Us vs. Them

Mark Hoover

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Matthew 5:13–16 ESV

13 “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. 14 “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. 15 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. 16 In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.

INTRODUCTION

The Journey started in our living room on Tarrent County Dr. off of Bunny Trail. If I were completely transparent and honest with you this morning I had no idea what God had planned and in store for future of The Journey Church. Anyone who is truly honest will tell you that planting a Church from the ground up never goes as planned. All of the Church planting classes, seminars, and training you can take never truly prepare you for Church planting. One thing that becomes painfully clear early on is the spiritual battle that finds itself waged against the Church and it’s people.

From the beginning of scripture after the fall it has always been Us Vs. them; the Church Vs. the World; Light Vs. Darkness; the Saved Vs. the Unregenerate; however you define it the battle is very real and evident all around us every day.

The battle against the world is to be expected however, I believe one of the more subtle and possibly most destructive battles being waged is taking place within the walls of the Church.

This battle takes place among many who would claim to be ambassadors for Christ, those claiming to be born again believers. When the Church truly begins functioning as Salt and Light to the World the greater attacks begin to come from our own camp, among our own people.

Notice that before Jesus gets into the “salt and light” he concludes the “Beattitudes” pointing out the struggle and persecution that will take place when you choose to be Salt and Light.

Jesus highlights in His sermon on the mount two key distinctives for how any professing Christian should relate to the world. Both statements that Jesus uses could be defined as counter cultural statements compared to society today. Notice that Jesus uses words “you are,” at the beginning of Salt and light to indicate a statement of fact for anyone claiming to be a Christian. He doesn’t command us to be salt and light He just simply makes a statement of fact that you are salt and light.

Enhancing Others’ Lives

In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus uses two sensory-rich descriptions for the people who are his disciples. He states, “You are the salt of the earth. … You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden” (Matthew 5:13–14). Those who trust in Jesus, therefore, are comparable to salt and light. And both descriptions are apt when we think of our neighborhood. Salt is a preservative. Salt can be added to something such as pork to give it a longer shelf life (living longer). In this clip from a MasterClass on cooking, chef Thomas Keller points out that salt enhances flavor.

If you think of flavor as the quality of life, then we should be doing what we can to enhance the quality of life, as well as preserving and lengthening the lives of those around us. The final point about salt is this: it has to be integrated into the food. Salt in a saltshaker, sitting next to a steak, will never make any difference to the steak. It has to be rubbed into the meat and become embedded in it.

“Salt”

Salt functions as a preservative it is the enemy of decay, and the substance which gives taste to food.

1)Preservation

2)Flavor

TASTE: The act of tasting is used figuratively for experiencing the goodness of God his word and of a variety of experiences: misery, sin, wisdom, love, death and blessing.

If salt has not value for the taste of food what good is it, in reality it now has not purpose and is useless for the kingdom of God. Salt in 1st century Palestine was very impure and it was possible for the sodium chloride to be leached out, so that what remained lacked “saltiness.”

Here is an odd thing, an awful lot of Jesus disciples did not completely know what he meant about the salt. Some would assume that our job is to make the world a better place, or stop it from rotting but these explanations often conflict with each other and suffer from various problems.

Jesus was speaking of salt in relation to the earth, not food. Salting the earth was something people did after after destroying their enemies, rather than blessing them. Other places in the Gospels, Jesus connects salt with fire and with living at peace together, neither of which seems to fit with the idea of tastiness or preservation.

FERTILIZER: Several ancient civilizations used salt as a fertilizer for the soil, and depending on the conditions, it could help the earth retain water, make fields easier to plow, release minerals for plants, kill weeds, protect crops from disease, stimulate growth, and increase yields.

Disciples are fertilizers. We are meant to be in those places where conditions are challenging and life is hard. We are sent to enrich the soil, kill weeks, protect against disease, and stimulate growth, and as we are scattered life springs up in unexpected places.

SALT AS AN ANTISEPTIC: Salt can also be used to treat wounds. While salt in an open wound can produce pain it also can bring healing. Perhaps Jesus metaphor shows that the presence of believers in the world stings the consciences of the ungodly because it is a painful reminder that God requires holiness and that the wages of sin is death.

