Set Apart

Me

I made a terrible decision in high school.

I paid money to be traumatized.

I went to see The Ring 2.

You know, the one with the creepy hair girl crawling out of the TV?

At the time, I did not even know I did not like horror movies.

And oh boy did I pick a fun way to figure that out!

I knew all my friends were going.

Even my youth pastor was going.

So I went.

And that movie messed me up for months!

I am talking lights on at night.

Avoiding certain rooms in the house.

And looking back, the worst part of it, wasn’t even about the movie.

I just wanted to hang out with the guys

I didn’t want to miss out on some sweet memories that I might be missing,

I knew that horror movies were probably not going to be my favorite thing,

But I didn’t want to miss out!

The worst part was that I put myself in a place I was not comfortable with,

By justifying peer pressure, and a bit of being cool

Now fast forward about 10 years, when the movie Deadpool came out

I knew I would probably really like it.

It would be breaking the 4th wall, full of inside jokes, and comic book accurate movie

But I also knew it crossed lines for me, it was rated R for a reason,

So I decided I would not go to that movie

And to be honest, most of my friends went.

And yeah, I still felt that missing-out desire still,

However, the conviction I felt with Jesus mattered more

So what changed?

It was not that I suddenly became stronger.

It was not that I had it all figured out.

I just started to care less about fitting in

And more about what was shaping me.

I wanted Jesus to be the one shaping my life, not just whatever pop culture put in front of me.

We

But this is not just a high school story.

Maybe, like me you grew up hearing the line:

“If everyone jumped off a bridge, would you jump off the bridge too!?”

And as kids, we laughed it off.

Of course not.

Maybe you were a smart-alec like me and said something like

“Well if we were bridge jumping into the creek!”

or

“Yeah if we were bungie jumping why not!”

But no, no one is jumping off a bridge.

But now, as adults, it looks different.

There is no parent standing there warning you,

but the peer pressure is still there asking you to go along with it.

To not make it awkward.

Do not be one of those Christians.

No one has to know

Just get it done.

And much of the time, it is not even direct pressure.

It is just easier.

Easier to laugh at what everyone else laughs at.

Easier to stay quiet when something is off.

Easier to go along so you do not stand out.

And in those moments, it doesn’t feel like a big deal.

It just feels normal.

But over time, something starts to change.

What used to feel off stops feeling off.

What used to bother you, does not anymore.

You’re still there.

You still believe.

But you’re not really different anymore.

You have lost a distinctiveness about you

And that matters.

Because Jesus says you are salt.

And salt only works if it stays salty.

Jesus says you are light.

And light only helps if it is not hidden.

So it is not usually some big, dramatic choice to turn away that makes us loose our salty lighthouse nature

It is just choosing to go along.

And overtime, we simply become people who are bland and dim

So what do we do with that?

Most of us are not trying to walk away from Jesus.

We just find ourselves blending in.

And that is exactly where Jesus speaks into our lives.

Not by telling us to try harder.

But by telling us who we are.

And if we believe in who Jesus tells us we are,

Then things will set themselves right

Jesus leads with telling us that we are a set apart people

And that makes us a different people

So a people who abide in Jesus are different.

And different makes a difference.

God

You Are Set Apart

When Jesus says,

“You are the salt of the earth”

and

“You are the light of the world,”

He is not giving a command.

He is making a declaration.

He is telling His followers who they are.

You are set apart.

And this does not come out of nowhere.

This flows directly from what Jesus just said in the Beatitudes.

The poor in spirit.

Those who mourn over sin.

The gentle.

Those who hunger and thirst for righteousness.

The merciful.

The pure in heart.

The peacemakers.

Those who will be persecuted.

That kind of life does not blend in.

That kind of life stands out.

In fact, that kind of life will stand in contrast to the world around it.

So when Jesus says you are salt and light,

He is saying that this Beatitudes life

Is meant to impact the world around you.

And it all flows not from trying harder, but from drawing nearer to Him.

From abiding in Jesus

Abiding in Jesus makes us different.

And different makes a difference.

So the natural question for us, is why does Jesus use salt as an example?

Salt is different from what it touches.

It stands out.

It affects everything around it.

For us, salt does not feel very significant,

but in Jesus’ day, salt was extremely valuable.

