

Engage in the culture AS A Believer (intentionality) You can have a biblical conviction of opposing abortion. Instead of carrying that privately, engage publically: volunteer at a local PC, financially support the Center, contact a local representative

Remain distinct from the world

KC’s are called to illuminate the darkness through a positive Gospel witness (Matt 5:14-16)

Explanation: Jesus’ second illustration makes use of light. As salt is the negative influence of slowing the effects of corruption, light is the positive influence of dispelling the darkness. Jesus declares that His disciples are (present tense) light in the darkness. He emphasizes the effect of light by stating the obvious - a city on a high place is impossible to hide when it is lit up.

Illustrate: look at a NASA image of North and South Korea at night. North Korea has almost zero light output due to enforced tech restrictions in the country. It is also a vivid illustration of a country that has a very limited Christian influence due the government-run cult worship of the Kim family as gods.

Argument: Jesus brings light into the world (John 1:4) and the truth of His Gospel is the light that brings blinded sinners out of the darkness (2 Cor 4:4-6). Jesus is telling His disciples that as they live for Him in the public square, their good works illuminate the darkness of a fallen world.

As we turn the other cheek, as we go the extra mile in the name of Jesus, when we feed the hungry, minister to those in prison - In the Name of Jesus; when we tell the truth and put in honest day’s work - In the Name of Jesus; when we visit the sick, care for the widows & orphans - In the Name of Jesus; when students do their own work and treat all other students with kindness - In the Name of Jesus; when we take care packages to the Emergency Response services - In the Name of Jesus, we are being lights in the darkness.

Conclusion: Successful Social Media Influencers can earn 60K / year and up. They are constantly looking for ways to increase their following so that they can increase their influence. The SM influencers have strategy plans with clearly defined goals and a willingness to engage the culture.

Are you interested in increasing your influence as a Disciple of Christ? Effectiveness in Christian influence cannot be reduced to a mechanical process: do A,B, and C and the result will be D. Jesus, however, commands us to shine our light through good works so that God receives glory from those we influence. Is your heart motivation to please God by seeing His Name honored in the culture. When it is so, we will be living as salt and light.