The Church # 1 - Salt and Light

The Church # 1 - Salt and Light

Matthew 5:13-16 - "You are the salt of the earth. But what good is salt if it has lost its flavour? Can you make it salty again? It will be thrown out and trampled underfoot as worthless. You are the light of the world - like a city on a hilltop that cannot be hidden. No one lights a lamp and then puts it nder a basket. Instead, a lamp is placed on a stand, where it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your good deeds shine out for all to see, so that everyone will praise your heavenly Father." (NLT).

1. Identity and Purpose - It's amazing that two of the initial things the Lord spoke to his first Church Members (His Disciples), was concerning their Identity and Purpose. Not only did Jesus tell the disciples WHO THEY WERE but in the same breath even told them WHY THEY WERE. We The Church today need to remember our Identity in Christ and our Purpose for being saved.
2. Plurality - Salt and Light both scream plurality; salt comprises of several thousand grains and light, of several thousand particles. The Church is similar - we consist of millions of individuals.
3. Unity - Despite their plurality, there's unity amongst the grains of salt and the particles of light. Even a grain of salt is salty and one particle of light is bright. That's what the Church was meant to be - United in Diversity. We were not meant to be disconnected from one another, or at best loosely connected with one another, but rather to be closely connected with, and concerned for one another. We are One Church, One Body, One Kingdom, One House, One Family, One Vine, One Temple. One Building...
4. Influencers - Both Salt and Light influence the environments they are placed in - they don't get influenced by it. So also, the Church was meant to influence the world around it, and not be influenced by it instead.
5. Purposeless - Salt can lose it's Saltiness and Light can be Hidden, thereby not fulfilling their purposes for existing as such. Similarly, we The Church can lose our flavour, if we don't use and share what we've received from the Lord, and we can hide our light by not appreciating and telling the world around us, what the Lord has done for us. Both these are choices we can, and yet should never make, as this would defeat the very purpose for our being Chosen in the first place.

Let's take these lessons from Salt and Light and seek to be all that the Lord intended for us to be, and do all He intended for us to do, when He chose us to be His Church.

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Michael Collins

Email: michaelpetercollinschennai@gmail.com