It was so precious that wars were waged over salt resources

The reason is simple, there were no refrigerators or ice boxes

So salt could take food and keep it good for months, rather than the days or hours you might get without it

So Jesus knows the importance of salt in his day, but there is also a background on theology for salt

In the Old Testament, salt was not just something you sprinkled on food.

It was part of worship.

God told His people to include salt in their offerings.

Because salt represented something deeper.

It represented covenant.

Belonging.

Faithfulness.

Something that lasts.

There are even places in the Old Testament where God describes His covenant as a ‘covenant of salt,’ something enduring and binding.

Salt was also used in purification.

In Ezekiel 16, a newborn would be rubbed with salt as part of being cared for and set apart.

So salt carried this idea of being marked, cleansed, and belonging to God.

And in everyday life, salt preserved food.

It slowed decay.

It kept things from going bad in a world where everything spoiled quickly.

So when Jesus says, ‘You are the salt of the earth,’

He is not just saying, ‘Go make a difference.’

He is saying, ‘You belong to God.’

‘You are set apart.’

‘You are meant to live in a way that is distinct, faithful, and life-giving in the middle of the world.

We are a people set apart to be a blessing in a broken world.

This is our calling from Jesus.

The other category that Jesus uses is that we are the light of the world

Light is different from the darkness.

It does not blend in.

It makes what is hidden visible.

Light stands in complete contrast to darkness

Darkness is merely the absent of light

When we turn to the gospel of John, in chapter 1,

It tells us that Jesus is the light, and the darkness could not overcome it

So when Jesus says we are salt and light,

He is saying our life is meant to be different.

Not removed from the world.

But distinct within it.

So Jesus is not calling us to be the Amish unfortunately lol

Being salt is not something we try harder with

Abiding in Jesus is what sets you apart.

That is why Jesus gives us an identity statement.

You are salt because you belong to Him.

Abiding shapes your desires and decisions

It shapes how you live every inch of your life

And because of that, your life will look different.

Not perfectly emulating Jesus

But it should be noticeable!

Similarly, we do not become light by performance.

We shine because we are connected to Him.

Jesus is the source.

We simply shine because we are connected to Him.

And Jesus elaborates this light motif even further.

A city set on a hill cannot be hidden.

At night, you cannot miss it.

It stands out.

It gives direction.

People look to it.

And that is what Jesus says is what your life is meant to be like.

Not hidden.

Not covered.

But visible.

He says no one lights a lamp and puts it under a basket.

That would be pointless.

The whole purpose of light is to shine.

To illuminate.

To help people see.

So when Jesus says, “Let your light shine before people,”

He is not telling you to perform.

He is telling you not to hide.

Because hidden light helps no one.

We do not try to be different.

We live from who you are in Jesus.

Maybe a helpful analogy would help illustration this for us

If you take a bowl of soup and add salt,

it changes everything.

You might not even see it, but you can taste the difference.

But if you keep adding water,

Eventually that salt seasoning disappears.

It is still technically there, but it is not doing anything anymore

And that losing of saltiness is exactly what Jesus warns us about here in this second point

Don’t Lose What Sets You Apart

Jesus continues,

“But if the salt has become tasteless”

Now you might think, “Salt always stays salty.”

At least the modern salt we are used to.

Jesus is naming a real possibility.

Not that we stop being salt.

But that we stop functioning like it.

In Jesus’ day, salt was not pure.

It was mixed with other things.

Over time, the part that made it useful could be lost.

So you would be left with something that looked like salt,

but did not do anything salt does

And Jesus says, that is the danger.

Not losing your identity.

But losing your distinctiveness.

And this is not something that happens all at once.

It is slowly leeched out.

Perhaps Quietly.

Through small, everyday choices we might never think twice about

As C. S. Lewis puts it,

Every time you make a choice, you are becoming a little different than you were before.

And over the course of your life, those choices are shaping you into someone who is either more in line with God or further away from Him.

It is easier to go with the flow.

Easier to stay quiet.

Easier not to stand out.

And over time, what once made you different starts to fade.

You still believe.

You are still there.

But something is not as noticeable anymore.

Not because you are trying to walk away,

but because you are no longer staying close.

And the same thing happens with light.

Jesus says no one lights a lamp and hides it.

Because hidden light helps no one.

The light is still there.

But it is not doing what it was meant to do.

So Jesus is not warning us about being too intense.

He is warning us about becoming ineffective.

He is warning us about becoming bland and dim.

