Of Christians and Saltiness

Read Matthew 5
“You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled by men. Matthew 5:13.
    “Danger! Danger!” the robot from lost in space.
    Sometimes I think that’s what people hear and see when they look at Christians, little robots crying out danger.
    Sadly from my vantage point here in Canada the danger North Americans hear about come from those claiming to be Christians, who scream about the evils of our society and government.
    Those cries sadly are becoming so loud that the real message of the gospel is becoming lost in the cacophony sounding brass and clanging cymbals.
    To many well meaning Christian leaders are out there in the world playing the world’s game, pointing out the evils, the sins, in the world.
    The world knows it has a lot of problems. That it’s far from perfect. No one has to do much digging to discover the world and many people from every strata of society are corrupt.
    There are thousands if not millions of groups world wide protesting the ills of society.
    I believe too many in the world, don’t see the positive message of the Gospel, for a hundred different reasons. Principally however it’s because too many Christians are preaching hell fire and brimstone.
    Jesus left a warning for such people, “You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled by men. Matthew 5:13.
    How can we save souls if our message is seen as so negative.
    Christians have a message that is of prime importance to everyone who walks the face of the earth. It is a positive message.
    If we look at scripture we never see Jesus or the apostles getting involved in protests or secular politics. They stuck to the message given to them by Christ even to the point of death.
    The same holds true around the world today. I’m sure the church in China or in some hard line Arab countries have no time to play politics. They must stick to the message and believe the message of Christ.
    I think sadly in North America, (and that’s all I can speak of as this is where I live,) many prominent Christian leaders have fell into the “freedom trap”.
    They have freedoms that the world envies and they use it. Sadly not always in the best way.
    The Christian message is simple. It is one of love and forgiveness direct from God. Pointing mankind to God. Simply put it goes like this,
“Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.
Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”
                                                                                   Matthew 28:18-20.
    Evangelizing is the prime directive of the church. It is to go into all the world and tell a fallen world the way to heaven.
    Jesus made it clear, “ John 14:6  Jesus saith unto him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh to the Father, but by Me.”
    John 3:16,17 states, “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.
For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.”
    Hebrews 11:6 makes it clear, God is asking people to make a leap of faith, “And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.”
    Hebrews 11:1 defines faith. “Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.”
    Ephesians 2:8,9 makes it clear salvation is a free gift from God, “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast.”
    Put simply the Bible recognizes what I think most people already instinctively know. That when compared to a holy perfect God we fall far short of what He would have for our lives.
    Romans 3:10  As it is written; there is none righteous; no, not one.
          Romans 3:23  For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.
         Romans 6:23  For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.”
    The Bible clearly states God is patiently knocking on our hearts door waiting for us to let him into our lives
        Revelation 3:20 states.  "Behold I stand at the door and knock:  If any man hear my voice and open the door, I will sup with him, and he with Me."
    God simply asks in Romans 10:9,10, “That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised Him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.  For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness, and with the mouth, confession is made unto salvation.”
        Romans 10:13  "For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved."
    This is the message we as Christians are charged with taking to the world. A message that can change the world one person at a time.
    Think about it.