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How Salty Are You?
Joe Killian • Feb 02, 2017
Salt is good for days like today. Its unique properties interact to melt snow and ice. In a different way salt seasons the food we eat. We hear about this in this week's Gospel.
Jesus said to his disciples: "You are the salt of the earth. But if salt loses its taste, with what can it be seasoned? It is no longer good for anything but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot. You are the light of the world. A city set on a mountain cannot be hidden. Nor do they light a lamp and then put it under a bushel basket; it is set on a lampstand, where it gives light to all in the house. Just so, your light must shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your heavenly Father." Matthew 5:13-16
Jesus uses two separate metaphors here to demonstrate how His followers are to live. Salt and light each in their own unique ways impact their surroundings. By using two separate metaphors Jesus provides us with varied ways to understand our role in the world. The challenge that we face is knowing exactly how we individually are supposed to be salt and light.
In his recently published book, More: Find Your Personal Calling and Live Life to the Fullest Measure, Todd Wilson provides a systematic way to understand how we can be "salt and light." Wilson breaks the process down into two categories. One, our primary calling which all Christians have, and a secondary calling which is unique to each individual believer. Here is a brief description from the website along with a graphic that depicts the BE - DO - GO model.
"More starts with who we are, and that we are uniquely created with a unique identity and design. Who are we created to BE? This identity is one we actively discover and participate in activating. Our BE or identity overflows into and shapes our mission. What are we made to DO? Finally, our DO requires a context, or a position where it is lived out. Where are we to GO?"
The reality is that there are as many ways to BE, DO and GO as there are people. If we truly believe that God is in control, we must seek out His will for our life. Wilson walks us through the process. I highly recommend the book to those who are interested in following Jesus' command to BE, DO and GO out into the world as salt and light. Jesus expects each of us us to do so... "that they may see your good deeds and glorify your heavenly Father."
Here is the link to the website that provides some great insight into Todd Wilson's book and ministry. www.personalcalling.org
The story continues...I'm still working on the pondless waterfall in our front yard. I shared this project with you two weeks ago in Playin' In the Dirt. Since then I've had to rework sections of the stream three different times because we were losing too much water. I am now an expert on evaporation rates and excessive splash, two causes of water loss. This morning I tore the whole thing apart and I'm starting over.
Have you ever watched DreamWorks Animation's Kung Fu Panda? I stumbled across it recently and thoroughly enjoyed Jack Black's performance as a bumbling, noodle selling, kung fu enthusiast, giant panda named P o. Set in ancient China, it is more than a humorous slapstick comedy. The core message of the story jumped out at me as I have been focusing recently on the concept of being. Po is shockingly identified as the Dragon Warrior and he reluctantly enters training. The goal of the training is to receive the Dragon Scroll, which is believed to hold the secret to limitless power. Now I don't want to spoil the big reveal but I will say that what Po realizes is the same as what I speak to in the concept of being and authentic identity. So, where do we find the secret to our "power?" I praise You, because I am wonderfully made; wonderful are Your works! My very self You know. Psalm 139:14 God knows it; and we must seek Him with all of our hearts in order to find it. As it was in the movie, the answer is stunningly simple. Our authentic identity is already within us. The challenge for Po in the movie was in seeing himself accurately and not the way others saw him. Even his teacher scoffed at the idea that Po was anything more than an underachieving dreamer who overate when he was anxious. Po's problems are rooted in the fact that he believes the lie of his false identity much more than he does his authentic one. Is it possible that you do the same? Who could have imagined that beneath all of Po's girth lived the Dragon Warrior? What's hidden from view in you? Seek God for understanding as to who He created you to be. Spoiler Alert: the secret of your limitless power is already in you. God placed it there and He wants you to be who He authentically created you to be.
Maria and I have been playing in the dirt a lot recently. First we replaced our French drain and then we embarked on a creative project intended to change the entire look of our front yard. My brother Jeffrey and I installed a new front step.
