Embracing Our Identity: Being Salt and Light

Here are the selected quotes from the sermon transcript:

1. "And behind us, there's this comfort. There's a comfort of we've been there. Maybe you've had a hard past, but it's comfortable to you. You'll go back to it because it's known. No, but Jesus, in our true identity, he's calling us past the cliff. He's saying, hey, come take the leap. I'm out here. Now, he's also saying, hey, it's probably not safe out here, but I'm safe. So come take that leap with me. And let's go. So as you stand and you look at that cliff, there's a cost to taking that jump. You've got to understand. Jesus calls us not to blend in to this world, but to stand out. And he's given us an identity. And it's an identity that I think that the church has kind of stepped back from." [00:00:14] (55 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


2. "That'll be the easy part. All right. So the bottom line, Jesus has made it clear that we're called to be salt and light, that our identity in Christ shapes our purpose. This identity, it's non -negotiable. It's one that's preserving, seasoning, and illuminating in a world of decay and darkness. And for years, I struggled with my own identity before I became a believer. But even when I became a believer, because I had certain gifts and the world would affirm this or tell me I'm this. And I struggled to sit and say, who does Jesus say I am?" [00:03:04] (37 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


3. "See, your identity, it shapes your impact. And your impact reveals your identity. Those two things, they go together. And kingdom impact is going to require a kingdom identity. And in today's world where identity, there's so much confusion, it's distorted. Jesus starts here. And he tells us, hey, this isn't optional. This is our calling. This is who we are. This is who we need to step into. This isn't the comfortable part. This is, hey, we need to take a leap. We need to take a leap off of this cliff. Because this is where goodness is." [00:08:19] (37 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


4. "And notice there's two pieces here where Jesus says, you are the salt of the earth. You are the salt of the earth. You are the light of the world. And I love that Andrew this morning started with some I am statements. Because Jesus, if we look at in the book of John and John 8, 12, he says, I am the light of the world. So now he's turning around. He's saying, now you're the light of the world. That could be challenging for some of us. Wait a minute. Jesus, he said, you were. Now I am. And we've got to deal with that." [00:09:14] (36 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


5. "Now, once you see salt, it's valuable. And I want to talk about its value. In the ancient world, it was a valuable commodity. It was used for preservation, for healing, for binding. It was even used as a currency. Roman soldiers would show up to get paid and they'd give them a big old bag of salt. Can you imagine? and show up to payday instead of a check you get salt that seems crazy in our culture but that is how valuable salt was so when jesus is saying salt here and it blew my mind so i spent time trying to chase every little bit where does it say something about salt in scripture and god just kept pulling back a layer of the onion another layer another layer another layer i just want to share some of those things with you the covenant of david was sealed with salt in history when india got its independence for britain they sealed it with salt in the book of judges you see a bimalak and he and he takes takes the city of shechem and when he does it he pours salt all throughout the land consecrating it for the lord babies were born they cut the cord i promised my wife i wouldn't say umbilical umbilical that's okay uh yeah they cut the cord whatever that thing's called however you pronounce it they cut the cord they would wash them down rub them with salt and then swaddle them in the blanket" [00:13:00] (95 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


