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You are the salt of the earth…You are the light of the world…let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven (Matthew 5:14-16).
When Christians take seriously Jesus' statement that we are the salt of the earth and the light of the world, we are faced with a significant temptation. Our culture insists that we measure our success but how much we have grown. All around us, bigger is better. We are tempted to take this measure of success into the Christian life. If we are salt and light, we must be able to measure the effect it has. But this philosophy does not align with God's kingdom.
Behind this temptation is bad theology. It suggests that we are in control of the outcome. Within God's kingdom that is never true. Christians are called to faithfulness, not success as the world measures it. Jesus told his disciples that greatness comes by serving. Paul constantly calls for humility.
The kingdom comes by small acts of love done in Jesus' name, not by getting recognized by the world. Christians are tempted into believing that success means we can attach the adjective Christian to our business or county.
Over a century ago, in his Stone Lectures, Abraham Kuyper offered us the image of the Aeolian harp to understand his hopes for neo-Calvinism. It is an app analogy of Christians as salt and light in this world.
This harp is a unique musical instrument played entirely by the wind rather than a human. It usually sits on the sill of an open window waiting for the wind. Without the wind it remains silent. Kuyper reminded his audience that every Christian and every Christian endeavor is powered by the Holy Spirit. Only the Spirit can awaken the music of Christianity in our souls so that it leaks out through our hands and mouths. Only the Spirit can fan us into light.
And so, Kuyper concludes, Let Christians be "nothing but such an Aeolian Harp, absolutely powerless, as it is, without the quickening Spirit of God, still we feel it our God-given duty to keep our harp, its strings tuned aright, ready in the window of God's Holy Zion, awaiting the breath of the Spirit."
Salt prevents spoilage. Light reflects the goodness of God. Christians are to work "in every domain of life" staving off deterioration and seeding improvements in the common good according to the best insights of the faith. We are not meant to seize or take over culture.
The wind blows where it pleases, says Jesus, so it is with the Spirit. We are to stay tuned, ready to follow his lead with all the fruit of the same Spirit.
As you journey on, go with his blessing:
Wherever God takes you today, may He fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit and that you may live carefully—not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity
