Month 6 - Evangelism | Week 1: Salt & light
Anchor Scriptures
“You are the salt of the earth… You are the light of the world.” - Matthew 5:13–14
“As the Father has sent me, even so I am sending you.” - John 20:21
“Always be prepared to give an answer… with gentleness and respect.” - 1 Peter 3:15
This week begins our movement into Evangelism.
Before the Church ever debated methods, strategies, or approaches, Jesus named identity.
“You are the salt of the earth… You are the light of the world.”- Matthew 5:13–14
Not a task to complete.Not a role for the gifted few.But a state of being for all who belong to Him.
The early Church understood this instinctively - long before evangelism was professionalized.
Salt - Presence That Restrains Decay
In the ancient world, salt wasn’t symbolic - it was essential.
It was even used to pay salary back then, a word derived from the Latin salarium, referring to the allowance given to Roman soldiers in salt. A substance so essential for preservation and survival that it became a unit of value, reminding us that salt was never symbolic, but understood as vital.
It preserved food
It prevented corruption
It slowed decay
Scripture consistently frames humanity’s problem not as ignorance, but as corruption.
“The whole world lies in the power of the evil one.”- 1 John 5:19
“Their throat is an open grave.”- Romans 3:13
Jesus isn’t suggesting the world needs seasoning.
He is declaring that without His people embedded within it, decay accelerates.
This is why He warns:
“If salt has lost its taste… it is no longer good for anything.”- Matthew 5:13
Salt that blends into its environment ceases to function.
Church History - Quiet Faith That Held the Line
In the second century, Christians were accused of being atheists, subversives, and unpatriotic - not because they rebelled violently, but because they refused to worship Rome’s gods, refused to “not-live” for Christ.
Tertullian famously wrote:
“We are but of yesterday, and we have filled every place among you - cities, islands, fortresses, towns, marketplaces.”
The Church didn’t seize power.It outlived corruption.
Their faith preserved moral clarity in a decaying culture - quietly, faithfully, relentlessly.
Salt works this way.
Light - Truth That Reveals Reality
Light in Scripture is never neutral.
“God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.”- 1 John 1:5
Light reveals the truth of what already exists.
“Everyone who does wicked things hates the light…but whoever does what is true comes to the light.”- John 3:20–21
Jesus doesn’t tell His disciples to create light.
He tells them not to hide it.
“Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket.”- Matthew 5:15
Light exposes truth not through aggression, but through clarity.
Church History - Light Without Loudness
The early Christians didn’t argue Rome out of paganism. They didn’t put on “light shows” to attract them as the pagan ceremonies did. They didn’t mimic or reflect the prevailing culture of the day.
They lived differently.
They rescued abandoned infants
They cared for the sick during plagues
They buried the dead when others fled
During the Antonine Plague (2nd century), while many escaped cities, Christians stayed - and died - serving the sick.
This visible love made the gospel undeniable. This visible sacrifice shone the light of Christ into the dark of the day.
As the historian Rodney Stark later noted, Christianity spread not primarily through preaching events, but through observable faithfulness under pressure.
Light shines most clearly when darkness is undeniable. And we do indeed live in a time again where darkness is undeniable.
Evangelism - Before Words
Scripture is unambiguous here:
“By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”- John 13:35
Words matter - but Scripture doesn’t place them first.
What you say is not as important as what you do.
Peter instructs persecuted believers:
“Always be prepared to make a defense… yet do it with gentleness and respect.”- 1 Peter 3:15
Notice the order:
Conduct
Character
Then confession
The early Church father Augustine of Hippo summarized it simply:
“The gospel is believed when the life proclaims what the tongue confesses.”
Evangelism collapses when words run ahead of witness. And as we have seen in modern times with the fall of churches and idolatrous leaders, this was allowed to happen because believers forgot this truth, seeking loud, entertaining confessing tongues rather than demonstrated character, sacrifice, and biblical foundations.
Our generation is reclaiming this inheritance.
A City That Can’t Be Hidden
Jesus says:
“A city set on a hill cannot be hidden.”- Matthew 5:14
This is not instruction.It is diagnosis.
Faith that is alive will eventually become visible.