Abiding in Jesus makes us different.

And different makes a difference.

But when we stop abiding, we start blending.

You do not stop being salt.

But you can stop functioning like it.

And when that happens, your life stops doing what it was meant to do.

Let Your Life Point to God

So if blending in is the danger,

what is a life that is set apart actually meant to do?

Jesus answers that clearly.

“Let your light shine before people,

so that they may see your good works

and glorify your Father in heaven.”

This is our purpose.

A life that is set apart is meant to be seen.

Not for attention.

But for direction, for revelation

To help people see God in a world that is hard to see Him in

We are not the source of the light. We reflect it.

Light exists to help people see.

Jesus says your life is meant to work the same way.

When people see your life, they should not stop at you.

They should be pointed to God.

And Jesus says something even bigger than that,

This is not just about individual lives.

This is about a whole group of people

Through whom God is beginning to renew the world.

What looks like a small, ordinary group of people

Is actually the beginning of God’s Kingdom breaking into the world.

Individually, we are like a grain of salt, or a single light.

But together, we become something far more visible.

Together, we become a city on a hill.

Our lives are always pointing somewhere.

It is not a question of if people see something.

It is a question of what they see.

Every reaction.

Every decision.

Every response.

It is all revealing something about what we truly value.

This is where we need to make sure we don’t miss the point:

Because it can sound like Jesus is saying,

“Go do good things so people notice you.”

That is not what He is saying.

He is not calling you to perform.

He is calling you to live in such a way that your life naturally reflects Him.

Your patience points to Him.

Your integrity points to Him.

Your mercy points to Him.

Your decisions point to Him.

The Beatitudes, which we talked about last week,

are what a life shaped by Jesus looks like.

And just like last week, this is not about trying harder to stand out,

but about staying close to Jesus.

This is why abiding matters.

Abiding in Jesus is what produces this kind of life.

We do not force it.

We stay connected.

And over time, your life begins to reflect Him.

And when that happens, people do not just see your life.

They see something different.

They see something they cannot fully explain.

And Jesus says that is the goal.

“That they may glorify your Father in heaven.”

Not you.

But God.

A life that is set apart, does not point to itself.

It points beyond itself.

So this is not about being louder.

It is not about being more impressive.

It is about being faithful.

It is about being present.

It is about letting your life reflect Jesus

In the places He has already put you.

Abiding in Jesus makes us different.

And different makes a difference

Because a life that is different points people to God.

You do not have to strive to make your life matter.

You just have to let it point to the One who does.

You

So what does this look like for you this week?

Not in theory.

Not in general.

But in your actual life.

Because if your life is always pointing somewhere,

Then the question is,

What is it pointing to right now?

Maybe for some of us, our life has been leaning more toward blending in.

We have not walked away from Jesus.

But we have stayed quiet.

We have gone along.

We have chosen what is easier.

And if you are honest, what people see in you right now

Might not look much different than everything else around you.

And this is not about guilt.

This is about awareness.

Because Jesus is not calling you to try harder.

He is inviting you to come closer, to abide in him

So what would it look like for you to take one step toward Him this week?

Not ten steps.

Not fixing everything.

Just one.

Maybe it is choosing honesty

Instead of going along with something you know is off,

Maybe it is showing patience

In a moment where you would normally get angry

Maybe it is choosing integrity

When no one else would notice.

And this begins by staying connected to Jesus

Pausing and praying,

Asking for his presence,

Asking for His power to live like Him

Because as you stay close to Jesus,

This begins to grow more naturally

Because when you abide, your life changes.

Not all at once.

But over time.

And when your life changes, what it points to changes.

And remember, this is not just about you.

You are part of something bigger.

Jesus is using ordinary people, in ordinary places

To show what His Kingdom looks like.

So this week, instead of

“How can I try harder to show Jesus off in my life?”

Ask,

“Where is Jesus inviting me to stay close to him today?”

Because abiding in Jesus makes us different.

And different makes a difference.

Your life is going to point somewhere this week.

By our words.

By our reactions.

In our decisions.

People are going to see something.

The question is, what will they see?

Not perfection.

Not performance.

But a life that is staying close to Jesus.

Because when you abide, you become different.

And when you are different, it makes a difference.

In our lives, our families, our friends, and even our society

So take one step today

Stay close as best you can

And let your life point to Jesus.