6. "See, just as salt changes the food we're called to change the environments that we're placed in adding kingdom flavor preserving god's goodness in a world that is just constantly decaying day by day hour by hour and maybe you're listening to this this morning you feel like i don't know it's just me it's just little old me you feel small and significant kind of like one little grain of salt no you too pack a kingdom punch and he and the lord has packed you into every sphere of influence to be different to change that environment living fully as salt and light it transforms the world around you and i and i i want to talk a little bit this morning about the church this is one of the things that i am passionate about we we look outside and society and we complain right now we're in election season you've got one side complaining about the other they're just going at each other blaming it for all the all the woes that exist in this world we complain about you sending our kids into these schools and what schools are teaching us what they're teaching our kiddos we complain about it we bellyache you can look on social media go to a coffee shop and you just hear these things in our inner cities they complain about you know the police in our inner cities we complain about our government we complain about all these things and what I want to put before you this morning church it's our fault it is our fault because we have not been the church see if we were raising up disciples in the church that were salt and light that things were different when they were there we're the politicians that are coming from the church they're running into government they're going to be elected they're gonna make the change based on what God wants we're the teachers that were raising up in the church that we're just cycling that we're spending that time that they're making a difference in our schools and how we're educating our children see none of these problems exist if the church is doing its job we look at you know the african -american community and we've got a epidemic of fathers not in the home yeah if we're in those communities and we're discipling people boys and men to be men in those communities it changes it's on us I know that's not a comfortable thing to sit today and say man that's not the feel good but it's on us and we've got to ask ourselves are we part of the problem are we part of the solution are we as a church preserving and transforming our communities our environments because it's our job we're to be that salt we're to be that light and on that note salt changes everything that it touches but it only works when it's applied it does no good sitting in the salt shaker does no good sitting in the cupboard it's got to come out it's got to touch the world" [00:17:43] (60 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


7. "I tell folks all the time, God doesn't have a plan B because he doesn't need one. He's created a plan A and we already know how it ends. He's just looking for his kiddos that are going to say, yes, I am who you say I am. And Jesus, he compares us to a city on a hill. That's strategic for anybody that has been in the military. The first thing they teach you in war is take the highway. There's a strategy to that. There's a strategy that, hey, I can see everything. Now notice this, also on the hill, they can see everything. And we're strategically placed to shine our light where others can't see it. And this isn't about some type of personal faith because we're not called to be spies. You're called to be ambassadors. There's no undercover ambassadors in the kingdom." [00:20:42] (61 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


8. "And I used to think early on, and this is where I said I struggled with my identity even after becoming a believer because I had certain gifts and I didn't have certain gifts. But there are things God just said, do. And I'm thinking, well, I'm not gifted at that. Let somebody else that's gifted at that do it. It'll get done. It was me hiding my life. Because he says, no, that's what I created you to be. That's what I created you to do. Philippians 2. 15 says this, that you may become blameless and pure, children of God without fault, in a warped and crooked generation. Then you will shine among them like stars in the sky. What a beautiful promise." [00:24:08] (53 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


9. "The best picture that I could come up with is a thermostat and a thermometer. I don't know if you guys know the difference. You've got a thermometer, and it's beholden to its environment. We dip it in hot water. It tells us how hot the water is. Cold water, it tells us how cold the water is. But its only use is to tell you what the environment is. It adapts to its environment. It is what its environment is. It has no control. It's a slave to its environment. A thermostat, we go over, we can turn it up. We get to decide how hot, how cold it is in here. It changes things. And God didn't call any of his children to run around and be thermometers. We're not to take the temperature of the world. We're not to take the temperature of society. He's called us to be thermostats, to be the change. That, hey, when it needs to be a little bit warmer, we make it a little bit warmer. When it needs to be a little bit cooler, we make it a little bit cooler. And change that environment. The real question is, what is different because you're there? Is your home different because you're there? When you go to work, is it different because you're there? Do you see things changing because you stepped in the room? That's the litmus test. That's what we're called to do." [00:26:15] (92 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


10. "And it's time we stop holding our light, stop hiding our light, stop withholding it from the world, and be the change. As you leave today, will you continue to hide your light? Will you let your soul lose its flavor? Romans 12 .2 tells us don't conform to the pattern of the world, but be transformed by the renewal of your life. Yesterday, as we were sitting at that funeral, as Dick had shared in the testimony time, and there was this group of Chinese that were up there. I couldn't help but think, Jim, that was salt. A Chinese pastor came up. This is just one pastor. These are just the people that showed up that came from around the world. He shares this. He says, last year we had 92 Chinese come to know Jesus in our church. Talk about being the change when you step into a room." [00:30:52] (75 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)