Read: Matthew 5:13-16
A few years ago, John Mayer won a Grammy for his hit song “Waiting for the World to Change.” A diatribe against the state of the world, the song struck a chord with many people and was eventually featured in many fundraisers and charity events. The chorus of the song says this:
“We keep on waiting
Waiting on the world to change
It’s not that we don’t care,
We just know that the fight ain’t fair
So we keep on waiting
Waiting on the world to change”
Now, I can somewhat understand the sentiment of the song. When we see some of the injustice in the world, when we see people hurting and dying, we want to do something about it. Yet, we feel powerless to change anything on our own. So, we just sit passively, waiting for the world to somehow change itself. We can’t change anything, so we wait for things to change on their own.
How stupid is that?!?
I mean, I get the song to a certain point, but it really doesn’t make any sense! If you want things to change, you don’t just sit there and do nothing. If you want things to change, you try to change them. A lack of action isn’t noble or even understandable. The world’s not going to change itself. Injustice isn’t just going to dissipate like the morning dew. Someone has to stand up for it. Someone has to do what it right. To want change and do nothing to facilitate it is just ridiculous.
It’s also disobedience.
In today’s passage, Jesus referred to His followers as the ‘salt of the earth’ and the ‘light of the world.’ In referring to us with these titles, Jesus is telling us something about our nature as Christians. We’re not supposed to sit idly by. We’re not supposed to sit around and bask in our own blessedness. We’re supposed to go out into this world and change things. As Christians, we don’t wait for the world to change; we are the change.
Think about it: salt and light change things. When you add salt to meat, it changes the meat’s taste, texture and shelf-life. When you sprinkle it on snow-covered roads, it changes the snow. Salt changes things.
Light, too, is a catalyst of transformation. Light always changes the darkness. When light shines in a dark room, that room is completely changed – everything is illuminated. There has never been a time when the light failed to radically change the darkness. It’s no wonder, then, that George Barna once referred to salt and light as “aggressive instruments of transformation.” They change almost everything they come into contact with!
As Christians, we, too, should be referred to as ‘aggressive instruments of change.’ We’re not supposed to wait for something to happen. Our very presence in the world is supposed to be transformative. We have been called to change things.
Unfortunately, we are so often content to sit back on the sidelines and complain about things. We complain about the darkness of the world. We complain about the fact that nothing ever changes. Yet, for us to complain about the darkness of the world is just ludicrous. We are the light of the world! Of course the world is going to be dark if we’re not out there making a difference. If we want the world to get any brighter, then we need to get out there and shine as brightly as we can.
The goal of being ‘blessed’ isn’t just to experience blessing for ourselves; it’s to be a blessing to others. Jesus didn’t give us these ‘Beatitudes’ just so we can sit around and contemplate how we can be ‘blessed’. He gave us these ‘Beatitudes’ so that we could go out into the world and show others what it means to be blessed. Jesus knew that people who live in this way will always change the world around them.
Don’t just sit there. Don’t just wait for change to happen. Don’t even start to think that the world is someday going to change itself. The world won’t change until we get out in it and live as the salt and the light. The world won’t change until we get out there and change it. We are ‘aggressive instruments of change.’ It’s not our job; it’s our identity – part of who we are. So, what kind of change will you make?
Questions to Consider:
How can you change your world? What do you need to do to be “salt” and “light” where you’re at?
Read Colossians 4:5-6. How can your actions and conversations be “seasoned with salt”?