Matthew 5:13 Ye are the salt of the earth: but if the salt have lost his savour, wherewith shall it be salted? it is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of men.
14 Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid.
15 Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house.
16 Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.
A while back, a friend of mine was struggling with a scriptural concept, the balance between righteousness and grace. How do we handle a situation when someone, a believer is involved in sin. The Bible teaches that we are called to confront one who is in sin…
Matthew 18:15-17
15 Moreover if thy brother shall trespass against thee, go and tell him his fault between thee and him alone: if he shall hear thee, thou hast gained thy brother.
Galatians 6:1Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual, restore such an one in the spirit of meekness; considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted.
And yet we are to do all things in love.
We as Christians have a real balancing act to perform. We are to be the "salt of the earth..." and we are to "let our light so shine..." But sometimes we have to evaluate just how much salt and light are needed.
Salt...when you do an internet search on salt, you find that there are 14,000 known uses for salt. It is so important. In our homes there are everyday uses. Two uses in particular are to season food, and to cleanse wounds.
Light ... how blessed we are to have our sight. But without light our sight is useless. You can have 20/20 vision, but if you are in total darkness...you are blind.
So here is our job...to be salt and light. But....how much salt and light are needed. Say I make a lovely homemade chicken noodle soup. I put each ingredient in at just the right time so that all the veggies and the noodles will be at the right tenderness at the same time. But when I taste it, it needs some salt. What do I do? Do I add just enough salt to flavor it, to make it right? Or do I pour in the whole box at once? After all, if a little is good, a lot must be better, right? And when I cleanse a wound, I use a saline solution,but I would not pour a box of salt directly into my child's cut.
And light.... Have you ever been in a dark room, perhaps dropping off the sleep, and someone suddenly turns on the brightest light in the room? Had they come in with a small flash light or a candle, it would have lit their way, but the sudden bright flash of light does not simply "enlighten" you. It angers, irritates you. You probably even turn away from it.
Yes, we are to be salt and light. But perhaps, we need to consider those we are trying to reach. If we want to lead someone out of darkness, perhaps we need to start with a more gentle light. One that becomes “a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path." (Psalm 119:105) And maybe we need to be sure that the salt is seasoning ...and healing... instead of just being a source of pain.
Colossians 4:6 Let your speech be alway with grace, seasoned with salt, that ye may know how ye ought to answer every man.
I heard the word “grace” defined as “Grace is the power to do righteousness.” What a beautiful definition that is. We are called to confront and correct out brothers and sisters in Christ, but always with grace and always being aware that there but for the grace of God, go I.