“Light”

The light of the world implies that the world is in darkness.

John 3:19 ESV

19 And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil.

“The Light of the World” is an expression that is applied to Jesus therefore, it is interesting to point out that it is also a term used to define His followers. Why? Ephesians 5:8 Paul states that you were at one time in darkness but you are now light in the Lord, therefore, walk as children of the light. Philippians 2:15 tells us that we are to shine as lights in the world.

The greater picture this gives us is of our reflection. Every human being reflects one of two things, either we reflect light or we reflect darkness. There is no middle ground when it comes to light and darkness. Ephesians 2 reminds us that we were all at one time waling in the course of the world, following and doing the work of Satan, carrying out the desires of the body, and mind, which makes us by nature children of wrath.

BIG IDEA: We must repent of Christian passivism and reaffirm our confidence in Gods power.

Pessimism: a tendency to see the worst aspect of things or believe that the worst will happen; a lack of hope or confidence in the future.

Note: I think one of the greater factors which hinders Christians from being salt and light in society and the world is a pessimistic attitude as to whether anything they could say or do will really make a difference in the world. I think every apostle of Christ would disagree. They each went to a martyrs death with the message of Salt and light on their lips.

Christians are the Light of the World In his recent documentary titled Light On Earth, David Attenborough tells of an unbelievable experience of the S.S. Lima. On January 25, 1995, as this British Merchant vessel sailed the waters of the northwestern Indian Ocean, the seas beneath them began to glow.

On a clear moonless night, while 150 miles east of the Somalian coast, a whitish glow was observed on the horizon. And after fifteen minutes of steaming the ship was completely surrounded by a sea of milky white color with a fairly uniform luminescence. It appeared as though the ship was sailing over a field of snow or gliding over the clouds. While stories of glowing seas have been a part of maritime folklore since the 1700’s, they have never been scientifically confirmed. But a group of scientists had an ingenious idea. Using a Defense Meteorological Satellite, Dr. Stephen Haddack and his team discovered a large luminescent area. Roughly the size of Connecticut (110 miles long), the phenomenon was identified in the exact area where the captain had reported his ship that night. Marine biologists discovered that the glowing sea was caused by massive swarms of bioluminescent bacteria feeding on large populations of algae. Imagine that for a moment. Bacteria are microscopic. But when they congregate together, these tiny creatures, that cannot even be seen by the naked eye, can suddenly radiate their light 600 miles into orbit

There is no place our light cannot reach if together we will let it shine before a searching humanity.

WHAT WE NEED TO KNOW ABOUT BEING SALT AND LIGHT?

1. Being Salt and Light is a Holy Pursuit

How do we pursue Holiness?

“Without Holiness no one will see the Lord” (Hebrews 12:14). The difference between us and God is that He is completely and inherently Holy and we are not.

The New Testament emphasizes the pursuit of holiness in this world and the final attainment of holiness to come.

To be “Holy” means to be set apart for honorable use. Where we were once foolish, disobedient, and enslaved to this world with it’s pleasures and passions we have now been washed and regenerated through the Holy Spirit. (1 Cor. 6:11).

The pursuit of Holiness does not end when we become a follower of Christ, it just begins! There is a positional holiness that we inherit at the point of conversion.

*The Church does not EXIST for the sake of the World

According to scripture the people of God have a higher purpose!

Ephesians 1:3-10 Paul gives us a history and theology of the church. There are several things we learn from this text.

1. God’s first and primary purpose was to create a people for Himself, who would live with him Holy and blameless. (“you were once dead in the trespasses and sins you once walked, following the prince of the air, but God being rich in His love for you has now made you alive in Christ”)

2. God did this accordance with the good pleasure of His will and to the praise and glory of His grace. (“He did this for the immeasurable riches and grace of His kindness towards us in Christ Jesus”)

Note: It appears then according to Paul that the Church is not a means but an end.” The Church is the visible sign of God’s universal will which is living before the Father in Holy Love for His Kingdom and For His glory.

John 17:14–19 ESV

14 I have given them your word, and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. 15 I do not ask that you take them out of the world, but that you keep them from the evil one. 16 They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. 17 Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth. 18 As you sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world. 19 And for their sake I consecrate myself, that they also may be sanctified in truth.

