13 ‘You are the salt
of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty
again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled
underfoot.14 ‘You
are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. 15 Neither do people
light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it
gives light to everyone in the house. 16 In the same way,
let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and
glorify your Father in heaven. Matthew 5: 13 - 16
Jonathan Martin of Renovatus Church tells the story of how
he wasted two hours trying to buy a chocolate chip cookie and ending up with
chocolate turn over (I think that’s an American chocolate sandwich!). He says
that as Christians we too can waste hours doing unprofitable things and then
settle for something far less than what we set out for.
Billy Graham wrote: Columbus was called mad because he decided
to sail the uncharted ocean. . . . Martin Luther was called mad because he
presumed to defy the entrenched religious hierarchy of his time. We have become
too sophisticated and respectable to be called mad in our generation.
Christianity has become so respectable and so conventional that it is now
insipid. The salt has lost its flavour. . . . Would to God that the world found
us Christians dangerous enough to call us mad, in these days when materialism
and secularism are sweeping over the world.
Angus Buchan tells the story of going
to a rodeo in Australia, full of people dressed in fancy clothes with bells and
buckles and looking the part but quite unable to ride the horses. Then a young
man came simply dressed, quietly waited for his turn and then rode the horse
like a champion. He took his prize money
and left. He was not just someone who talked or looked the part, he was the
real thing. Angus asks if as Christians
we too are the real thing.
Finally Joyce Meyer says, ‘What would happen in the world if everyone
who claims to be a Christian would actually go out and act like one.’
All these stories came in a 24 hour
period and I am sure God is saying something to me about whether I am salt and light in my world.
I am challenged by these stories.
Am I radical enough, mad enough, different enough in my actions, words
and attitudes to be seen as a Christian and to show God’s love to those around
me.
I may not be one of these ‘famous’
Christians but I can have just as much impact in what God has called me to if I
live my life completely sold out for him. I don’t want to waste my time on fruitless
activities, looking the part but unable to come up with the goods, insipid and
inactive. I want to be the real thing.
As one of my friends said on Facebook
this morning: Do one thing today for one person,
one animal, one cause. Today you can be a superhero. Go on, I believe in you. Make a change in
someone’s world.
