One of the first things Jesus told his disciples during his sermon on the mount was, “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” (Matthew 5:13). The next thing he said is, “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” (vs. 14-15).
Both salt and light are important. They didn’t have refrigerators in the first century. The only way to preserve meat was to heavily salt it. Salt has been used since the beginning of time to preserve things, ferment them, and to add taste. If salt “loses its saltiness” it is thrown out. Salt is cheap. We have no problem throwing it out if it’s bad. Jesus’ point is for us to be good salt for others, to be appealing. Likewise, light is essential for productivity. It’s necessary to see. Jesus said, “Let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven” (vs. 16).
If we simply do these two things within our community, lives will be radically changed for the good. It doesn’t take a detailed plan, a committee, or truck loads of volunteers. The way for the church to build a bridge between the church and community is to be appealing–to do the work of Christ and to point people to God. More and more people are combining a Christian model of living into their business plans and it’s experiencing wild success. People buy products and use services that they know are benefitting a good cause. We need to constantly be the salt and light of the world.
