From Biblical Friendships to Salt and Light

At winter camp, do you remember we looked at biblical friendships? We talked about friendships and influence. Who remembers our memory verse? Whoever walks with the wise becomes wise, but the companion of fools will suffer harm.

So rightly, you guys said, if the world doesn’t follow the Lord’s wisdom, because what was wisdom? The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. So you guys rightly asked, “Well, if I’m not supposed to be the companion of a fool, how am I supposed to interact with the world? With a world that has rejected your Savior?”

And that is the question that this camp is going to try to answer. The short answer is that we’re not called to be shaped by the world, and we’re not called to hide from the world. But Jesus says that his disciples are supposed to be salt and light in the world.

Opening Prayer

God, thank you so much for every single person who is here at camp. God, thank you for your word. And I pray that your Holy Spirit would take your word in each individual here, leaders, students, followers of you, and those who are not yet your disciples. And I pray that your Spirit would take your word and change hearts. Establish faith. Make faith. God, be active. Help us to listen well. Help us to understand.

And God, don’t let the knowledge stop at our brain, but I pray that you would drive it to our hearts, that we’d believe it, we’d obey you, we would trust you, and trust you finally with the gospel and to salvation. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.

Jesus Speaks to His Disciples

Open up to Matthew chapter 5. We’ve been in here before. For those of you who’ve been in student ministries, we actually went through Matthew chapter 5 two years ago, not this last year, but the year before. Some of you have heard me talk about this passage.

I want to remind you the way that Matthew 5 starts. It’s Jesus, God in the flesh, who came to die for his people, talking to his disciples. And he tells them, “You guys are otherworldly. If you are following me, you don’t live for this kingdom. You don’t have the same master as everybody else who lives here, and you’re not living for the same purpose as everybody else who lives here in this world.”

He gives nine examples. He says this world is going to look at you when these nine things are happening to you, when these nine things describe you, and they’re going to say, “Not blessed.” Some of these things are like when you’re persecuted, when you’re hungry. And Jesus says, in these cases, you are truly, truly blessed.

Jesus’s disciples don’t live for this world, but they have to live in this world. And we live in this world with a view toward the heavenly kingdom, toward eternity.

I want you guys all to think. A few years ago, quite a few people remember, at student ministries camp, when Smedly gave the example. He took a piece of rope, a piece of string, and ran it around. It was a very, very long string. And it was counting as 10 trillion years. Ten trillion years. And then you take just the first little bit of that string, and that’s the life that we have to live here in this world.

I want you guys to think. This world, this life, not just this week, this year, but this life, is so very short in comparison to eternity. Think of where you will be for eternity. Everyone will be somewhere for eternity, and life on this earth is so very short.

And if you are Jesus’s, if you are a disciple, you will be with him for eternity. And the question is, why did he leave you here? Why doesn’t he just say, “All right, when you believe, you don’t belong in this world. You don’t belong to this kingdom. Poof, and you’re gone”?

Why does he leave you here? Not to live for this world. Not to live like the people who are living for this world, this life under their own masters. But he’s going to tell us in these verses why God leaves us here. He leaves us here with a purpose.

He reveals that even if you’re persecuted, even if you’re murdered, even if you suffered, your time here isn’t a failure. You’re blessed. Instead, look at 5:12. He says:

Rejoice and be glad, even if the worst of things happens to you here, for your reward is great in heaven. For so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

And then Jesus tells us who we are. He tells his disciples who we are and what our mission is on earth.

Matthew 5:13-16: Salt and Light

Matthew 5:13-16. A lot of you guys have this memorized. Look at the verses as we read it.

You are the salt of the earth. But if salt has become tasteless, how will it be made salty again? It’s no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot by men.

You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor does anyone light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house.

So let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works and glorify your Father who is in heaven.

The first thing is Jesus declares that his disciples are different. They’re distinctive, and they’re discernible in this world for the glory of their heavenly Father.

You Are the Salt of the Earth

The first command that he gives, he says, “You are the salt of the earth.” For his disciples, he says, you are salt, but don’t be saltless salt. Don’t be tasteless salt.

Who is Jesus talking to? He isn’t talking to people in general. He’s not talking to all people. He’s talking to his disciples, those whose Father is in heaven. That’s some of you. Some of you here say, “I know that I’m a Christian.” Some of you here say, “I know that I’m not a Christian.” And some of you here say, “I don’t know. I think I want to be.”

