Pass The Salt
22 July, 2010
Jesus clearly states that our role as Christians on the earth is a transformational one. We are called the "salt of the earth" (Matt. 5:13), and salt essentially does three major things: It adds flavor, it preserves and it heals. So our task is to bring flavor, preservation and healing to the world around us. This is why it is imperative that we ourselves be personally transformed from the inside out. If we have not been changed, we cannot bring out the "God-flavors" of this earth.
In the same way that salt was never designed to remain in the shaker, the Church was never created to remain insular. We are called to live from the inside out both personally and corporately. God's love flows from within us out into a hurting world. The Church is to be a caring, gracious and inclusive community. Our mandate is to love others as we love ourselves.
I'm happy to say that there are many wonderful churches who understand the tenet of Matthew 5:13 and live it out in their communities. These are churches that are actively involved in preaching the good news, responding to human needs through loving service, seeking to respond to and transform areas of injustice and teaching, baptizing and nurturing new believers. They have a revelation of why the Church is here and they understand that the Church, as God's hands and feet on the earth, is called to operate in the realm for which she was created, namely, a lost and broken world.
We move from being the Church to doing church when we stop salting and seasoning the world. The fruit of what is happening within the four walls of the church can be measured by the impact of the church outside its four walls. If the activity in our churches does not mobilize people to respond as the Church in the world, we risk becoming introspective and self-serving. In time, this leads to the practice of lifeless religion, empty ritual and irrelevant tradition, which inevitably results in empty buildings. Jesus did not say that He would build an institution or organization. No, He said that He would build His Church, the Body of Christ, a living, breathing organism made up of people who have been transformed and, in turn, are transforming their world.
The Church is the vehicle that God has created to fulfill His mission on the earth. The people who are the object of this mission normally can be found outside the four walls of the church building. For this reason, every aspect of our church experience should actually empower us to "go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature" (Mark 16:15). We cannot afford to simply do church on Sunday--we must be the church seven days a week.
Being the church together --> www.hillsongconference.com
Christine
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