"You are the salt of the land....You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden...let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good deeds and give glory to your Father who is in heaven." Jesus, Matthew 5:13-16
It's no secret that Christians know they should be evangelical, meaning they should be sharing the message. Everyone knows this, and this is part of the reason so many Christians have such a hard time loving each other--one group thinks the other group is misrepresenting Christ by being too loose, while the other thinks the first group is misrepresenting Him by not intersecting with non-believers at all.
There is no shortage of material, books, sermons, and opinions out there on what it means to the the salt of the earth and the light of the world. Though it certainly wouldn't be a waste of time to talk about this, I want to look at it a different way: what MAKES Christians the salt and light?
Many believers who want to make an impact in the world are doing whatever they can to bring the message of Jesus' love to the world and are doing a good job of seeking to live as salt and light. The problem is in motivation: they aren't doing it because they love Jesus, but because they love the world. And make no mistake: true Christians don't love the world (see 1 John 2:15--"if anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him", and also James 4:4). Instead, true Christians love Jesus, and this makes them love their neighbors. There's a difference between loving the world and loving your neighbors--the former is concerned with one's own identity in the world, and the latter is concerned with one's neighbor's identity with Jesus. What needs to change with this group is their starting point: they need to see themselves as Christ's ambassadors (2Corinthians5:17-21), sent to bring people to Jesus.
Think of the "light" analogy: Light shines from the object producing the light, outwardly to objects outside of itself. Christians need to know that their identity with Jesus (who is Himself the light--John 8:12) is what makes them the light. The world is not the light, but Jesus is. Instead of seeking acceptance with the world, one seeks fellowship with Jesus, and wants others to have it as well. This makes them the light. But they're not the light if fellowship with and acceptance in the world still matters more to them than Jesus.
They must remember that Jesus had said earlier that there's blessing for being persecute for Him. One might need also to ask the question, "Is my evangelism flowing from my love for Jesus and desire to see people come to know Him, or is it flowing from a desire for people to accept me and my Christianity?" Verse 16 said the motivation for shining the light is that of wanting people to glorify God...not you. Where do you fall on this? I have to repent daily.
On the other hand, many believers are into the practice of staying behind closed church doors and talking about two subjects: what's wrong with the world, and how following our religious activity would fix it. And this isn't light either. Believers who spend all their time talking about what's wrong with culture, society, and non-believers are both guilty of not "letting their light shine before others" (v16), or being "the salt of the earth" (v13). Salt seasons and preserves--it is only useful in that it is scattered and spread on the objects that aren't salty. Salt is of no use if it stays in the salt shaker, the grains talking amongst their self about how unsalty everything outside is. Jesus says true Christians are only fulfilling their call when they're poured out of the shaker and are salting that which isn't salty.
This means you're NOT taken "out of the world" but are "kept from the evil one" (John 17:15). You live in the world, but you're not under Satan's power as you're here. You belong to Jesus, and so you can be a citizen of your city, town, neighborhood, etc., seeking to connect and build bridges with non-believers in hopes that they come to know Jesus, without the fear that they'll influence you more than you'll influence them.
Religious activity never saved anyone (cf Matt15:8-9; Ac13:39, 15:10; Rom3:20; Gal3:10). If you're with your church group, talking about what's wrong with the world and how if they came into your church they would be fixed as they become like you, you'd actually make them worse if they came in, because Jesus' people live as salt, and you're not salt, so you're not Jesus' people.
People who believe the gospel share the gospel with others. This doesn't mean they don't struggle with cowardice (Paul was even afraid at times--Acts18:9; 2Corinthians1:8, 7:5). It just means that, having the Holy Spirit, God's Word wells up in them like it did for Jeremiah, a "fire shut up in my bones, and I am weary of holding it in, and I cannot" (Jerem20:9). If you believe, you speak and act (cf 2Cor4:13).
But you do it knowing who Jesus is: the Beginning and End of all things, who came to bear our sin on the cross, rose to make us new, and is coming again for those who are waiting for Him. He's the Light, and that makes us the light. And our shining the Light proves we have the light.
Some may be in danger of loving the world and that's why they speak and act. Others may be in danger of loving themselves and that's why they don't speak (because they think "people should come to me, not me to them"). Both are wrong. God's people shine as light in the world, for everyone to see, that His glory would fill the earth, and His Name would be made much of. "I have made you a light for the nations, that you may bring salvation to the ends of the earth" (Isaiah 49:6). What makes us the light is acknowledgement that a) people need saved by Jesus, b) we've been saved by Jesus, and c) no one, including us, has any light without Him. Let those who have the light shine it that people would know Him who is Light.