I want all of you guys to pay attention, but know that Jesus is talking to his disciples. And the “you” is in the plural. It’s the y’all. He says that you all together are the salt of the earth. You all together are the light in the world. He didn’t make just individuals. He saves us individually to be joined together into the church, to be salt and light together.

That’s what we talked about in summer, right? You are to be rooted together, walk with, be near the people who are similarly rooted, whose delight is in the law of Yahweh and who meditate on it both day and night.

Notice here, he says who you are. He hasn’t given any commands yet. What did he say? He said, “You are the salt of the earth.” He just says, “Disciples, this is who you are.”

And so salt, he didn’t say there’s a lot of salt. “Hey, you’re one of the salts in the world.” You are what? The salt. You are the salt. There is only one type of salt in the world. There is only one type of disciple. And we are all together. Whatever he’s saying the salt is, we are that.

If you are a follower of Christ, he’s not saying, “Hey believers, hey disciples, become salt.” He is saying, when you are saved, when you are a disciple, you are salt.

Salt Is Different, Distinctive, and Discernible

Now what does he mean when he says you’re salt? That’s a weird phrase. We’ve talked about this. What is the purpose of salt most of the time? What do we do with salt? We eat it. We add it to our food. There’s lots of purposes of salt, but the main one is we add it to our food to make food taste good.

When you add salt to food, you’ve had some food that’s really, really bland, right? And you’re like, “Man, this soup, this food needs salt.” And when salt is in the meal, it makes it really, really good. When you put just the right amount of salt in, you notice it’s there.

Now, is there anything else quite like salt? Can you think of any foods that taste like salt that aren’t salt? There aren’t any. Salt is salt, and salt is different from everything else. So that’s the first thing: salt is different. Christians are not like the world.

There’s no other people in the world that could be described as salt. He’s not saying, “Hey, you’re one salt, and another religion is another salt.” He’s saying, “You Christians are the salt.” God designed this world to have a people here who are here for his glory, and they are the ones who are disciples of Jesus, and they are different from the world, like salt is different from the other flavors in the meal.

Christian, you’re different than the way you were born, and you have a different nature than those who are left in the world who are around you.

Now Christians are not different because they’re trying to look unusual, right? We don’t want to say, “Hey, I want to be weird. I want to be different.” But Christians are different because God has given them a new nature. We’ve talked about that throughout the Bible. We’re going to be seeing that in the third session.

Christians, you are a new creation. Remember when we studied Ephesians: you were dead, and now you’re alive. You were darkness, we learned a few weeks ago, and now you’re light. You were not salt, and now you’re salt. You are different.

And Christians, you are distinctive. Salt is distinctive. It tastes like salt. It’s different than other things, and it’s distinctive. People can say, “What’s that flavor in this food? Oh, that’s salt.” “Oh, that person looks like a Christian. That person looks like their Father in heaven. That person looks like Jesus, our older brother. They act like a Christian should act.” They are distinctive.

A Christian whose salt is discernible is visible. It’s noticeable. Others see it. You’re different than the world. You have a character that people can name. They’re saying, “That looks like Christians.” You’re discernible. You’re noticeable.

When Salt Does Not Taste Salty

And then Jesus goes on. He says, “But if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored?” What is he talking about? How does salt lose its taste? Salt doesn’t lose its taste.

This is something I taught you guys last year. It was interesting in this time. The salt came from the ocean or the Dead Sea. You guys remember what the Dead Sea is? All the water runs down to the lowest point, and it doesn’t come out. So everything comes in, water evaporates, and then there’s concentrated salt.

Traders would go get the salt, and they’d scrape it up, and you get a big bag of salt. But there’s also this rock there called gypsum. It’s like a white rock. And so you get a bag with mostly salt and some gypsum in it. The traders would come and they’d sell it. And if those bags got wet, the salt would dissolve into the liquid and run out.

You might get sellers selling a bag that says “salt” on it. They’d sell it to somebody, and they’d get a bag of salt, and they’d say, “Wow, this soup needs salt.” And they throw the salt in the soup. It wasn’t salt. It said salt. It was advertised as salt, but it didn’t taste salty.

