Tag: evangelism

DAILY PRAYERS FOR GUYS

adbLeave a comment

To Imitate the Angels and Shepherds

Dear Lord,
The angels and the shepherds played critical roles in Jesus’ birth by sharing the joyful news. The angels appeared to the shepherds in the fields, alleviated their fears, and proclaimed the good news to them. Keep my eyes and ears open and alert to those around me who are also crippled by certain fears and need to hear and believe the good news. Make me a messenger to calm their fears and reassure them with the good news of a Savior who has been born for them. Give me the wisdom to help them see how your coming into the world brings true peace for them.

The angels’ role was also important that first Christmas because the shepherds would not have had any news to spread around if they had not heard it from the angels. As it did for the shepherds, let the good news of my Savior always stir my own heart to action. Make me zealous and eager to consistently make him known to others. Fill me with persistent passion so that rather than being sporadic or streaky, my evangelism efforts are a normal part of my daily living. As you used the angels and shepherds to carry out your mission that first Christmas, continue to use me to carry it out today and always with the strength and confidence you provide. 

In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen. 

DAILY PRAYERS FOR GUYS

adbLeave a comment

To Bless Christmas Evangelism Efforts

Dearest Savior,
You want all people to be saved. You have carried out the work of salvation for all people to be saved. Evangelism seeks to connect those two realities by allowing people to hear that good news about what you have done for them, so that the Holy Spirit can work faith in their hearts to believe.

I ask you, therefore, to bless all of the evangelism efforts of churches and individual believers this Christmas. Thank you for working the courage in so many to invite their unchurched friends. Intervene wherever necessary to allow those who have been invited to Christmas services to attend. Work out the details so that last-minute mishaps or unanticipated issues don’t arise. Alleviate any fears that may be lingering for those planning to attend a service after being invited. Finally, let the good news of God’s gift of a Savior at Christmas be clearly proclaimed, so that visitors may hear it and rejoice. 

In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen. 

DAILY PRAYERS FOR GUYS

adbLeave a comment

To Lead Others to Their Savior

Saving Lord,
You remind us repeatedly in your Word that everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. Your gift of salvation and your desire to save are the heart of Scripture and what binds it all together. I rejoice that I am numbered among those you have saved!

But there are many who still do not know of your desire to save or how you went about securing their salvation. How easily I allow this reality to get lost in the busyness of life and buried beneath other priorities!  You have placed many people in my life, and I regularly meet and engage with new people, but their salvation often isn’t even on my radar.

I pray for you to change that. Keep the salvation of others at the forefront of my heart and mind. Don’t allow other things – even good things – to overshadow the most important thing: that as many as possible come to know and believe in you as their Savior. Use all that I am, all the time, resources, and gifts that you have entrusted to me, to lead others to the joy of their salvation. 

In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen. 

DAILY PRAYERS FOR GUYS

adbLeave a comment

Use Me to Save Others

Faithful Redeemer,
Today I pray for the salvation of those who are still stuck in unbelief. There are people in my own life who don’t yet trust in you as their Savior from sin and their hope for eternal life. Where I can be more intentional in building deeper connections with those individuals, help me do so, knowing that I have the gospel that they need. Let my Christian living create curiosity in them as they see how differently I stand out from others in their life. Make me aware of ideal opportunities to engage with them and even to invite them to engage and interact with my Christian friends and church family. I know the good news about you and the difference it makes in my life, so let me take advantage of natural openings in conversations to insert and share my personal story about you. Work through me and other believers as we work intentionally to make you known to others, and so bring many to faith in this way.

In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen. 

DAILY PRAYERS FOR GUYS

adbLeave a comment

For Mission Work

Lord of the Harvest,
Thank you for instilling in so many people, pastors, and congregations a passion for reaching the lost and a zeal for mission work. Continue to fan into flame the desire to sow the seeds of the gospel so that you might produce a rich harvest through it. Equip believers with the tools and the trust to personally carry out your Great Commission in their individual lives. Give wisdom and guidance to those making difficult decisions that involve planting churches or closing church doors for the purpose of extending your kingdom. Make them aware of and sensitive to the souls affected by such decisions. At the same time, open the eyes of your people to see things from a kingdom perspective rather than the perspective of personal preference, which can sometimes stifle progress in advancing the gospel. Provide overflowing support through generous gifts that allow mission work at home and abroad to expand, pointing more souls to their Savior.

