How to Be Salt and Light and Expect God Moments

By Jack Redmond

I love going to church. Not just mine, but the many churches I have visited or spoken at over the past two and a half decades. But even more important than “going to church” God’s wants us to “be the church”!

“How do I do that?” you ask. Simply put, it’s all about loving and serving people. Yes, this includes our church family, but even more “to be the church” requires us to love and serve people outside the church walls. I wrote about this in my book, God’s Team – Unleashing the Full Power of the Church.

SALT AND LIGHT

“You are the salt of the earth. “You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden – Matthew 5:13a, 14

Salt is a universal ingredient used in food preparation and preservation. As a seasoning, salt takes existing food and makes it taste better by both adding flavor and bringing out the existing flavor within the food. Bottom line is that it makes food taste better.

As a preservative, salt helps prevent decay and preserve the goodness of food. Before refrigeration, meat and fish were “salted” to keep them from quickly spoiling. This allowed fish or meat to be kept for weeks or months to provide ongoing nutrition.

Salt is kept in a saltshaker or container. While in the container, it is neither flavoring nor preserving. It must be poured out of the shaker or container and mixed in or rubbed into meat or fish to either flavor or preserve.

In the same way, to change lives, we must get in direct contact with people in their everyday lives. Don’t overcomplicate or overthink it – just do it! Two simple ways you can do this are:

• Support an existing effort – whether through your local church or a community organization, sign up, show up and love and serve people.

• Expect “God moments” – this is when you bump into people either on purpose or by random occurrence where you can encourage, help, share your faith or simply be nice to people. Be open and see what God will do!

RELATED: NJ Author and Speaker Jack Redmond: Stop ‘Attending’ Church – It’s Time to ‘Be’ the Church

Jack Redmond is an author, speaker and serves on staff at Christ Church in Montclair and Rockaway, NJ. He can be reached or followed on social media @jackwredmond.