The Church has always grown fastest when it was most faithful, not most fashionable. Persecuted and pressured rather than comfortable and complacent.
“We cannot but speak of what we have seen and heard.”- Acts 4:20
Visibility is the result of obedience, not marketing.
The Aim - Glory to God
Jesus closes with motive:
“That they may see your good works and give glory to your Father.”- Matthew 5:16
Not admiration for Christians.Not applause for morality.
Not likes on instagram. Not the applause of compliance.
But fearful and reverent recognition that God is present among His people here today.
This has always been the Church’s task:
“Live such good lives among the pagans… that they may glorify God.”- 1 Peter 2:12
The Question Before Us
Evangelism doesn’t begin with effort or even courage.
It begins with humble yet firm - placement.
“As the Father has sent me, even so I am sending you.”- John 20:21
So the question for this week is not who should I reach?
It is:
“Where has God already placed me to renew what is decaying - and reveal what is true?”
Not later.Not elsewhere.Here.
Practice for the Week
Ask God where in your life your character and His courage through you, could be a light to others.
Pay attention to where obedience costs you - that is often where salt is working.
Refuse to hide what God has illuminated in your life.
Evangelism begins not with speaking louder - but with standing faithfully where Christ has placed you.
We build from here.
Read/ Listen/ Watch
Read
Christ and Culture - H. Richard Niebuhr: LINK
A classic framework exploring how Christians relate to society.Helpful for thinking through what it means to be “in but not of” the world.
“The Patient Ferment of the Early Church” - from The Rise of Christianity: LINK
A sociological look at how early Christian presence, not political takeover, reshaped the Roman world through lived faithfulness.
“The Missional Nature of the Church” (Article) - Lesslie Newbigin: LINK
Newbigin argues that the Church does not have a mission; it is a sign, instrument, and foretaste of the Kingdom. That is salt and light theology.
Listen
Samuel Barber’s Agnus Dei, performed by The Dale Warland Singers, carries a restrained, luminous intensity that mirrors Jesus’ call to be salt and light. It does not strive or shout - it endures - embodying a steady, holy presence in a world longing for mercy and peace.
Psalm 48 | City of Our God layers beneath a psalm that celebrates the visible, unshakable dwelling place of God. It echoes Jesus’ image of a city set on a hill - worship that feels grounded yet anchored in eternal stability.
Psalm 2 | A Psalm of Kings and Trust - by The Christ Focused Music Collective captures the tension of rebellion and trust. It reminds us that light shines brightest in defiance of earthly powers - and that true salt-like steadiness flows from confidence in the enthroned King.
📅 This Week’s 30-Min Rally Point
We’ll meet for our first 30-minute rally point this Thursday at 7:00 PM EST via Zoom.This is a space for reflection, encouragement, and activation, a rhythm of checking in, praying together, and pressing forward.
🕖 Zoom Time: Thursday @ 7:00 PM EST🔗 Click to join the Zoom call - Zoom URL
Bring a Bible, a journal, and any wins or wrestles you want to share. This is a safe space to grow.
Sneak Peek at Month 6 | Evangelism - Week 2: Story of Grace
Next week we shift from presence (salt and light) to testimony - not polished narratives, not “sales pitches,” but the simple, Spirit-weighted practice of telling the truth:
What God has done, what He’s rescued you from, and what He’s bringing you into.
We’ll press into the difference between sharing information about Jesus and bearing witness to grace, because the gospel doesn’t start with “try harder,” it starts with dead made alive, debt cancelled, and mercy given to the undeserving. And when you truly see that, evangelism becomes less about pressure… and more about overflow.
Anchor Scripture
“But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved.”- Ephesians 2:4–5
God is with us!
Father,
You have called us salt and light.Forgive us for hiding, for softening, for blending in where You meant us to stand.
Place courage in us where decay surrounds us.Place clarity in us where darkness presses in.Make our lives consistent with our confession.
Let our presence preserve.Let our obedience shine.And may all glory return to You.
In Jesus’ name,Amen.
I’m glad you’re here.
Let’s run the race - Eyes Up, Chin Up!
Grace and peace,
Sam Johnston