In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen. 

DAILY PRAYERS FOR GUYS

adbLeave a comment

To Make My Feet Beautiful

Loving Savior,
You call the feet of those who bring the good news beautiful. Make my feet beautiful, Lord! Use me as your messenger to bring the joy of salvation to others. Daily I cross paths with so many souls for whom you gave your life, and your sacrifice is completely unknown to them. Embolden me to speak up and speak out so that those whose lives have been marked by hopelessness or hurt can be awakened to hope and healing. Present me with opportunities that are ripe for witnessing. Put me in situations where it is clear as day that someone is yearning for the good news. Push me to step out of my comfort zone and seize those moments with a zealous confidence that can’t keep quiet. Then, when I have been privileged and blessed to be a part of these kinds of joyous interactions, lead me to look down and thank you for making my feet beautiful.

In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen. 

DAILY PRAYERS FOR GUYS

adbLeave a comment

To Carry out My Great Commission

Lord of the Church,
When you sent your disciples on their mission to make disciples, you were entrusting that mission to your Church for all time. When you entrusted that mission to your Church for all time, you were entrusting it to me. As a believer, you desire to use my gifts and my lips to put your Word to work in every way possible to make disciples.

Yet I confess that this mission of the church – my mission – is far too often an afterthought. The lost are last on my mind. My focus is naturally on my own situation rather than my neighbor’s soul. Cover me with your mercy and forgive my indifference toward evangelism. Give me a mission-minded heart and a Spirit-filled awareness of those around me who need you. Regularly provide me with opportunities to evangelize, and fill me with the courage of the apostle Paul to speak up in those situations and confidently confess the good news of the gospel to others.

In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen. 

Changed & Charged by Christ

adbLeave a comment

(2 Corinthians 5:14-21)

Since the beginning of the year, we’ve been referring to it as the “new” year, just we do every January when we switch out our completed calendars for new ones. But really, there is nothing intrinsically different between 2024 and 2023 other than the change of the last number. Just to prove my point, I went back and looked at my old calendar from last year and sure enough, there was also a January 21 in that year as well. On the last day of December, we celebrate the final hours of one year as we roll into a new year, but if you’ve ever noticed, there is no magical change that happens between 11:59 p.m. on December 31 and 12:00 a.m. on January 1. Often times the way we use the word “new” may not be in the strictest sense of the word at all, but may refer to something used that is just “new” to us. But even when something is genuinely new, the novelty of newness wears off rather quickly.

But as it’s used in our verses from 2 Corinthians, “new” represents that most dramatic change anyone could ever experience. “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!” (v.17). The newness a person undergoes in Christ is the most radical change that can happen! It starts with trading in self-made notions and narratives of who we are and who God is for reality. Like a magician’s disappearing act, the old “pretty good” or “better than others” version we perceived of ourselves has suddenly vanished. And as it turns out, the depiction of God we had constructed who is just tickled as long as everyone is trying their best and doesn’t bother getting bent out of shape over sin – such a god doesn’t actually exist.

No, the change we’ve experienced started with the revelation of who we really are and who God really is: real sinners absolutely repugnant to a righteous God. Only then, though, is the full picture able to be seen, as the gospel reveals God’s real love that makes us righteous saints. Who we were is not who we are. Condemned sinners have become confirmed saints. The old has gone, the new is here! It’s true! In place of the damnation we deserved is the salvation that God has secured! Praise God, we have been changed in the most profound way possible – and that for eternity!

That change changes how we look at other people. “So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view” (v.16). We see people differently because what Christ has done for us makes us different! We don’t see people the same way we used to. And it’s true. People who used to make our blood boil are souls for whom Jesus died. People who are polar opposites of us politically are souls for whom Jesus died. People who have no filter almost every time they open their mouths are souls for whom Jesus died. People we would otherwise want absolutely nothing to do with in life are souls for whom Jesus died. I see all of them differently now because I am different. I have changed. And I attach to them a value not that the world does (or doesn’t!), but the value of priceless worth that God attaches to each soul. This changed view we have of others also happens to line up very well with one of the reasons God changes us in Christ: we’re charged. 