Scott Stine - Pastor of First Baptist Church, Newton NJ. Follower of Jesus; husband, daddy, PhD student, too distracted by basketball.
Wednesday, February 19, 2014
Tuesday, February 4, 2014
Kingdom, week 3: Persecution
"Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when others revile and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account." (Matthew 5:10-11)
Persecution is what happens when someone holds a conviction, others disagree vehemently with it, and the latter makes life hard for the former. This can either happen with physical persecution, emotional persecution, verbal, etc. People have been persecuted for their race, their religious beliefs, their actions, their words, and anything else under the sun that has put them in opposition to others.
Jesus here speaks of two kinds of persecution in His Kingdom: persecution for righteousness, and persecution for Him.
The first, righteousness, in this passage, simply refers to performing and acting in line with what is God's revealed will and purpose for us. It refers to living life before God's face, and earnestly desiring His will to be done.
People don't just hate God's word and will if they're atheists or if they live in a 10-Commandment-less culture. People can live in a Biblical theocracy and still be hostile to it. This is why people didn't receive Jesus when He came to Israel--they hated God, even though they thought they loved him. In reality, their religious observance didn't flow out of love for God, but out of love for self, as all religion does.
Anyone willing to be persecuted for the sake of God's Word and will are promised two things: a) persecution, and b) God's Kingdom. Since the Fall, man leans away from God and His Word, and so anyone who assumes His Word to be true and lives in light of it will be opposed. But Jesus promises here that they'll receive the Kingdom.
This is because if they're hungry for God's righteousness, they'll be hungry for Jesus. "If you believed Moses, you would believe me...if anyone's will is to do God's will, he'll know whether my teaching is from God" (John5:46, 7:17). Simply, if you believe in God's Word, the truth therein, and live in light of it, you'll receive Jesus, because the Word leads you to Him and the salvation that He provides for us (see Galatians 3:24-26).
This leads us to the second persecution: for Jesus' sake. It's no secret that Jesus is "the stumbling block" all throughout the Bible. This is because He's the only way to God (see John14:6, 1 Timothy 2:5, and Hebrews 7:25), and He saves people by His grace and work, not by the peoples' work (see Isaiah 53:11-12, Luke 19:10, and 1 Timothy 1:15). Very simply, Jesus is the King of God's Kingdom, and the only way into this Kingdom is through the King: Jesus.
To be saved, one has to believe that they exist because God created them, that they're sinners in need of salvation, and that Jesus' perfect life which culminated in a bloody crucifixion and triumphant resurrection is the only way to salvation.
This doesn't make them judgmental towards others. It makes them citizens of a different "Kingdom" while still living in the same physical world as others. And being "called to belong to Jesus" (Romans 1:6), they're called to shine their light so others see (Matt5:14), make disciples of all nations (Matt28:20), and bear witness to Jesus in the power of the Holy Spirit (Acts1:8).
So of course they'll be persecuted: they believe everyone (including themselves) is on their way to hell if not for Jesus having born their hell on himself on the cross, "to be received in faith". Have you, Christian, ever talked to a non-believer about what you believe about Heaven and Hell? It's even more uncomfortable than being a Broncos fan this past Sunday night around 8:00!
But it's the truth. And Jesus' death and resurrection proves it to be true. If you've repented and followed Him, you have no choice, not only to believe it, but to proclaim it. "Make disciples of all nations...teaching them to obey all I've commanded you" were His words to us.
The stakes being so high in the Bible run completely counter to the way our minds work. But so is grace counter to our way of thinking. God says He saves us by HIS powerful working (see Ephesians 2:10, Hebrews 4:12-13).
As offensive as Jesus the Stumbling Block is to people (1Peter2:6-8), the proclamation about Him is what saves many of those offended people (1Peter1:23-24, cf Romans 1:16). Blessed are you for being persecuted for Christ's sake--it means you are "counted worthy to suffer dishonor for the Name" (Acts5:41), which puts you in a long line of witnesses who will receive an eternal inheritance. And in many cases, blessed will be those who are standing within eye-shot of your being persecuted, because many of them will be saved.
Are you willing to suffer dishonor for Jesus? He gave so much for us...how much have you given?
One more thought: Jesus is telling us to be persecuted, not to be the persecutors. Just because you have the truth doesn't mean you can smack people in the face with your every conviction. Let the Holy Spirit do the discerning. Be known for talking about Jesus, not for disagreeing with everything. You will have opportunity to share conviction, but don't get to 5:10-11 in Matthew without first going through 5:3-9 ("blessed are...poor in spirit...meek...merciful...peacemakers..."). It is your humility which will "heap burning coals on peoples' heads", not your actually heaping burning coals on their heads.
