“William F. O’Neill wrote the most detailed and scholarly critique of Objectivism called With Charity Toward None: An Analysis of Ayn Rand’s Philosophy. While his conclusions were negatively critical, he did grant that “whatever else Miss Rand may have achieved, she continues to serve as a useful intellectual catalyst in a society which frequently suffers from philosophical ‘tired blood.’” John Piper
I remember from a young age hearing this teaching regarding the Christian being salt and light. While I had a grasp of what that meant, I have to admit I never gave it a lot of thought until adulthood. And, more recently, it has cropped up again.
I think one of the reasons for this was that our society in the 50s and 60s was pretty much pro Christian. As a culture, the vast majority believed in God. Even public schools still had prayer before class or meals. It was pretty much a given that, if you were an American, you were more than likely Christian or at least made that claim or were not anti-theist in anyway. Of course, it was a naïve notion and one that would soon be revealed to be so.
I can remember a time when “street evangelism” was no great task. If you walked up to someone on the street and said something to the effect of “Hey, did you know that God loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life?” A majority of the time the response was, “Really, tell me more.” Or, if the notion was rejected, it was done without animus. Of course, those days are long gone, and the response now, if one were so bold as to make a statement like that to a total stranger, is more often than not, “Yea, right. Do you also believe in the tooth fairy?” or “only an Fn idiot would believe that”.
Society as a whole has been and is still in the process of becoming almost entirely secular. Sadly, even churches have been going further and further down the road of compromise. It is because of this that I find myself thinking more and more about “salt and light”.
So, just how are we supposed to be “salt and light” in a world that is ever more hostile to religion and more specifically, Christianity? Well, first of all, I would suggest that it is precisely because of the trend we see toward the secular, toward an anti-religious, anti-Christian mindset, that it is more important now to consider this than any other time in my life. Again, how can we be “salt and light”? What does that look like in everyday life?
One of the ways that we can be “salt and light” to the society we live in, is to simply be more direct and honest in our communication with people. What I mean by that is that we should use the same language with the person on the street or at work or at school that we use when we are with fellow Christians. What do I mean by that? Most people that I know who profess Christ have two languages, myself included, though since becoming aware of this, I have been working on changing it.
Here’s an example. Let’s say you are talking to your neighbor, who isn’t a Christian, and you reveal to him that you are changing jobs. A logical response to that would be, “Wow. That’s a big move. How did you decide to do that?” Most of us would tell them about the monetary benefits of the change, how the company had great promise for the future, the benefits were better than your present job, and you won’t have to move to another city.
Now, let’s take the same scenario, only the person you are talking to is someone at Church. In fact, let’s say it’s your pastor. His response to your announcement, “Wow. That’s a big move. How did you decide to do that?” Most of us would say something along the lines of, “Well, my wife and I have been praying about this for some time now and it seemed that God had been revealing to us that it’s a good time to make this move. We also had our brothers and sisters in our small group praying along with us and they agreed that the timing was right. With their support, we are really confident that this is what God wants for us right now.”
See the difference? Now some might say that we don’t talk like that with our secular friends because we don’t want to sound overly spiritual and make them feel uncomfortable. Or we might even avoid that kind of talk so they don’t think of us as being a fanatic and can’t relate to us at all. We might even have convinced ourselves that we are “talking their language” out of some kind of respect for them. I would suggest that all of those are excuses that fall under the category of self-protection.
I’ve had conversations with Christians who say they are more than willing to share their faith, they aren’t afraid or hesitant at all, but the subject never seems to come up. Again, we might want to look at our own way of communicating on a daily basis with those around us.
The following is a story that a friend of mine, Debra Mijal, shared on Face Book a while ago. It is a great example of what we are talking about, being salt and light.
“I went for a morning walk on the beach on New Year’s Day.
The New Year’s Eve fireworks display, put on by well-intended amateurs, had taken its toll on our pristine beach front. So, I grabbed some trash bags, and picked up all the scrap plastic and debris. All the while, I was thinking of the contamination and defilement of my sins against a Holy God. What a backdrop!
A woman saw me cleaning up, and met me at the pavilion to thank me. She voiced the opinions of every beach lover when she spoke of her frustrations over garbage left on our beautiful beach. I admit, I pick up lots of trash, especially during tourist season.
She said, “I can’t believe that people think someone else should be responsible for picking up their mess!” I said, “Well, I can’t believe God made His one and only Son responsible for dying for my sins! ‘God made Him who had no sin, to be sin for us, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God’. Honestly, I understand your frustration, but I cannot remain angry for long about the trash. I’m just grateful Christ paid the price of death for me, when He did not make “the mess”. So, every time I pick up trash on this beach, it is a sweet reminder of how my every sin is atoned for. The fine for littering this beach is $500.00. But the penalty of my sin against God is eternal punishment.”
She said, “That’s a nice way to think about it.”
I said, “It’s so much more than a nice thought…it has eternal consequences. Forgiveness and reconciliation with God is something everyone should think about before it’s too late.”
I proceeded to share the gospel with her.
Today, I am reminded to pray for her. And I must forgive others who sin against me, and remain willing to pick up messes that are not my own. After all, I have a Great High Priest who offered His body as a sacrifice, and Who continually makes intercession for me.
And boy, that thought sure keeps me humble.”
There are two things that stick out in that story. First of all, the obvious. Debra only has one language. Secondly, and a little more subtle, is how this language so easily comes out. Notice where Debra’s thoughts were, even before the lady showed up. When the lady showed up and started to comment, all Debra had to do was let the lady hear her thoughts. There was no time spent wondering just how she could make this a spiritual conversation. It was automatic.
I Peter 3:15 says; “but sanctify Christ as Lord in your hearts, always being ready to make a defense to everyone who asks you to give an account for the hope that is in you, but with gentleness and respect.
If Christ is sanctified as Lord in our heart, He is never far from our thoughts. There is no need to labor over what to say. You will “always be ready to make a defense to everyone who asks you” and even those who don’t specifically ask, “to give an account for the hope that is in you”. She did just that and “with gentleness and respect”.
In a world and church that is led by sound bites and feel-good philosophies, let us be the intellectual catalyst in our circle that fights against philosophical ‘tired blood’. This is the model Jesus gave us. As salt, all in our presence should be forced to think and choose. But if the salt has lost its flavor…
To be continued…