Well, what’s it good for? If you get a bag of salt from these traders, and you taste it, and it doesn’t taste like salt, what do you do with it? You just throw it out. “I’m not putting that in my food.” I throw it out. And that’s what Jesus says here. It’s no longer good for anything except to be thrown out, trampled under people’s feet. How could it be restored? It can’t be.

Christian, not all who say they are Christians are salt. Just like you might get a bag that says “salt” on it, and it’s not salty. What do you do with that? You throw it out. Not all who say that they are Christians are Christians, but only those who truly are.

And all those who do believe in Jesus, all those who’ve put their faith in Christ, who’ve been made new, are indeed salt. They are different. They are discernible. They are distinctive. They are who God made them to be.

Not Everyone Who Says “Lord, Lord”

This reminds me of later in the Sermon on the Mount, in Matthew 7. You can look in verses 21-23, or just listen. Jesus says:

Not everyone who says to me, “Lord, Lord,” will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven, he will enter heaven. Many will say to me on that day, “Lord, Lord, in your name, did we not prophesy? In your name cast out demons? And in your name do many miracles?” And I will declare to them, “I never knew you. Depart from me, you who practice lawlessness.”

And in our day and age, there might be some who say, “Lord, Lord, I went to church. I went to summer camp. I was on the winning team. God, I read my Bible every day. I prayed. I sang in the band. I was in small group. I did the things. I wore the Christian shirts.”

Not all who say they are Christians are. But who? Who are the ones? The ones who do the will of their Father.

Now, does doing the will of your Father make you a Christian? Like, “Hey God, look at me. I’m doing your will. Let me be your child.” Is that the order? No, that’s not the order at all. But how do you know who God’s children are? They look like their dad.

And if Jesus says all those who are disciples are salt, and he’s going to say in a second all those who are disciples are light, you don’t try to look salty. You don’t try to act like light in order to get in. But when God saves you, he changes you, and he makes you this way.

Do Not Sit Back and Wait

So if you’re in that boat that I talked about earlier, where you’re saying, “Hey, I am a believer,” or maybe you’re saying, “Hey, I think I believe. I believe the Bible’s true. I want to trust Jesus. I want him to be my Savior,” and you say, “But I don’t know yet. I’m just a little kid. I’m just a junior higher. I’m just a high schooler. I don’t know yet.”

Don’t sit here in a spot and say, “Well, I’m just going to sit back and watch and see. Let’s see what happens in my life. I guess I’ll watch, and I’ll see if I become a follower.” Don’t do that. Don’t do that.

But as you get opportunities, say, “What’s the will of my Father? What does God say to do?” And then do that thing. If you have a chance to obey, obey. If you have a chance to please the Lord, or you have a chance to disobey, which one would a Christian pick? Look at it and say, “This is a testing of my faith. If I trust God in his word, I’m going to obey.”

And you know what the reality is? We don’t all obey perfectly. When God saves you, you are different. You are. If God saves you, when God saves you, real Christians still battle sin. Actually, only Christians battle sin.

But if you look at your sin and you just don’t care, that’s a sign that you are not a believer. But if you look and you say, “God, I just want to follow you. I still see sin in my life. Help me follow you better,” that is actually a sign that you are salt, that you are light, that you are a believer.

So when you see sin in your life, don’t despair. What does a Christian do when they see sin? They confess it. They turn. And then they follow the Lord.

I want you to know these statements, and we’re going to be seeing a lot of them this weekend, that say a Christian is this. If you look at your life and you see that you fall short, what does a non-Christian do? They say, “I don’t care.” Or they say, “I’m going to try and clean myself up so that God accepts me.” Either one of those is wrong.

What the Christian does is they say, “Lord, will you take this sin too? Put this sin also on Jesus. Will you cleanse me from this sin?” And what does 1 John say?

If we confess our sins, he is faithful and he is just to forgive us and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

So when you look at your life and you say, “I don’t look salty enough, or I don’t taste salty enough. I’m a little bit different, but not different enough. I’m a little bit distinctive, a little bit discernible, but sometimes I blend in.” When you see those things, confess them and then turn. Repent and trust.

But don’t say, “Well, I guess I’m not a Christian.” Or, “Maybe I’ll wait till later, till I get older, and then I’ll follow.” Start now. Turn. If you’re realizing as I preach, if you’re realizing in the breakout sessions that there are sins to confess, that there are sins to repent from, don’t wait. Write them down. Pray. Turn.