When we’re changed, it leads us to see that we’re also charged; we are entrusted with a task. But before we further explore what that means, we must recognize that the sequence of these two things – being changed and charged – matters. The order in which they happen matters.

If we jump right to Jesus’ charge before we’re changed, everything is backwards. We then view Jesus’ charge and our ability to carry it out as the prerequisite to God changing how he feels about us. If we do a good job, then he favors us; if we don’t, then he doesn’t. We see his charge to us as an obligation to be fulfilled so that our status before God changes. We cling to Christ’s charge in hopes that our accomplishment of it might cause him to think and feel differently about us. But that’s backwards.

And it is this confusion that turns off many to Christianity – and understandably so! Their perception is that God lays out his demands and prohibitions for us to abide by, favoring only those who follow through with them. Christianity is viewed as a restrictive form of religious oppression or enslavement that only the weak, the disenfranchised, or the brainwashed are sucked into. Then, led blindly by a cult-like commitment, Christians try to satisfy a domineering God in the hope of achieving a better status in the life to come, a hope that is based on how well they adhere to his charge of unquestioning obedience.

So it is instrumental that we understand the proper order: changed first, then charged. Paul stated what initiated that change in verse 15: “And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again.” First, Jesus died, and he died for all – not just for those who made his list. Not just for the obedient. Not just for the religious. Not just for Christians. He died… for all. That death changed our lives so that we live for the one who died for us. And living for the one who died for us means desiring to conduct our lives according to his will. 

What is his will? What has Jesus charged us, his believers to do? “All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us” (v.18-20).

The word Paul uses – reconciliation – isn’t used as much outside of the Bible, so maybe it helps us to think of the word “restore” instead, even if it isn’t an exact synonym. We are familiar with the need for old, uncared for, or broken items or pieces of furniture to be restored, or made like new again.

That restoration (reconciliation) is exactly what we need. God’s creation, including mankind, was perfect right from the beginning, just as it was when he created it by the power of his spoken word. But sin changed that and brought everything, including mankind, into ruin and destruction. Our sin separated us from God, cutting us off from him forever.

But Paul is saying that God changed our eternity by reconciling – restoring – us through Jesus Christ. If it was our sin that separated us from God, and at the cross Jesus rendered full payment for our sin, every last one, then there is no longer any sin remaining to separate us from God. We have been reconciled – restored – into a perfectly lovely relationship with him.

Now, having discovered this lifeline of grace for ourselves, and fully believing it, God charges us to make it known to everyone else, to be, as he calls us, “Christ’s ambassadors.” We have been restored – but so have all people; now we – you and me, those who know it – are called to go out and make it known to those who don’t.

It shouldn’t be a surprise that God would charge us with such a task because anyone in sales knows that the absolute best way to sell a product is through personal testimony or word-of-mouth. A person who has experienced the benefits of a product or service is much more likely to lead someone else to purchase that product or service because they are the proof that it works. An infomercial including the science and the data validating the effectiveness of a product or service might be fascinating, but that alone will not typically generate sales. A humorous commercial might garner some attention about the product or service, but it doesn’t generally drive significant sales, either. But get someone personally talking about and demonstrating all the ways the product or service works for them, and people will buy it. 

You are the proof that Jesus Christ does what he says he will, that he works, that Christianity “works” (to use a term that appeals to our pragmatic culture)!

Others see it in your thoughtfulness expressed to them and your kind words of support. They notice it in how calm you are in stressful, anxious moments. They get wind of it by how quick you are to forgive, how loving you are even toward those unloving toward you. It stands out as you relay the joy and privilege of getting to be a parent raising kids, rather than the complaining and the burdens they hear from other parents.

And, lest we all overlook the signature characteristic of Christianity, they hear genuine apologies and a willingness to say sorry and own up to our mistakes and our sins. We confess to others when we have done wrong or wronged them personally. Who better to serve as ambassadors than those who know first hand the joy of living in reconciliation with God?!? Who better to carry out this important charge than those who have so clearly been changed?!?