IN THE WORLD BUT NOT OF THE WORLD

This is the tightrope we walk everyday as Christians. I think the idea of being in the world and not of the world has been vastly mis-represented and understood by the Church.

The assumption that some have drawn from this is that the Church needs to adapt it’s methods and message to draw the world into the Church. However, Jesus is declaring that His children are not of this world and do not exist for this world.

We are not called to look like the world, or adopt the worlds mindset. We are called to conform our minds and actions to that of Christ Jesus. If we are to be a light to those in spiritual darkness we must live in such a way that those outside of the faith will see our good deeds and know that there is something different.

Romans 6 Paul addresses this by asking the all important question, “should those of us who claim to have the light of Christ in us continue living in sin that grace should abound? Paul answers his question by stating “by no means.”

Note: The pleasure that this world has to offer is no longer the calling card of our life, as it once was, but rather our greatest pleasure is to worship and glorify God.

You were not saved for this World

Note: God did not save you out of the world to have you go back to the world again.

You were saved to be Salt and Light

This world is not your home. Here is where the rub comes for the Church today. Here is where the functional universalist rears it’s head in the Church. When the Church thinks it exists for the sake of the world, we then begin to tailor what we do to conform to the world and it’s standards.

The universalist view is that a loving benevolent God would never condemn anyone to hell. He would never save just a few at the narrow gate that leads to life therefore, after a time of punishment in the afterlife during a limited amount of time all souls will be purified and granted entrance into the eternal Kingdom and presence of God.

FUNCTIONAL UNIVERSALIST

The functional universalist will intellectually acknowledge that people apart from Christ will go to Hell when they die, but we do not act on these beliefs. It is not a question of bad theology or doctrine, it is a question of bad practices.

We tolerate our walking by hell-bent people every day and in the name of tolerance we have become immune to the expressions of people crying out for help.

We convince ourselves that we do not have the gift of evangelism because we are too shy or not very outgoing. We live in a society that embraces tolerance politically, and we allow that to shape and change our faith.

Churches that embrace this functional Universalist mindset will change and even adapt it’s message and methods to look more like the world and it’s message/methods. The functional Universalist embraces being sugar more than it does salt.

The image is that in the end, the world comes to the Church, the place where people bask in the presence of god, where the pleasure of God is our pleasure, prompting us to erupt in praise of Him alone.

To many Professing Christians and Churches are bowing at the alter of this world.

Mark Galli’s series “The Elusive Presence”

“It does not appear that the Church was created for the world, as many assume. If anything, the world was created for the sake of the church. That is, the funnel of history is not that the church pours itself into the world to redeem it, but the world at least those in the world who trust in Christ - are poured into the church.”

“The Old and New Testaments, contrary to our usual reading do not think of the church as a means to an end (i.e., the Church’s purpose is missional, to make the world a better place, or moralistic living) … Instead, the church’s end is God and our fellowship with one another in God. Simply put: Rather than the world being the purpose for the Church, the purpose of the world is to become the Church.”

*Christians are “salt” in a DECAYING world

How should we approach “living in the world but not of the world?”

“So, if being salt and light is a Holy pursuit how do we live in the world but not be of the world?”

Note: The world to come is free from decay, we are waiting as Paul says in Romans 8 with eager groaning bated breath for the final release from this world of darkness.

Paul answers the question in a simple way.....

Colossians 3:2 ESV

2 Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth.

John MacArther

You must focus on the fact that heaven is your home, no the things of this earth. That is where your citizenship is. Your father is there. Your Savior is there. The redeemed glorified Saints are there. The Church triumphant is there. Your inheritance is there. Your reward is there. A home being prepared for you is there.

It is all a matter of where your affections lie, Living a Holy pursuit of salt and light means that the priority in your life is always that which is related to the eternal Kingdom of Christ.

Peter reminds us in 1 Peter 2:9-12 “that we are a chosen race and a royal priesthood, we were once not a people, now we are God’s people, we once had not received mercy now we have received mercy.” And even if the world comes against you let them see your good works and glorify God when He returns.

