THE TWENTY FIRST CENTURY CHURCH: LIGHT WITHOUT SALT

republished below in full unedited for informational, educational, and research purposes:

BY P.E. HARRIS

 Through many years of pastoral ministry, I have encountered many 
so-called evangelical Christians who do not believe in speaking about 
their faith. Many of them have bought into the philosophy that 
Christians should only witness Jesus Christ to people by their 
lifestyle. The mantra of these people goes like this, “You should be a 
witness for Jesus Christ and maybe even have to speak about it.” Many in
 the church today would agree with this statement. They believe that 
somehow through osmosis people get saved when they see Christians just 
being themselves. I have even heard testimonies by Christians who 
claimed to have won people to Christ without a spoken word. And yet, in 
30 years I have never run into anyone who said that was how they got 
saved. Lifestyle evangelism is just an excuse to be silent about Christ.
 This philosophy is contrary to the express teachings of Jesus Christ 
who said, “… go into all nations and preach the Gospel to every creature.” 

(Mark 16:15)  

And, “Therefore whoever confesses Me before men, him I will also confess before my 
Father in Heaven. But whoever denies Me before men, him I will also deny
 before My Father who is in Heaven.” (Matthew 10:32-33)

The reason people like lifestyle evangelism is because it makes them
feel safe. They never have to confront people about sin. They never have
to stand up for righteousness. In certain crowds, they can always be
spiritually ambiguous so as not to offend. They never have to face
rejection and ridicule. They just live their “Christian” lives and keep
their opinions to themselves. A close cousin of lifestyle evangelism is
the Joel Osteen positive only Christianity. People know there is little
risk of offense if you only speak positive and encouraging things. This
safety issue is one of the reasons for the popularity of Mr. Osteen. In
Osteen’s church, you can be a “Christian” without counting the cost of
discipleship. And you never have to worry about having a contrary
opinion with other people. You never have to worry that your message
will offend anyone. You never have to bring up the subjects of sin and
rebellion. Because all you do is encourage people to find health, wealth
and prosperity in the promises of Jesus. No muss, no fuss, no
confrontation, no persecution by the world. Just believe the myth that
as long as you focus on improving yourself and finding your own purpose,
the glow of your positive light will attract other people.

However, there is a major flaw with this philosophy. This is a
Christianity who’s true light is hidden under a basket. The Gospel of
Jesus Christ is not just a positive message of God’s gifts and promises.
The Gospel is first a negative message convicting people of sin. This
conviction leads to repentance and contrition before people can ever
receive the positive promises of God. The ministry of the Gospel is not
just positive light, it is first and foremost confrontational salt. As
Jesus Christ said in the Sermon on the Mount, “Blessed are you when
they revile and persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you
falsely for My sake. Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is your
reward in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before
you. You are the salt of the earth;
but if the salt loses its flavor, how shall it be seasoned? It is then
good for nothing but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot by men. You are the light of the world.
A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do they light a lamp and put
it under a basket, but on a lamp-stand, and it gives light to all who
are in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see
your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.” (Matthew 5:11-16)
Notice how the reference to salt is connected to people who are
persecuted for righteousness sake. Salt is a metaphor about people
speaking up for the truth and righteousness of God. Notice also that
salt comes before the light in the passage.

Before refrigeration, salt was indispensable to fight the bacteria
that would cause food poisoning. If you went to the meat market the only
choice you had was meat left outdoors, usually covered with flies.
Eating meat is a very positive and healthy thing. But only a fool would
try to eat unrefrigerated meat without first salting it before it was
cooked. The use of salt rubbed into the meat kills off the corrupting
influence of insect larvae, viruses, and bacteria. Even today it is
recommended to give turkey a salt rub before cooking it to prevent
salmonella. Salt also has the power to clean wounds and to prevent
infection. The ancients commonly used salt as a medicinal cure. But
needless to say, salt in a wound is a mighty powerful irritant. It
stings, but it heals. Being salt in a spiritual sense means you are an
irritant to people trapped in sin and worldliness. Just as salt stings
when it confronts an infected wound, so does true preaching of
repentance sting prior to salvation. The authentic Gospel stings the
heart of sinful, worldly and lost people. And yet, without the medicine
of Gospel-salt people cannot be healed, forgiven or set free by the
blood of Christ. Being salt with flavor means you actually have to speak
negative truth to lost souls in order to bring them to the positive
aspects of deliverance and salvation. Being salt means you have to
confront the corroding bacteria of false doctrine in the world and in
the church. Being salt means you have become a true disciple of Jesus
Christ. It means you must be willing to sacrifice yourself and suffer
possible persecution for the sake of the genuine salvation of souls.

Before Lucifer fell and became Satan his name meant light-bearer.
Presently the church is crammed full of useless positive light-bearers.
This is Lucifer’s plan to turn Christians into half-truth positive only
speakers so the true and complete Gospel never gets out. He wants us to
bring light without salt, and he has been wildly successful. This work
of Satan is all about deceiving souls because the half-truths of the
positive Gospel are in reality the complete lies of the Evil One.
Because of the popularity of the false positive Gospel throughout the
world, the real church has a severe shortage of salt-bearers. Men and
women who are willing to risk, confront and speak the truth necessary so
people can be authentically saved. What the church and world need more
than ever is full disciples of Jesus Christ who boldly proclaim both the
salt and the light of the glorious Gospel of Christ’s substitutionary
atonement and God’s grace to save.

[Contributed by P. E. Harris]

P.E. Harris has been a Christan pastor, teacher, and lecturer for
30 years. He and his wife Aloma live in Southern California. The
Harris’ have 5 children and 8 grandchildren. Mr. Harris’ two books will
be available in 2018. Christian Fiction: Royal Rodger and the Great
King: And Christian Non-Fiction: Anchors of Salvation