Paul is even modeling what it looks like for those who have been changed to then carry out this charge. As an ambassador, He addresses his readers in the same way he is encouraging them to address others: “We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God. God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God” (v.20-21).

Paul is not just talking the talk, but walking the walk by demonstrating exactly what he’s calling us to do. He is teaching his hearers about reconciliation and as one who has himself been changed – reconciled – he is carrying out his charge of encouraging the Corinthians to be reconciled. He invites them to believe that what God did for Paul in Christ Jesus, he also did for them (“God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ…”).

Changed, Paul carries out his charge. Let us follow suit, always making certain that grace – and not guilt – is what compels us to carry out that charge.

As we carry out this charge, remember the driving force behind it. Read the first five words of verse fourteen again: “For Christ’s love compels us.” We could imagine a lot of other words or phrases in place of “Christ’s love,” that could prompt us. But Paul didn’t write that “guilt” compels us. It isn’t “the hope that we’re good enough for God” that compels us. It isn’t the impossible desire to please everyone else that compels us. It isn’t even that we love God so so so so much that compels us.

Nope. It’s Christ’s love – his love for us – that compels us. He loves you. That’s all I need to hear for me to want to change the world for Christ, just as he has changed me with his love. 

Making the Unknown Known

adbLeave a comment

(Acts 17:22-31)

We love being “in the know.” It sets us apart from those around us who aren’t. When we’re in the know, suddenly others are more interested in us, possibly even impressed by us, because we have some coveted knowledge or information that interests them. It makes us feel good to be the center of attention like that.

The other reason we like being in the know is that we don’t enjoy the feeling of being out of the loop. We don’t like feeling inferior or dumb because we don’t have that insider information. We fear being looked down on or teased for not knowing something that it seems everyone else but us knows. 

Either view exposes the underlying problem when it comes to having insider information or being “in the know”: it reveals how self-centered we are. It reveals how inherently we want everything to revolve around us.

It’s really essential for us to acknowledge our self-centeredness when discussing the topic of evangelism, witnessing, sharing our faith, or telling others about Jesus – whichever phrase you prefer. If we refuse to acknowledge our self-centeredness, here’s what ends up happening: we construct our own castles and comfortably hide out inside them until someone calls us out.

Why do we hide there? Because we want to avoid hearing the stinging conclusion about our self-centeredness as it pertains to evangelism: we are naturally more concerned about our own reputation than we are about others’ salvation. While we proudly display the He > I stickers for all to see on the back of our cars, but wouldn’t dare display the sticker that says My reputation > your salvation.

If it wasn’t true that we care more about our reputation than others’ salvation, then we would identify our fears or weaknesses when it comes to witnessing AND make progress in working through them. We’d face the fear of possible rejection. We’d learn more instead of “not knowing how.” We’d connect with more people if “all our friends are Christians.” These – and every other castle we could construct – could actually be overcome with effort, but that effort won’t be exerted until we come to grips with the truth that we are more concerned about our own reputation than others’ salvation.

One doesn’t need to question which was the greater concern for the apostle Paul. He was on a missionary journey sowing the seeds of the gospel to bring salvation to as many as possible. Having previously been in Thessalonica for a matter of weeks until he was forced out, he then went to Berea until he was tracked down yet again by those opposing his message, and then found himself ushered by the believers into Athens. While he was waiting to be rejoined by his travel companions, he noticed the sea of idols throughout the city and was compelled to say something. 

There were a number of ways he typically would carry out his mission work, often including going to the local synagogue and preaching. Additionally, he spent time daily discussing Jesus’ resurrection with any who would listen. Not surprisingly, in a city like Athens, known for its pastime of robust philosophical discussions, Paul was eventually invited to the Areopagus, the “Hill of Aries,” or Mars Hill.

This was the primary location for such discussions and where the political council met in ages past. Ironically, on a hill named after a mythological god in a city rife with idols to false gods, Paul seized the opportunity to proclaim the true God. Because Paul was more concerned about others’ salvation than his own reputation. 