2. Being Salt and Light is Fighting the Good Fight.

Note: When we become Christians, we God to war. We get peace with God but we are at war with the world, the flesh, and the devil. Basically we are at war with sin.

1 John 2:16 ESV

16 For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life—is not from the Father but is from the world.

*What is the PRIZE worth?

What is the prize that you are fighting for worth?

Paul reminds us in Philippians 3:14 that we press on towards the goal of the prize that we have been called to in Christ Jesus.

I think the problem is that many Christians do not see themselves at war and the greater problem arises when forget that Jesus is worthy of our warfare. Everyone puts a value on the things that are most important to them in this life. However, for the Christian the eternal value of knowing Christ Jesus far outweigh the worth we would place on anything else in this life. The goal that Paul speaks of is a singular passion and pursuit to win the battle at all cost to him personally, financially, and positionally. So, if our goal is to know Christ and to be like Christ we must fight for the prize of our faith.

The Christian growth cycle is ongoing, with a snowball-like affect of building from one success to the next. As we persevere and grow through hardship and struggles we are then strengthened and prepared for even greater obstacles in the fight. We are continually pressing upward into greater maturity as we move toward our goal.

Counting the Cost

In Luke 14:28-30 Jesus brings people to the call of discipleship by by first discerning the cost. Basically Jesus is calling people to follow him in discipleship, and then he is reminding them that it is like building a tower that you do not want to leave half-finished because you do not have enough commitment or enough resources to finish it.

It’s like going to war and realizing you do not have enough soldiers to win the battle and defeat the enemy. He is saying “Be sure to count the cost before you sign up for discipleship with Jesus because it is costly. Jesus requires commitment to the highest possible cost. And nothing later will surprise you because you are totally sold to the highest, most excessive cost.

Let’s back up now. Here’s where the rubber meets the road in verses 26-27, just before verses 28-30 Jesus says: “If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life” - notice the word was hate - “he cannot be my disciples. Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple.” Now, this is extreme language. The most extreme He could use to show us the degree of cost we may have to pay is extreme.

First extreme language, “I am calling you to something that is going to look like hatred of your family.” And second extreme language is “I am calling you to get on a cross,” which means a willingness to die an excruciating death.”

Two absolutes in this text, first “any one” all disciples. The second absolute is “all” you must renounce all that you have to be my disciples.

Note: There is not negotiation when it comes to the cost of following Christ. No one signs up to enter the good fight of faith half-way. You are either all in or all out. John reminds us in Revelation 3:15-16 that God would rather us be hot or cold.

1 Timothy 6:12 ESV

12 Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called and about which you made the good confession in the presence of many witnesses.

You and I live on a battlefield and we must prepare ourselves for the fight.

Paul understood all to clearly that he was in a constant state of war with the world. Therefore, as a good soldier he did not entangle himself with the things of this world that did not matter in the scope of eternity. This is a constant reminder that the Christians life is a struggle against evil within ourselves and the world.

Earlier in the epistle, Paul reminds Timothy to “endure hardship as a good soldier of Christ. The fact that Paul was chained to a Roman soldier when he wrote this letter would have made it easy to draw this analogy. In fact Paul knew many Roman soldiers during his imprisonment and won a number of them to Christ.

Note: Perhaps an idea none of us have considered is the idea that salt produces thirst, this then provokes a greater question “have I ever made someone thirsty for the Lord Jesus Christ?

*The light BOLDLY enters the fight

Christians do not shy away from the spiritual battle when the battle lines are drawn.

Christians should be some of the boldest and most courageous people we know, particularly when it comes to doing God’s will. Sadly most Christians are barely in the powder puff tournament when it comes to being bold in their faith.

WHY SHOULD WE BE BOLD?

Boldness, literally means "freedom from timidity" or "liberty" according to Webster's dictionary, is a basic character trait that every Christian should possess.

Boldness is necessary for us to be able to do the things that God wants us to do. It is needed when we approach people to preach the Gospel to them. It is necessary when we are going to speak up for those who can't speak for themselves.

