Holy Boldness

Salt in the ancient world was a preservative. Simply, it kept food from rotting. Furthermore, it enhanced the natural flavors of anything it contacted. So the presence of the disciples of Jesus in the world would retard the moral decline of the culture but enhance its organic goodness. Salt significantly affects fundamentally anything it touches. So the Christian community enhances the life of an entire city and preserves it from crumbling from within. But when salt loses its “savor”, its essential saltiness, it is useless. So Jesus implies that should His followers lose their distinctive holiness, they would likewise lose their value. Every generation of believers faces this risk. Salt challenges the status quo. When the church ceases to be distinct, it loses its witness. Jesus added another metaphor to the first by telling His disciples that they were “ the light of the world.” This is a profound statement and claim. The nature of light exposes darkness. Righteousness will always displace wickedness. The disciples of Christ by their very nature cause wickedness to be restrained. When authenticity steps through the door, the fake is exposed. “God did not send His son into the world to condemn the world but that the world might be saved… ”. (John 3:17) However, light by its very nature exposes darkness. Substance fills a vacuum. Weight iness displaces emptiness. When the real comes into play, the fake has no platform on which to pretend or perform. When authentic men and women “let their light shine” , the posers and the fakers get exposed and lose their place. The followers of Christ are also likened to “a city on a hill.” This speaks to the community aspect of the witness. As believers live humbly and lovingly with one another, their collective testimony releases a light into the world. Whenever Satan loses power or feels exposed or threat ened, he gets nasty. The enemy of God’s people will seek to intimidate and threaten them so that they hide or compromise their life in God. This is a precursor to war. The war begins in the mind and emotions. Satan, the father of lies, will do everything in His power to cause God’s people to compromise the truth and hide the light. But Christ admon ished His followers not to hide their light under a bushel but put it up on a lampstand. It is not a war of the flesh but a genuine war in the realm of the Spirit where true authority of righteousness and truth challenges the supremacy of lies and exploitation.

1 1 3