Paul’s concern for others’ salvation is abundantly clear in his writings, too. “Now it is required that those who have been given a trust must prove faithful. I care very little if I am judged by you or by any human court” (1 Corinthians 4:2-3). In fact, Paul cared so desperately about the salvation of his fellow Jewish people that considered the possibility of giving up his own salvation for their sake, if that were somehow possible. “I speak the truth in Christ—I am not lying, my conscience confirms it through the Holy Spirit—I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart. For I could wish that I myself were cursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my people, those of my own race, the people of Israel” (Romans 9:1-4a). Wow!

So how does it make you feel when you see Paul held up on a pedestal for his impassioned zeal to save hell-bound souls? Does it leave you feeling enamored and in awe of him to such a degree that you are convinced more than ever that Paul is in a league of his own? Does he inspire you to want to be more like him, to be so focused on soul-saving that you cast aside any concern for what people might think of you and give everything you can to reaching the lost? Or does mention of Paul’s mission zeal leave you rolling your eyes and tuning out because “good for Paul, but I’m not Paul” after all? Regardless of how you feel about Paul, we need to consider why Paul was so driven to put so much energy into reaching the lost.  

It wasn’t his natural public speaking ability or his knack for influencing or some specialized training he had received. No, it wasn’t any of these. What was it that made Paul such a powerful evangelist? He knew how much he was forgiven.

Paul expressed this powerfully in his first letter to Timothy: “Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners—of whom I am the worst. But for that very reason I was shown mercy so that in me, the worst of sinners, Christ Jesus might display his immense patience as an example for those who would believe in him and receive eternal life” (1:15-16). Paul didn’t consider himself great; he considered himself the worst! It’s because he thought so little of himself that he thought so highly of Christ! Paul knew he was exactly the type of sinner Jesus came into the world for – the type who needed forgiving.

Remember the sinful woman washing Jesus’ feet? When the self-righteous religious crowd witnessing it balked at 1) Jesus allowing a sinner to touch him and 2) someone wasting such expensive perfume for washing feet, Jesus gave a rather simple explanation. “She was forgiven many, many sins, and so she is very, very grateful. If the forgiveness is minimal, the gratitude is minimal” (Luke 7:47, The Message). Her meek modeling of generosity flowed from having been personally flooded with forgiveness!

Do you know how forgiven you are? When it comes to being in awe of forgiveness, it is usually in connection with the “big” sins that we tend to think are in their own class. And indeed, such instances do showcase how amazing forgiveness is.

But you know when else we need to be reminded of how forgiven we are? When we consider the sins that hardly register a blip on our radar. The ones that come so easily to us. The ones we commit so effortlessly. The ones that we think so little of as to not even really need to acknowledge them.

We’re such experts at swiping through video shorts with expert speed and precision to filter out the ones that don’t entertain us, that we fail to turn on our faith filter and imagine if Jesus would be laughing if he was sitting with me soaking it up.

A witty rip escapes my lips and its lack of love is lost amidst all the laughs it gets.

Since violence and gore so easily ooze into nearly every show or game produced nowadays, their prevalence prevents us from reflecting on whether or not graphic depictions honor God in any way.

The offensive language in our music doesn’t count in our minds so long as we make it clear to others that we are aware it’s offensive and inappropriate… as we keep on listening to it.

See how quickly and effortlessly sin stacks up in our lives without hardly registering in our minds as such? And it’s precisely the sheer quantity of those forgiven sins alone that ought to dizzy us with the depth of forgiveness that Jesus extends to us. Paul thought he was the worst of sinners? The crowds thought the woman at Jesus’ feet was despicable? They haven’t seen anything yet! I put them to shame. You put them to shame. We’re able to sin in ways that weren’t even around yet at their times! Do you know what that means?

It means we’re forgiven in more ways, too.

Do you know how forgiven you are? We do not so easily brush aside our sins as trivial, and make so little of the precious blood your Savior spilled for us. His whole time on earth crescendoed to his crucifixion, the greatest act of injustice in the history of the world, endured for our sin – sin that demanded nothing less. Sin that we welcome and embrace so easily and openly. Sin that has been forgiven so fully and completely. And at such a dear price. 