2 Timothy 1:6–9 ESV

6 For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands, 7 for God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control. 8 Therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony about our Lord, nor of me his prisoner, but share in suffering for the gospel by the power of God, 9 who saved us and called us to a holy calling, not because of our works but because of his own purpose and grace, which he gave us in Christ Jesus before the ages began,

Ephesians 3:12 ESV

12 in whom we have boldness and access with confidence through our faith in him.

The reference to the “city on a hill” is obvious. Often built out of limestone, ancient towns gleamed in the sun and could not easily be hidden. At night the inhabitants lit oil lamps that would shed some glow over the surrounding area. Therefore, the city could not be hidden.

Note: The city on a Hill may also refer to OT prophecies about the time when Jerusalem or the mountain of the Lord’s house, or Zion, would be lifted up before the world, the nations streaming to it.

Different is good

The disciple who is visibly different from other people will have an effect on them. But the aim of the good works is not to parade his own virtue, but to direct attention to the God who inspired them. By doing the true disciples give light to all.

This goes back to the early question, have I ever truly made someone thirsty for the Lord Jesus Christ?

A bushel of grain put over an oil lamp would probably put it out, so that the meaning could be that a lamp is not lit only to be put out again.

The greater picture here is that the disciple is of no more use than the one who is lost if they hide the light from the world.

THE LIGHT AS A WARNING

A light is often a warning; think of a lighthouse. It is often an attraction; think of a lighted window looming out of the fog when you are lost. A light is often a guide, think of a torch or a flare path. Above all a light is visible. You do not hide a lamp under an inverted bowl; you put it on a stand.

The Myth of the Lighthouse Believed by many to be truth, this mythical story about the lighthouse makes a great point: The captain of the ship looked into the dark night and saw faint lights in the distance. Immediately he told his signalman to send a message: "Alter your course 10 degrees south." Promptly a return message was received: "Alter your course 10 degrees north."

The captain was angered; his command had been ignored. So he sent a second message: "Alter your course 10 degrees south--I am the captain!" Soon another message was received: "Alter your course 10 degrees north--I am a seaman third class Jones." Immediately the captain sent a third message, knowing the fear it would evoke: "Alter your course 10 degrees south--I am a battleship." Then the reply came: "Alter your course 10 degrees north--I am a lighthouse."

In the midst of our dark and foggy times, all sorts of voices are shouting orders into the night, telling us what to do, how to adjust our lives. Out of the darkness, one voice signals something quite opposite to the rest--something almost absurd. But the voice happens to be the Light of the World. The world and society around us need that light.

There is no excuse for secret discipleship. Christ is the light of the world, however until he illuminates us we can never reflect that light to the world. The light always points to our heavenly Father, who is the source of our light. No true follower of Christ ever takes credit for the light.

Christian involvement in Society

Christians for far to long have had the tendency to hide away from society. When we hide our kids and family from society and shelter them under a bowl of secrecy I believe we hinder and stunt their spiritual growth. In my 20 years as a student pastor I saw too many of my students that were so sheltered from the world that when they left for College they did not know how to handle and deal with the world with it’s values and ideologies.

Now, don’t get me wrong, I do believe part of a parents job is to protect their children’s innocence to a point. However, how are we able to learn what it looks like to be Salt and Light if we are never given the opportunity to mature and grow through adversity and struggle. We are not promised that we will be able to change the value system of the world, but we are challenged to be an irritant, marching to a different drum beat and calling on society to heed God’s standards.

CLOSING

Imagine if people failed to be Salt and Light, how many people in our world would never hear about the greatest gift the world has ever known. What if Paul had not chosen to let his light shine before a watching world? What if great warriors of the faith like Martin Luther had stood by and failed to nail his 95 thesis to the Whitenburg chapel door? What if Nate Saint had never flown his plane to the head-hunting Waodani people of Ecuador? What if great warriors of the faith like Corrie Ten Boom had stood by and done nothing with the Nazi persecution of Jews during the Holocaust?

What if every Apostle of Christ had failed to take up their cross and die for the sake of the Gospel of Christ?

What if The Journey Church ceased to exist today? What difference would it make in Killeen Texas and the surrounding community?

Church is is time for us to repent of our passivity and start being Salt and Light to a lost and dying world. Will you join me?

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