Bright and Salty

God has called me to passionate discipleship and I am captivated by The Message. We were asked to write an assignment defining our pupose.

This is it: to be bright and salty; to be bold and humble.

“Let me tell you why you are here. You’re here to be salt-seasoning that brings out the God-flavours of this earth. If you lose your saltiness, how will people taste godliness? You’ve lost your usefulness and will end up in the garbage.”

“Here’s another way to put it: You’re here to be light, bringing out the God-colours in the world. God is not a secret to be kept. We’re going public with this, as public as a city on a hill. If I make you light-bearers, you don’t think I’m going to hide you under a bucket, do you? I’m putting you on a light stand. Now that I’ve put you there on a hilltop, on a light stand—shine! Keep open house; be generous with your lives. By opening up with others, you’ll prompt people to open up with God, this generous Father in heaven. [Mathew 5:13-16, the Message]

Jesus so plainly shares with “those who were apprenticed to him, the committed.” This is us! This is our purpose, our reason for being here. We must bring glory to Him by living a life of salt-and-light, a life of Christ-likeness, a life of worship; one that draws people into communion with God as illustrated in the teachings of Jesus. Matthew 5:13-16 [MSG] calls us to shine, calls us to proclaim God’s goodness publicly. Our lives must bear the image of our beautiful Lord.

Jesus continues in Matthew to speak on the law, bringing definition to our purpose as salt-and-light. We are told to be serious about God’s law and to lead others by our lawfulness, assured that our honour will be found in the Kingdom [Matthew 5:19-20, MSG]. Jesus returns to this teaching of seriousness about the Law when He calls us to be radical when turning from sin and temptation. He calls us to be bold and dramatic, to give up everything so that our souls may remain pure [Matthew 5:29-30, MSG]. These instructions are bright.

We are then told to be the bigger man, to right wrongs with those we have offended and those who have offended us. We are called to action, to initiation, to make the first move [Matthew 5:23-26, MSG]. With this act of salt-and-light we then demonstrate God’s passion for reconciled relationship and our humility through sacrifice. Jesus again emphasizes this call to rise above in speaking about our enemies. Here we are called to restraint, to submission. We are called to servant-hood and love. We are told to grow up, to be generous and gracious as our Father has endlessly been to us. We are invited into opportunity, opportunity to be reveal our best in persecution [Matthew 5:38-48, MSG]. These instructions are both bright and salty.

Jesus teaches that our life of salt-and-light exists in simplicity, is rewarded in humility. It is when we serve Him when serving others, when we seek His approval and become uninterested in an audience that God will work with us and speak to us. Our good deeds, our periods of fasting, our words of prayer, must go unnoticed by all but the One we represent. In that invisibility, we ensure that our intentions are pure and our actions authentic [Matthew 6:1-18, MSG]. He too teaches on simplicity in calling us to a life of worship by abandoning our attention to superficial needs. He calls us to a life of simple trust. God provides, Jesus assures us of this, and we are to live in this reality by turning our focus away from the created to the Creator [Matthew 6:19-34, MSG]. These instructions are salty.

Jesus concludes his salt-and-light instruction to us with a list of behavioural guidelines and foundational words. We are called away from a critical attitude and towards humility and acceptance. We called to examine ourselves, to worry about our own imperfections. We are told not to make a joke of God in trying to appeal to those who do not yet understand. This does not honour or respect God, nor does it draw people to communion [Matthew 7:1-6, MSG].

All that Jesus calls us to in a life of salt-and-light brings glory to God, sings praises and worship to Him, and invites people into relationship with Him. This is my passion; this is my purpose. If we fail to recognize this, if we fail to live like this, we’ve “lost our usefulness and will end up in the garbage.”