And… that has been made known to you. Not only do we know that it happened, what Jesus did for us, but we also believe it! How many souls on this planet right now are going about their lives without knowing their sin has been forgiven? How many are indifferent to, ignorant of, ashamed of, guilt-ridden by, or self-medicating because of the sins they don’t know have already been fully and completely forgiven?

Many have never heard the name of Jesus. Others know the name but not the significance. Either way, their Savior is unknown to them.

But that same Savior is not unknown to you. He is known by you, loved by you, and gave himself for you. Can we now give ourselves to him by making him known to others? 

Make the World Better & Brighter

adbLeave a comment

(Matthew 5:13-20)

While the most frequent use of salt you’re likely to see is sprinkling it on food to enhance the flavor, salt actually has quite a few uses outside of making food taste better. In addition to using it to preserve food, salt is also necessary for curing food – so if you appreciate bacon, salt deserves a huge shout-out! Salt is also what your body uses when muscles expand and contract. That’s why it’s wise to bring salty food on hikes so that when you lose salt through your sweat, you can replenish it with a salty snack that helps avoid muscle cramps. And, for those of us who have spent any time in the midwest, salt has another popular use during the cold months of winter: it is spread on sidewalks and roads to melt the snow. 

So salt has a number of valuable uses. However, there is a time when salt isn’t very helpful. When it isn’t used! Have you ever experienced wrapping up a meal and then remembering a spice or seasoning afterward and thought to yourself, “I bet this would have tasted really good on that”? But by then it’s too late. By that time you’ve already finished your meal. You can’t go back and season what you’ve already eaten. So what good is salt that is unused? It isn’t! We could actually list a lot more ways that salt is helpful in our day-to-day lives, but if we wouldn’t actually use it, then it wouldn’t be very helpful.

As I age, I appreciate brightness for a number of reasons. It is easier to see a bright screen than squinting at a dark one. The right lighting around the exterior of a house or inside a room can also make all the difference between something that is dark and dreary or warm, cozy, and inviting. Lighting matters.

But what good is light that is hidden? Like walking into an unfamiliar room and not knowing where the switch is. It happens in hotel rooms. You walk in and see any number of lamps and spend more time than you care to admit trying to figure out if a wall switch turns this light or that light on, or if the lamp itself has its own switch. The lights are there in the room, but they’re only of use after you figure out how to turn them on. Once you do, the room brightens up.

What salt does for us in our daily lives and what the right lighting can do in a home, Jesus wants you to be in the world. He wants to use you to make the world better and brighter. Think of all the ways the Bible calls us to love and serve our neighbors – and even our enemies! Does it not stand to reason that if everyone in the world cared less about serving themselves and more about serving others, we’d all actually be better off?

But pay attention to the Savior’s sermon, for in it he has an end goal in mind for his salt and light as you make the world better and brighter: “let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven” (v.16). If you thought the end goal of making the world better and brighter was to draw attention to yourself, you should know that Jesus had something much more significant in mind. He wants your salt and light to win others over. No, they won’t come to faith in Jesus through your sacrificial service to them, but God has in mind that such service would attract them to its source: Jesus. After all, what is the greatest glory that can be given to the Father in heaven? It’s when the lost are found, when even one unbelieving sinner repents and is forgiven and restored. There is no greater glory that can be given to the Father than for a soul to be snatched from Satan. And you are the salt and the light that helps to make that happen. 

And pay closer attention to the Savior’s sermon for a foundational understanding of how Jesus has chosen to partner with you in this important mission: “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them” (v.17). See that – Jesus has already done all of the heavy lifting! When he calls us to be salt and light, he isn’t laying out a law-list of requirements that must be met in hopes of attaining saltiness and brightness. He fulfilled the law so that we might love living in it! Jesus was the epitome of salt and light. He seasoned everything perfectly. He lit everything up beautifully. What he has fulfilled, we are no longer enslaved by. He’s freed us to love making the world better and brighter!

