We alone are the salt of the earth; there is no other. That's it, just us. If we lose our saltiness, it's lost. We are the light; that's it, just us. Nobody else. If our light is under a bushel, there is no other alternative.
I read a news article yesterday about the newest assault on children and the family unit that just utterly sickened me. If it weren't so completely necessary to bring this to the attention of the public, I would try to erase it from my mind.
In an article by Matt Gouras of the Associated Press, the Helena, Montana School Board has proposed a sex education program that teaches fifth-graders the different ways people have intercourse and first-graders about gay love.
For obvious reasons, this has infuriated the parents of these very young children. Their public outcry has forced the school board to take a closer look at the issue. While the proposed 62-page document covers a broad health and nutrition education program, included in this curriculum is a portion dealing with sexual education that has angered many in the community who feel it is being pushed forward despite their objections and its obvious controversial nature.
Listen Folks, because of the nature of this news, because of the times we live in, because Satan, sin and wickedness seem to be gaining ground in every aspect of life, because the Church is asleep, because the time is short, because JESUS is coming soon ... James and I are determined more than ever to bring you the TRUTH to the best of our ability, and to shoot straight from the hip with regards to the Church's response.
Christian or non-Christian, one would think that even the simplest buffoon would understand that sex education is completely inappropriate for this age group. What, pray tell, is a 5 and 6 year old supposed to do with this information?
The State Run Education System knows exactly what they are doing and that is to conform society into a lifestyle away from God's absolute law and authority, to take parental control away, and to promote the sinful lifestyles they embrace. Forget reading, writing and arithmetic: for some perverts it is more important that a young child be taught that promiscuity and sex outside of marriage is acceptable, that homosexuality is an alternate lifestyle that is both normal and acceptable behavior, that a baby is a fetus and that abortion is not murder....not to mention all the other filth that goes along with this. Satan is succeeding in destroying this world because Christians stand on the sidelines and do ...
... nothing.
The question is Why? It was John Wesley who said,
“Give me 100 men that hate nothing but sin, and love Jesus Christ, and we'll shake England for God.”
I say give me 100 men and women that hate nothing but sin, and love Jesus Christ so truly and completely... well, just think of the possibilities!
The sad truth of the matter is that the Church (and I mean all of us) is compromised, we love this world and the things of this world; we have not separated ourselves but have joined WILLFULLY into its sinful pleasures.
It is proven by our speech, our conduct, and our silence on the things that really matter. The world offers us more toys and more distractions and we completely welcome almost all that it has to offer us, and then sit perplexed and horrified at the sinful decay of our society and are paralyzed in our ability to do anything about it.
We have fallen prey to the selfish mindset of the Hollywood Entertainment Industry. Our kids are falling by the wayside because they are filling their minds with the world through television, music, and other worldly influences.
Christian kids who have been raised in Christian homes, who go to church weekly and attend Christian teen groups, who perhaps have even been homeschooled are turning out more worldly minded than godly minded. They talk more about the things of this world than about Jesus Christ. Their idols are fictitious Hollywood creations, their dreams are to become the next American Idol. Why?
Is our Christianity so compromised and diluted that we have become salt without flavor? Jesus, the Savior of the World, the King of kings and Lord of lords, the One who is and is to come (just to put HIM in rightful perspective) taught us,
MATTHEW 5:13-16
13 Ye are the salt of the earth: but if the salt have lost his savour, wherewith shall it be salted? it is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of men. 14 Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid. 15 Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house. 16 Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.
Evangelism is more than just spewing out words of the Bible and defining its message, its an example of a life in Christ that dispels the darkness around us. Simply, these four verses is the picture that our Lord gives of the Christian in the world, it is the function of the believer in the world. If I could reduce it to one word, it would be the word 'INFLUENCE.'
Just who is influencing who?
Salt (the Christian), in order to be effective, has to be mingled with the substance (the world) that it is affecting, and yet salt (the Christian) is DISTINCT from that substance (the world). Light (the Christian life), in order to dispel darkness (the worldly life), must shine upon the darkness, yet is DISTINCT from the darkness.
He is saying,
You who are characterized by Beatitude-quality life, you who are the sons and daughters of the Kingdom of God are the salt and light of the world to influence the world for good and for God.
Our Lord is calling on us to influence the world that we live in, just as He did with those disciples who followed him and the multitudes he preached to. It was Jesus, the greatest hero of all time, who taught us not to love the world or the things of the world...and yet we have, and to the point where He is no longer the focus of or hearts and hero in our lives.
No longer do we desire to talk about Him, or to emulate Him, but rather we have turned our hearts elsewhere. Our minds have been influenced by the philosophical views of this world rather than the WORD OF GOD. Our kids idols are the characters depicted in various Hollywood films like Harry Potter, The Lord of the Rings, Twilight, and the like; and the music industry has had a great effect upon the minds and hearts of us all so much so that we have become immune, so to speak, of the horror of sin.
How much murder or sex on television does one have to watch before it no longer makes them feel uncomfortable. How many horror flicks before we are immune to horror? I use television here because it is an easy example to present, but there are many, many other influences out there that are leading us away from the Lord.
The Bible clearly teaches us not to be unequally yoked together with an unbeliever, and yet there are some Christians (through perhaps some careless teaching) who have chosen unbelievers as their closest friends. I am not saying to isolate yourself from unbelievers or that one cannot befriend a non-believer, but they should never become your closest friend or ally. For what have you in common, for ultimately you will be influenced and compromised.
I have watched as some have made this choice and are now struggling with their faith, and others who have turned away from God. The question for us today is, if we are called to influence this world for God and His Kingdom, what message are we leaving the world? When we pass by, what are we saying and doing? What influence have we been on those around us?
We are taught in 1 PETER 2:9-10,
"But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light;"
May the Lord wake us up out of slumber and sleep and to the realization that we must "Come out from among them, and be separate." We must all get to our prayer closets and get honest with the Lord and ourselves about the compromise in our lives. We must choose this day whom we will serve, the world or God's Son. It is no longer I, but Christ and He must be allowed to take His rightful place on the throne of our hearts.
Perhaps then, and only then will our lives influence our homes, our communities and the rest of society.
"But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light;"
May the Lord wake us up out of slumber and sleep and to the realization that we must "Come out from among them, and be separate." We must all get to our prayer closets and get honest with the Lord and ourselves about the compromise in our lives. We must choose this day whom we will serve, the world or God's Son. It is no longer I, but Christ and He must be allowed to take His rightful place on the throne of our hearts.
Perhaps then, and only then will our lives influence our homes, our communities and the rest of society.
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