Set Aside

This last Sunday I participated in an ordination service. Among us Baptists that is a worship service in which a local congregation says through its actions it recognizes in an individual a special call to service by the Lord. It might be to become a pastor of a church, a deacon-styled servant, or some other identified task within the church. Ordination says you have been set aside, set apart, and unfortunately in some cases declared a new person someone else can blame for something they don’t like!

The church ordained three men to serve as deacons. The New Testament defines these as individuals who are to serve the congregation with a heart guided by the Holy Spirit and carry a positive reputation both within the congregation and the greater community. In many ways a deacon is called to set the example for the rest of the church membership to follow. The position of deacon doesn’t give an individual extra power or control. It does convey extra responsibility. The role of servant and standard bearer can be a tough one in a world that says social conformity and personal power are everything.

The service reminded me in light of the differences between the world and God’s Church we all should see ourselves as just a bit different from the society around us. Jesus said we were to be the salt of the earth (Matthew 5:13), the light of the world (Matthew 5:16), and as Kingdom citizens leaven for society (Matthew 13:33). He also told his followers to be merciful (Luke 6:36) and perfect in love (Matthew 5:48) even as their Father in heaven was merciful and perfect. Later in the New Testament, we are reminded we are to be holy even as our heavenly Father is holy. (I Peter 1:14-16) All of these statements are a call for us as followers of Christ to examine our lives and see if we are setting ourselves apart to identify with Jesus or if we are still identifying with the world.

The Apostle Paul gives some rather blunt guidance for us in taking this awesome and sometimes painful step of allowing ourselves to be set apart from the world. Our God intends for us to be ordained into a special relationship with him that makes us different from the world. Our actions and the motivations behind that should be such that the world recognizes we live by a different standard, a different set of rules, and answer to a different code. Paul says, “Do not conform any longer to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind; then you will know what God’s will is, his good and pleasing and perfect will.” (Romans 12:2)

God has ordained that all who called by the name of his Son Jesus Christ should live according to a different pattern from the society around them. The transformation of which Paul speaks is the often referred to process of metamorphosis, the caterpillar changing into a butterfly. It is only as we become as different from the world in our motivations and thoughts as a butterfly is from its caterpillar phase can we be what God calls us to be.

When we live as individuals who have been set apart by the Spirit of God, then we can be salt in society that helps preserve the best and eliminates the corruption. As set apart individuals we can be light that drives away the darkness and allows the Truth to be revealed. As leaven in our relationships we can permeate society, enriching it, and helping it to become more than it ever could without our presence.

When we practice a lifestyle in which we seek to be perfect in our love, merciful in our relationships, and holy in our walk with God, then we can be the people of God Jesus died to create.

Do I Threaten You?

Jesus said his followers are the salt and light of the world (Matthew 5:13-16). Salt changes the taste of food, kills grass, and makes a mess of snails. It preserves meat by killing the bacteria that would spoil it. If you use a small amount of salt in food, you may get no results at all. Use too much and you make the food inedible. Gargle salt water and it helps a sore throat to heal. Drink sea water and you may sicken to the point of death. Salt can accomplish a lot. What it accomplishes depends upon how and where it is used.

Light wins against darkness every time. A small light may only reveal the key hole to unlock your door. A lot of light brings a city to life at midnight. Light shows us what might be sneaking up behind us in the shadows. Light reveals to the world those secrets we thought were hidden. Light can reveal. Bright light can blind. The intense, focused light of a laser can destroy. Light can accomplish a lot. What it accomplishes depends upon how and where it is used.

Salt threatens bacteria. Light threatens those who would keep their actions hidden. Jesus might ask all his followers, “Does your faith threaten anyone?” He warned his disciples as he sent them out to proclaim the coming of the Kingdom of God (Matthew 10) that they would be persecuted and imprisoned because of their connection to him. They wouldn’t be harassed because they were Galileans in Judea, or because they were fishermen far from the sea, or because they had funny accents. They would run into trouble because they were connected to Jesus.

Their connection to Jesus made them a threat to the authorities and social structure of the day. To the extent they were salt and light according to the definition of Jesus, they would be a threat to the people who had a vested interest in maintaining the status quo. That relationship represented change, transformation, a rejection of the old pattern of the world. That connection to Jesus explicitly called for a different set of values and a different foundation for relating to God and his creation. That relationship represented a major threat.

Is my faith a threat to the authorities of my day? Does my relationship to Jesus Christ represent a threat to the values of my society and its foundations for social interaction? Does my faith represent salt that will improve society even while it destroys the bacteria that is seeking to destroy society? Does my faith represent light that shines in the darkness and reveals the Truth that is the nature of God? Does my faith point to a better way of life now and a hope for life beyond this life? Does my faith threaten anyone or anything?

We live in a sinful and fallen world. The news headlines offer us death counts and the depths of betrayal. The “facts” sent to us consist of theories of conspiracies and speculations on the extent of greed and corruption. We hear of rumors of war, the progress of war, and the results of war. These represent the macro conflicts between nations and the micro destruction of families and individual lives. We tally deaths by bombs on the battlefield and by doctors in abortion clinics.

Jesus said his followers are to be as salt and light in this diseased and darkened world. To do so will be to threaten the accepted way of life. To do so will be to act as catalysts for change and transformation. To do so will mean living out the teachings of Jesus without regard to cost or consequences.

My faith ought to be a threat to anything that is counter to the nature of God. It should be, but is it? A congregation of Christ followers should be a threat to the society in which it exists. Its example should be a threat to the values of the surrounding society. Its teachings should be a threat to those of its social context. Its efforts at reformation and transformation should be a threat to the standards of those already in control.

The faith and standards of the Church of Jesus Christ are founded upon the two great commandments (Matthew 22:34ff). Loving God is our highest priority and the dynamic that should shape every decision made whether by a local congregation or by an individual follower of Christ. Loving our neighbors as ourselves becomes a reflection of the love Christ had for us as he died on the cross, an innocent individual for a guilty world.

God's kind of love threatens the powers of this world. Yet we are called to operate out of his kind of love, foremost for God, but also for our neighbor. Only then can we be the salt and light we have been called to be. Only then can we transform our society. Only then will our faith be the threat it should be to our sinful world.