Some Lived!
Louis Pasteur, the pioneer of immunology, lived at a time when thousands of people died each year of rabies. Pasteur had worked for years on a vaccine. Just as he was about to begin experimenting in himself, a 9 year-old boy, Joseph Meister, was bitten by a rabid dog. The boy’s mother begged Pasteur to use his experimental vaccine on her son. Pasteur gave young Joseph injections for ten days. The boy lived. Decades later, of all the things Pasteur could have etched on his tombstone, he asked for three words: Joseph Meister lived.
Jesus has designed and called the Church (you and me) to leave her mark on society. Once saved, we can no longer be counted among those who just live, make a living, and then die. As one preacher put it, “Jesus never called us to make a living; He called us to make a life.” When a Christian’s life is over, there should be a world of people, from acquaintances to dear friends, who have been dramatically impacted because that believer was alive and lived to please God. At the end of our life, the people in our world of associates should know real life because we magnified its Author. That will be our legacy.
Jesus always used great illustrations. He used “salt” and “light” to wonderfully illustrate the kind of difference we should make. First of all, He said to us in Matthew 5:13, “You are the salt of the earth.” How brilliant! He chose “salt” because of what salt does; it makes things taste better, it seasons.
But also, and perhaps more importantly, salt prevents decay. In Bible days, they didn’t have a Frigidaire in every house in which to toss the cold cuts. The Jews of Jesus” day couldn’t just pack their ham, er” hamburger patties in the ol” ice chest. Why” No ice! So the way they prevented the decay of meat was to do like Grandma did with the fatback “salt ‘er down. Because salt prevents deterioration. In the same way, the church is to prevent the moral and spiritual decay of the culture in which she exists. Furthermore, each believer, as a “grain” of salt, is to salt his or her environment as well. Our lives must be, by nature, lives of impact. The trouble is that the salt wants to impress God with how well it operates in the shaker on Sunday morning! However, the value of salt is not measured by how good it looks in the shaker. Rather, the value of salt is measured by whether or not it does its job when it hits the meat! “If the salt loses its flavor, how shall it be seasoned” It is then good for nothing but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot by men” (Matt. 5:13, emphasis mine). Salt that doesn’t behave like salt should behave, according to Jesus, is “good for nothing.” That’s why we must walk like salt, talk like salt, love like salt, pray like salt, vote like salt, live like salt and thus prevent the moral and spiritual decay that is crippling the society around us. Why are there so many churches and still such a mess” I guess some churches just aren’t worth their salt.
Also, we are “light”… “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.” What does light do” It exposes darkness. Entering a room, we don’t click off the darkness, we flip on the light! Why” Because when the light is turned on, darkness backs up. Lights on, darkness flees. If darkness overtakes a room, it’s because the light is not shining. If darkness has its way in a society, a workplace, a school, a community, or even a church, it’s because the light is not doing its job.
Jesus came as the Light of the world “and the light [shone] in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it” (John 1:5). The Light did His job, quite well. Then He said we are now the light of the world. Then Jesus said, “he who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life.” So a saved, salty, solar saint, having been energized by the Light of the Son, cannot be comfortable with darkness (John 12:46; 1 John 1:5,6). And darkness, by nature, cannot be comfortable with true light. Therefore, “this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil” (John 3:19). When the light shines, many will become upset because light causes people to see the reality of themselves, their thoughts, their deeds in light of a God “who is light and in [whom] there is no darkness at all” (1 Jn. 1:5). Like a man used to living in a cave, carnal eyes are irritated when the light comes around shining like it does.
So we shouldn”t be surprised when an unregenerate society gets along with every special-interest sin group in our culture who wants to legislate their immorality, yet is completely intolerant of any opinion shared by the “Christian Right.” We shouldn”t be surprised when they kick, holler, and scream when we do salt stuff, like when telling major corporations we won”t give our God-given dollars to their business knowing they will take some of those God-given dollars and use them to advance lifestyles in our own culture which God explicitly calls “abomination.” They love darkness. Their deeds are evil. They don”t want light to start addressing darkness because they resent exposure. Just try shining a bright light on the cause and consequences of homosexuality, no-fault divorce, promiscuity, deviant behavior, abortion, sex-without-morals-education, and see how quickly opposition will rise. See how quickly the darkness will cry out. But that”s light being light, exposing darkness. That”s salt being salt, preventing decay as God has called us to do. And quite frankly, our fallen world hates it. But we”re still called to do it. The same Bible that tells us that we”re salt and light also speaks boldly against the deeds of darkness. Maybe we should too.
Sure, we will speak the Truth, in love, out of compassion for the lost, and many will hate it. They”ll rise and call us “hate-mongers,” “narrow-minded,” “judgmental” and the like. Just remember, it”s not us so much, it”s the light they hate. But in spite of those who will oppose us, some will be changed. Some will be saved. Some will “see the Light” and come to know Him. But only if we do our job. May we not just live and just die. May we leave our mark in Jesus” Name! May our salt and light legacy read: Some lived!