Persecution is what happens when someone holds a conviction, others disagree vehemently with it, and the latter makes life hard for the former. This can either happen with physical persecution, emotional persecution, verbal, etc. People have been persecuted for their race, their religious beliefs, their actions, their words, and anything else under the sun that has put them in opposition to others.
Jesus here speaks of two kinds of persecution in His Kingdom: persecution for righteousness, and persecution for Him.
The first, righteousness, in this passage, simply refers to performing and acting in line with what is God's revealed will and purpose for us. It refers to living life before God's face, and earnestly desiring His will to be done.
People don't just hate God's word and will if they're atheists or if they live in a 10-Commandment-less culture. People can live in a Biblical theocracy and still be hostile to it. This is why people didn't receive Jesus when He came to Israel--they hated God, even though they thought they loved him. In reality, their religious observance didn't flow out of love for God, but out of love for self, as all religion does.
Anyone willing to be persecuted for the sake of God's Word and will are promised two things: a) persecution, and b) God's Kingdom. Since the Fall, man leans away from God and His Word, and so anyone who assumes His Word to be true and lives in light of it will be opposed. But Jesus promises here that they'll receive the Kingdom.
This is because if they're hungry for God's righteousness, they'll be hungry for Jesus. "If you believed Moses, you would believe me...if anyone's will is to do God's will, he'll know whether my teaching is from God" (John5:46, 7:17). Simply, if you believe in God's Word, the truth therein, and live in light of it, you'll receive Jesus, because the Word leads you to Him and the salvation that He provides for us (see Galatians 3:24-26).
This leads us to the second persecution: for Jesus' sake. It's no secret that Jesus is "the stumbling block" all throughout the Bible. This is because He's the only way to God (see John14:6, 1 Timothy 2:5, and Hebrews 7:25), and He saves people by His grace and work, not by the peoples' work (see Isaiah 53:11-12, Luke 19:10, and 1 Timothy 1:15). Very simply, Jesus is the King of God's Kingdom, and the only way into this Kingdom is through the King: Jesus.
To be saved, one has to believe that they exist because God created them, that they're sinners in need of salvation, and that Jesus' perfect life which culminated in a bloody crucifixion and triumphant resurrection is the only way to salvation.
This doesn't make them judgmental towards others. It makes them citizens of a different "Kingdom" while still living in the same physical world as others. And being "called to belong to Jesus" (Romans 1:6), they're called to shine their light so others see (Matt5:14), make disciples of all nations (Matt28:20), and bear witness to Jesus in the power of the Holy Spirit (Acts1:8).
So of course they'll be persecuted: they believe everyone (including themselves) is on their way to hell if not for Jesus having born their hell on himself on the cross, "to be received in faith". Have you, Christian, ever talked to a non-believer about what you believe about Heaven and Hell? It's even more uncomfortable than being a Broncos fan this past Sunday night around 8:00!
But it's the truth. And Jesus' death and resurrection proves it to be true. If you've repented and followed Him, you have no choice, not only to believe it, but to proclaim it. "Make disciples of all nations...teaching them to obey all I've commanded you" were His words to us.
The stakes being so high in the Bible run completely counter to the way our minds work. But so is grace counter to our way of thinking. God says He saves us by HIS powerful working (see Ephesians 2:10, Hebrews 4:12-13).
As offensive as Jesus the Stumbling Block is to people (1Peter2:6-8), the proclamation about Him is what saves many of those offended people (1Peter1:23-24, cf Romans 1:16). Blessed are you for being persecuted for Christ's sake--it means you are "counted worthy to suffer dishonor for the Name" (Acts5:41), which puts you in a long line of witnesses who will receive an eternal inheritance. And in many cases, blessed will be those who are standing within eye-shot of your being persecuted, because many of them will be saved.
Are you willing to suffer dishonor for Jesus? He gave so much for us...how much have you given?
One more thought: Jesus is telling us to be persecuted, not to be the persecutors. Just because you have the truth doesn't mean you can smack people in the face with your every conviction. Let the Holy Spirit do the discerning. Be known for talking about Jesus, not for disagreeing with everything. You will have opportunity to share conviction, but don't get to 5:10-11 in Matthew without first going through 5:3-9 ("blessed are...poor in spirit...meek...merciful...peacemakers..."). It is your humility which will "heap burning coals on peoples' heads", not your actually heaping burning coals on their heads.
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