Matthew 5:13-16 NIV
13 “You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot. 14 “You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. 15 Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. 16 In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.
"This Must Be Stronger Than That"
Diedrich Bonhoeffer, who was executed by the Germans, built this alternative seminary for pastors in Nazi Germany that would not be held captive by the hate and deception of the National Church that had gone over to the Nazi’s. Bonhoeffer came from money and privilege and education and so he was expected to become a well-respected teacher and influencer. His family sent a family friend out to talk him out of this alternative seminary and church movement. “What are you giving your life to? This underground seminary on the outskirts of Poland? Come back to national Germany and give your life to something big and important.” Bonhoeffer got in a row boat with this family friend and rowed across the lake, hiked to the top of the hill on the other side of the lake and apparently on the other side was a Nazi base of operations and a Hitler Youth Camp there. Bonhoeffer pointed in the direction of his new seminary and said “This must be stronger than that” – while turning his attention back to the Hitler Youth Camp. “This – our biblical worldview church, our discipleship plans – must be stronger than the secular university, than social media, than woke corporations, than liberal politics, the progressive Christianity’s, the social extremism, the materialism, and hedonism of the world.” Our community has to be stronger. Build a worldview that is stronger than all this.
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Salt hinders the process of decay and light dispels the darkness. Two concerns Jesus has: the salt being contaminated, and the light being hidden. And when that happens, not only is the believer useless but the world gets darker. You are salt. You are light. This is your identity.