You Are the Light of the World

Now, point two. Jesus says, “Don’t hide your light.” What does he say? Verse 14 says:

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.

Do you see how Jesus makes another “you are” statement? He doesn’t say, “Try to be light.” He doesn’t say, “Be light.” He says, “You are light.” You are the light of the world. He says, “You are the salt of the earth. You are the light of the world.”

Just like salt, when light is in a room, you see it. When salt is in a meal, you taste it. You can tell it. It’s discernible. Discernible just means you can see that it’s there. Light is very different from darkness.

Imagine a dark room and you have a light. Everybody says, “There’s the light.” Last night, I was trying to sleep in the hotel room we were in, and there was this dumb light in the bathroom. I just kept looking over there. That light was very, very apparent. I didn’t particularly like it. I wanted to sleep.

And you know what? In this world, darkness, people following the king of darkness, Satan, these people are dead. Remember what we learned a few weeks ago? You were darkness. Now you’re light. He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.

What domain does this world live in? Darkness. You were once darkness, and now you’re light if you’re a believer.

Like I hated that light. I did not want the light in that bedroom because I wanted to sleep. This world does not want light around them, and you are the light. So don’t be surprised when they hate you, when they despise you, when Jesus says before this that they even kill you, murder you.

Look at verse 11:

Blessed are you when others revile you, persecute you, and utter evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad.

We’re not doing what we do for people’s approval. We’re doing what we’re doing for our Father’s approval. What would please the Lord?

And if you’re in a kingdom of darkness and you’re not of that kingdom, we’ve been transferred from that kingdom into God’s kingdom. We’re not living for this world, but he leaves us here.

For the rest of eternity, you will not ever again, Christian, be light in dark. It’s just for that first little bit of that really long rope. It’s just these first 50, 60, 70 years, maybe less, maybe more. It’s just for that very first little bit where you have to be light in dark, where you get to be light in dark.

And nobody lights a lamp to put it under a basket. If you are light, who lit your lamp? God. It is not your light that you’re shining forth. It is God’s light shining through you. And that’s why he says people don’t light a lamp to put it under a basket, but they put it on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others.

Hidden Christianity Is a Contradiction

Martin Lloyd-Jones said of this verse:

“Martin Lloyd-Jones said any desire that you have to hide the fact that you’re a Christian is only to be regarded as ridiculous and contradictory.”

Have you ever thought that? “I’m in a room of non-Christians. I’m very different from this group of people. If I let them know that I’m a Christian, they’re going to mock me. They’re going to ridicule me. They’re going to judge me. They’re going to think less of me.” And then you say, “I need to hide.”

Of course, you’re a Christian when you’re at camp. That’s actually good. People like you then. But what about when you’re out in the world? You’re going to stand out.

That is not why God saved you. If God wanted to just save you to get you to heaven, he could have done it. He could have said, “Saved. Poof. You’re gone.” But he didn’t. He saved us and left us in the world. And we’re going to learn this weekend why: it’s to shine.

“Among whom you shine as lights in this world.”

And then Martin Lloyd-Jones goes on, and he says:

“If we indulge in this desire to hide, and then we persist in it, that is something that may lead to a final casting out.”

When you’re salt and you’re not salty, you’re advertising yourself as salt. “Hey, I prayed a prayer. I followed Jesus. I’m not salty. I’m not different.” It’s worthless. People say, “Lord, Lord, didn’t I do all these religious things?” He goes, “Depart from me. I didn’t know you. You’re a false disciple.”

Similarly, if you’re light and you just hide it, if you’re light and nobody can see it, you have no confidence to say you’re light. So what does a believer do? You don’t say, “God, look at me. I’m shining so bright. Accept me.” No, you say, “I’m God’s. He saved me despite me.”

You are the biggest of sinners that you know. You know how wicked you are deep down inside. God doesn’t save the righteous ones. He doesn’t save the best ones. He saves people when they say, “I am the worst sinner that I know. I am a great sinner, and I need a Savior.”

And then he takes that person who was once a slave to sin, and he changes them, and he makes them his disciple. He makes them a slave to righteousness. He takes dead people and makes them alive. He takes dark people and makes them light.

Ephesians 5:8 says, “At one time you were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. So walk as children of light.”

