You are Salt and Light — Part 2

In last week’s devotional on Salt and Light, we focused on Imputed Righteousness as an explanation of Jesus’ words, the idea that we are already salt and light because of Jesus. Today, let’s look again at these statements in context and expand them to give a more complete view.

As believers, we are what Jesus told His disciples: salt and light to the world. But there is more to the quote. Here are the phrases in context (Matthew 5:13-16):

“You are the salt of the earth, but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored?  It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled under people’s feet.

You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.”

At this point in the conversation, Jesus has already given key attributes that will identify His disciples, which we know as The Beatitudes.  And now He turns to the people gathered and says collectively, you—this group of you and those who follow—are salt and light. You bare this light of life that is also in me.

Jesus is making a statement about individuals, since a group is made up of individuals. But the plural language really is about the group and how the group interactions will be obvious for all to see. As individuals, we may lose our cultural importance and become ineffective; We alone cannot be a city on a hill. But together, we will shine and not be diminished.

But it is even more telling that we can give away our ability to be transforming agents for our culture.  The real question is, how can this happen? How can we lose our saltiness or hide our light? Through disunity. Jesus says that our unity is a clear indicator of our love for God and each other.  If we can’t get along with each other, it will be hard to recognize us from the culture around us.

Unity is difficult to maintain, especially when we are all broken, and we are all different. We have different perspectives, different priorities, different skills, different backgrounds. So, it was in the church of Corinth. There were many factions, each proud of their own heritage.  But Paul says all their super-spirituality was simply useless. Why?  Because they didn’t have love to bridge over their differences and unite them (1 Corinthians 13:1-3). God’s love is working in the heart of every single believer. We are each created by God to be unique so that we can complement each other and build each other up.  We are one body with many different members for a reason.

Freedom in Christ is passionate about seeing true unity among the saints because it is by our unity that we show that Jesus is who he said He is (John 17:21)! The evidence of God’s work in our lives is the love we show toward one another (1 John 4:7-8).

Friends, let’s take the bushel off our lamp and let God out.  Let’s let God shine. Let’s together be change-agents in our local, regional, national, and international spheres of influence.