Good Intentions; Wrong Approach - Part II

In picking up the conversation from the last post, Jesus clearly issues a call to His followers in Matthew 5:13-16 to live as "salt of the earth" and "light of the world." I believe, as stated previously, that our well-intentioned attempts to do so have too often relied on the wrong tools and strategies. Instead of changing hearts and lives, we aimed for the lower goal of changing laws and policies. Rather than seeking to build the kingdom of God, we substituted the fight for a moral society. It's not that a moral society is a bad goal, or that policies and laws are not worthy of consideration; it's the fact that these things lack the power to accomplish our true mission of making disciples. If we effectively carry out our disciple-making mission, these other concerns will be influenced naturally by the transformation of lives, families, and communities. However, the opposite has proven not to be true - making the tangential goals and issues our main priority has not resulted in the formation of Jesus-following disciples.

I sense that this misdirected focus is actually a reflection of a deeper misdirection, one that is at the heart of our understanding of what it means to be salt and light. In thinking about my own understanding, and what I have so often heard preached and taught, it seems that our attempt to define salt and light rests almost entirely on what salt and light do. Salt preserves, and so we must preserve the world from decay. Light reveals, and so we have to show people the right way. While these observations are certainly true and valuable, I believe our narrow focus on doing has led us, at times, to the wrong priorities and approaches in ministry.

When we are shaped solely by the concern of how we can make the world fall in line with our values and what we do, we find ourselves driven to win arguments, elections, and culture wars. Believing our primary call is to win these battles, we resort to the world's means and methods, using political and economic power to try and force others to act right. In essence, we become activists just like any other activists - getting out the vote, signing petitions, boycotting, and protesting in an effort to win the arguments and debates. Here is the problem, as I see it: We are not called to win arguments or elections; we are called to win people to a new life through faith in Jesus. We are not called to simply change what people do; we are to call others to be with God and learn to live out the genuine love and grace of His kingdom.

If we are to be faithful to our mission as Jesus' followers, it seems that we might need to reconsider what it looks like to be salt and light in our world. Why did Jesus choose to use the metaphors of "salt" and "light" to begin with? Was His primary concern what they do or accomplish? Or, could it be, that His primary point is that salt and light simply are. Think about it. Salt does not set out to do anything - it just is. The influence of its presence is the natural result of its character. Light does not set out to do something - it just is. It makes a difference simply in its presence, by the character of its being. To be salt and light is precisely that - to be something. Maybe Jesus' point is that we are called to reflect His character, not just in what we do, but in who we are as people. Could it be that the simple presence of people who truly embody the character of Christ will bring greater transformation to our world than winning arguments or elections ever could?

When our focus is on what we do, and we believe our mission is to change what others do, we too easily lose sight of what we are called to be. We grab the tools of this world and its systems in an effort to "win" the good fight, and far too often in that process abandon the character of Christ. We can fight for the right cause, but do so in a manner that violates the spirit of love and grace. We can battle over the right behavior, but do it with words and attitudes that break the heart of Jesus. If we win the arguments, carry the election, or overturn the policy, but do it through the same means and spirit as the world, then we have denied the very nature of what it means to be salt and light. The question is much bigger than what Jesus would do; it is ultimately about what Jesus would be.

The methods of this world cannot fulfill our mission, and the use of them does not automatically vindicate us as salt and light. In humility, I admit that my indiscriminate, and often unloving, reliance upon them has too frequently served to push others away rather than draw them toward the kingdom of God. How did Jesus change the world? He did not rely on earthly means of power or force to compel the right behavior; He simply embodied love, mercy, and sacrifice. As He did, an amazing thing happened - people fell in love with Him, and they were changed. To be salt and light is to embody the same character, to be like Him in who we are, to bear the spirit of love and grace in such a way that people fall in love with Jesus.

Maybe the defining question of being salt and light is not, "How can we win?" but "How can we love like Jesus?" If that became our priority, we just might see people, families, and communities genuinely changed - regardless of who wins the election.