Being a Christian isn’t something that you earn. You don’t say, “God, am I light enough for you to accept me?” No, you get in on the basis of faith alone by grace alone. It’s not of works so that no man can boast. You don’t say, “Look at my light. Look at me.” But you know what we say? We say, “Look at my light. That’s my Father’s light. It’s shining forth.”

So be what you are for your Father’s glory. Hidden Christianity is a contradiction. You can’t be a Christian and be hidden. If you hide your Christianity, if you hide your light, you just aren’t. You are not a believer. Because what do believers do? They trust and they follow.

So if you realize that you have been hiding your light, you fit in at church, but you go out, and you say, “I think I’m a believer. I think I want to follow Jesus,” and when you’re around non-Christians, you become like them. You say, “I want to fit in with that group,” and you fit into their mold.

The companion of fools will suffer harm. Don’t be their companion. But you still need to be near enough to them for them to taste you, for them to see your light.

Good Works for Your Father’s Glory

And then what is Jesus saying? Give glory to your Father who is in heaven.

In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven.

There’s a purpose: so that they may see it, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven.

I’ve referenced it a few times. Ephesians 2:8-9: “For by grace you’ve been saved through faith. It’s not of works.” So don’t hear me wrong. You are not saved by your works. Not of works, that no man may boast.

For we believers are his workmanship. Believers, you were dead, now you’re alive. You were darkness, now you’re light. And God took you, and he worked you to be exactly what he wanted you to be.

We are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which he prepared beforehand so that we may walk in them.

Those are the good works that he says right here, so that they can see your good works and give glory to your Father. You’re his workmanship. He made you. You’re not saying, “Hey, look at me. Look at my good works.” These are your Father’s good works.

Look just a few verses later, at the beginning of chapter 6. There’s this tension that we have to live in. Chapter 6, verse 1 says:

Beware of practicing your righteousness before other people in order to be seen by them. For then you will have no reward from your Father who is in heaven.

So which one is it? Do you practice your good works before others and to be seen by them, or do you not? Because Jesus says, “Let your light shine so that they see your good works.” And now here he’s saying, “Be careful of letting people see your good works.”

Do you see the difference in motive here? In chapter 6, it’s saying don’t let people see your good works in order to be seen by them, so people see and say, “Oh man, what an amazing kid that is. What an amazing boy, girl, man, woman that is.” You want to let people see your good works so they say what? “What an amazing God that is.”

That’s the difference. It comes down to a motive. It comes down to a heartbeat. Naturally, if you are living as salt and light, you won’t be able to hide your good works. It will just come out. You aren’t going to do good works so people can see and then be something else when they’re not.

Actually, one of the marks of a Christian is who you are and how you act when nobody but your Father sees. Nobody but your Father sees. You’re still supposed to be salt. You’re still supposed to be light when nobody’s watching. Especially when nobody’s watching, because your Father is always watching.

Not as somebody you’re scared of who’s going to squash you like a bug. “Oh, he’s not salt and light.” But somebody you’re like, “He saved you to be this way. He longs to form you into this.”

And do you know what? When we face trials, when you face testing of your faith, when you face something that is a testing of your faith, you should be joyful. Say, “Oh, this is another chance to do the hard thing. This is another chance for me to obey. Another chance for my salt to be tasted. Another chance for my light to be seen.” Rejoice, because that’s how God molds you more and more and more into his image.

What Good Works Does Jesus Have in Mind?

So what kinds of good works does Jesus have in mind? When he says, “In the same way, let your light shine so they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven,” what kinds of good works does he have in mind?

If you were here at student ministries last year, do you remember how we taught through this whole chapter? Let’s see if you can remember. Matthew 5:21: avoid heart anger, not just murder. That’s a good work. You’re going to stand out.

This world doesn’t think much about being angry. That’s actually just normal. That’s natural. If somebody harms you, it’s normal to be angry. “You’re justified in your anger,” they say. Your Father says no. He saved you to keep you not only from being a murderer, but to keep you from being angry in your heart, and instead to be one who forgives.

Rejecting lust, not just adultery. This world doesn’t think much. We see it in the movies they watch and the jokes they laugh at, what they do on their phones, what they do in their heart.

Christians are different. It’s not enough to say, “Hey, I didn’t commit adultery.” God cares about your heart, and he changes you from the heart. That’s a good work. You’re not avoiding adultery or avoiding lust so that your neighbors see it and say, “Wow, that guy avoids lust. What an amazing person.” That’s not why you’re doing it. You’re doing it to please your Father and to be who he made you to be.

But you know what? You’re going to stand out when you don’t laugh at the same jokes, when you don’t watch the same things, when you don’t love the same things.

So the question is, “How close to this line can I get? How close to sin can I get and still be different enough?” God saved you to not be like them at all. As different as light is from darkness, that’s how different you are from this world, because you have a different Master, and you have a different kingdom that you are going to be in for eternity. You have a different King.

What are the other ones? Taking drastic measures to avoid sins. Cutting off an arm, gouging out an eye, and doing everything in your power to avoid sin. Refusing to divorce. Keeping your word even when it hurts. Persevering under persecution. Loving your enemies, not just your friends.

Jesus goes on and gives other examples, like not being anxious, humbly looking at your own sin so that you can care for others and help others turn from theirs. Every single one of these is not merely a work, but it’s a supernatural work flowing from a changed relationship to God. And those are evidences.

So when you see those things in you, when you say, “I’m not perfect, but I’m not who I was,” Christian, do you know what you should say? Praise God. Praise God, because he made you to be that.

If you are salt, if you are light, you say, “God, that’s you. You made me to be that way.” And if you know that you’re salt and you know that you’re light, and you see yourself still walking in darkness, not tasting salty, confess and turn. Say, “God, help me be. Make me to be who you saved me to be.”

Four Closing Questions

I want to ask every single one of you, as we close, these four questions. Think of your life for real.

1. Which kingdom do you live for? Which kingdom do you live for? This is key. Which kingdom do you live for?

   Some of you know that you’re not living for Jesus. Some of you know you’re not living for Jesus. Don’t stay there. Don’t stay there. I plead with you, be reconciled to God.

   Why would you stay in your sin? It’s misery. It is misery to stay in the dark. It is misery to live for yourself. Those sins that promise you joy, sin has never satisfied. Sin has never satisfied, and Jesus satisfies forever.

   And you know what? That long rope Smedly talked about of eternity, it’s only at this first little bit, the first inch of a thread, that Christians get to live as light in dark. But you know what? It’s only in that first little inch of a thread that you have a chance to say, “God, save me.”

   It’s appointed unto man to live once, and then die, and then judgment.

   After 10 trillion years of God lavishing the glorious riches of his grace upon his children, it will have just begun, and you will not get bored.

   And if you say, “I’m okay with being God’s enemy. I’m just going to stay here. I like my sin. I want to be like the world. I don’t want to be rejected. I want to be one of the cool kids. I want to live for money. I want to be successful,” or whatever lie you might be buying, after 10 trillion years of God giving you what you deserve for rejecting him, described as a lake of fire with weeping and gnashing of teeth, it will have just begun.

   Don’t turn to avoid hell. Turn to get Christ. Say, “God, I don’t want to be my master. Will you be my Master? I don’t want to live for this kingdom. I don’t want to follow Satan. I don’t want to live for myself. I want to live for you.” And if you pray that prayer, if you mean that, he will save you. He will take you from dark to light.

   Which kingdom do you live for? Christian, which kingdom do you live for?

2. Do you influence the world, or are you influenced by the world?

   For real, you know that if you are a Christian, the answer to that should be obvious. You influence the world. You are salt. You stand out. You’re saying, “I don’t want to be a companion of fools. I’m going to stand out and give glory to my Father.”

   But it is so easy, guys. I know the danger. I know the temptation to just want to fit in, to take the easy way out. “I don’t want to explain myself again. The gospel is so hard to explain. They’re not going to believe me. They’ll mock me. Maybe I’ll lose my job. Maybe I’ll lose popularity. Maybe I just think it’s fun to complain when they complain, laugh when they laugh. I just want to watch that movie.”

   That’s not what God saved you for. So I ask you, do you influence the world, or are you influenced by the world?

3. Does the world taste your saltiness? Does the world see your light? Answer for real. Are you hiding your light?
4. Are you doing good works? First, are you doing the good works that God saved you for? And second, for whose glory are you doing them?

We’re going to be talking about that in the next session. We’re going to be looking at the characteristics of salt, the characteristics of light in some other passages, and then whose glory you’re living for. So prepare your heart to answer those rightly.