Thermometer or Thermostat?
When I want to know the temperature of something whether it is a brisket I am smoking, my body temp or the air in my house, I look at a thermometer. They interpret or reflect the world as it is. They do nothing to change it.
Now I also have a thermostat in my house. It operates in a totally different way. I look at it and it tells me the temperature but I can also use it to change the environment in my home. If I raise it, the heat cuts in and begins warming the house to whatever temperature I have selected. On hot days I use it to turn on the A/C and cool us down. It changes my environment.
Followers of Jesus were commissioned by Jesus to change our environment. He said we were to bring light to the darkness. We were to be salt. Those are things that change the environment.
Jesus also said that since we were light we should not hide it. If we hid it or “put it under a bushel” we would be acting in an illogical way and against our purpose.
He also said that if we lost our saltiness we were good for nothing and should be thrown away.
Are you changing your world? Or are you simply a reflection of the world you live in?
We need to see if we are changed by the environment (Thermometers). Or agents of change (thermostats) changing the environment we are in.
Jesus said that if the salt has lost its ability to bring change it should be thrown out. If we are not changing our world could it be that we have lost our saltiness? Maybe we are about to see a housecleaning?