Written by David P. Nolte
Jesus used other terms to illustrate His desire. He said that disciples are to be light in the world. Light influences darkness, darkness does not influence light. He called His followers the salt of the earth. Salt influences its surroundings. It is possible, unfortunately, for salt to be polluted, corrupted or diluted so its effect is negative or minimal.
When Christians adopt the life-style, morals, values, ethics, norms, attitudes, and guidelines of secular society, some of it spills over into the church.
Sin, instead of being exposed and forsaken is mislabeled "a mistake" or "merely human weakness." Gossip is passed on under the guise of prayer requests like, "I'm only telling you this so you can pray about it." (NOTE: not all prayer requests are gossip by any means!) Selfishness is just "healthy self esteem." "Tolerance!" is the buzzword and "non-discrimination" is claimed to be a virtue. Homosexuality is an "alternative life-style" and sexual relations outside marriage is "free love." We'd expect society to talk like that but when Christians do, something is askew.
Someone said that all the water in the world cannot sink the frailest of vessels -- unless it gets inside the boat. The church can survive in a hostile, anti-Christian environment -- but what kills portions of the body is the introduction of the virus of secularism. The Church will survive because Christ said it would -- but it is the responsibility of each congregation to take measures to stay healthy and strong.
Churches don't grow spiritual by becoming more like the world. The world needs to become spiritual by embracing Christ and becoming His church. To that end, BE AN INFLUENCE at school. LET YOUR LIGHT SHINE at work. SEASON YOUR HOME with salt. "Don't be overcome with evil," Paul says, "but overcome evil with good." Romans 12:21.