But neither is Jesus’ fulfillment of the law an excuse to disregard his calling to be his salt and light. He warns against that, too! Note the point Jesus is making in verses 17 and following. He sets the tone by pointing out that he came to fulfill the law, not abolish it. So what does that say about our understanding of his fulfillment of the law if we carelessly cast it aside? If we disregard it or lead others to do the same? If we do that, what are we saying about Jesus’ fulfillment of the law – that it didn’t matter? That we didn’t need it? That God was not really being serious when he gave his law? Instead, his fulfillment of the law leads us all the more to practice it and teach others to do the same, because we’ve been freed from its burden and can now be blessed by its wisdom and love, and through it we see a means to make the world better & brighter – and we’re completely free to do so!

Don’t we see more than enough examples of how not to be in life? As parents, do you find yourselves pointing out all the positive examples and role models for your kids to imitate, or are your conversations more frequently centered around the behavior of a classmate of the headline of a celebrity, followed by, “If I ever catching you doing that…”? The world does not need more examples of what not to do. It doesn’t need more people to fit into its corrupt ways. It needs you to be different. It needs you to stand out.

Consider your viewing of a valuable piece of art. You would most likely view that piece of art in an art gallery, accompanied by many other works of art, all of which are beautiful in their own way. However, what if you viewed that same art piece shuffled in together with a pile of kindergarten coloring pages? We’re talking about the same piece of art, but if you were to view it in each of those two settings, the art gallery or the pile of kindergarten coloring pages, in which setting is that work of art more likely to stand out? Wouldn’t it make a much more memorable impact on each of us as it stood out brilliantly among the best efforts of a classroom of kindergarten colorings? Of course!

The world that God created was a beautiful art gallery. Sin, however, ruined it with its random scribbling and coloring outside the lines. Yet realize what that means! When you are the salt and light that Jesus made you to be, you stand out like a work of art in a bland and dark world. You make it better and brighter!

How do you do this? By being what Jesus has made you to be – salt and light that are his hands and feet to serve the world. Does that mean Jesus needs your service to your neighbor to rival Mother Theresa? No, for he has not made you Mother Theresa; he has made you you. Just be the you that he created you to be, with your unique gifts, abilities, interests, and circle of souls to serve.

So when you’re at your table at the restaurant, give thought to the ideal type of customer a server would be eager to wait on – then be that customer. At your child’s game, consider the kind of parent that coaches and refs and umps want to have in the stands cheering on their favorite kid players – then be those parents. When you’re at work, put yourself in your boss’s shoes and imagine what a blessing the ideal employee would be to him – then be that employee. Spouse, classmate, neighbor, airline passenger, customer waiting in the grocery checkout line – we could go on all day long! Think of the ideal in whatever situation you find yourself in throughout the day – then be that person. Do you know what that’s called when you do that? That’s called being salt and light. And it is the very stuff that makes the world better and brighter. Be that.

Then try to pretend your efforts would never yield any eternal fruit. You may pretend, but Jesus has already clearly stated your potential impact. When you stand out by making things better and brighter, you become very attractive to people. They want whatever you’re on. They want to spend time with people like you because, well, who doesn’t want better and brighter? Of course they do! And over time, the Lord will open up doors to a much greater purpose: an audience for the gospel; ears to hear Jesus.

Pause for a moment and put yourself in the shoes of an outsider. Someone who has perhaps heard the name Jesus, and maybe recognizes the Bible is a religious book, but is either indifferent or disinterested in Christianity. If a person like that is ever going to be open to hearing more about Jesus or learning anything about the Bible, where do you suppose they’ll turn? Will it be to the Karen she’s waiting on who hasn’t stopped complaining and doesn’t leave a tip? Will it be to the livid parent incessantly heckling the ump after each pitch? To the bitter employee who badmouths the company and gossips endlessly? Not likely – so don’t be them! 

We convince ourselves that we’re so afraid of having to witness to other people that we forget to be the kind of people they’d want to learn from in the first place! We presume that not having the words to say when it comes to evangelism is our biggest problem when maybe the bigger problem is that no one else is interested in our words in the first place because we blend in too well in this bland and dark world. If more of our conversations are going to eventually lead to Jesus, then perhaps we should be more attractive and approachable in the first place so that people even want to converse with us!

That will happen more often when salt and light make the world better and brighter. So get after it. Be what Jesus has made you to be. Set the stage for God to use your good deeds as the onramp that eventually leads others to glorify our Father in heaven.