Jake's+Salt+&+Light+Introduction

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Salt and Light: Going out into the World as the Contemporary Christian- The theme of this class
13 “You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot. 14 “You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. 15 Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. 16 In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven. Matt. 5:13-16, NIV -

My personal take on this passage has always been that we as the salt are responsible for giving the world its flavor and what I mean by flavor is its purpose, which is ultimately to glorify God. As the light, Christians are to shine out into the darkness and point others toward God. I think the easiest way to accomplish that is to live a Christ like life, even though that is not always easy.
 * What did Jesus mean by Calling his disciples to Salt & Light to this world?**


 * My Goal after graduation is:** To become director/pastor of discipleship at a church. This would mean that I would have the responsibility of teaching people how to live out their faith in every day life, which directly ties into the Salt & Light theme.

This is my idea of Discipleship... =What I Have Learned From This Class (or that were emphasized for me)= 1. The Western world and its ways of thinking are in danger of becoming, or in some sense already have become to lofty to support. Meaning the world in a lot of ways has once again become self absorbed and this puts our culture in danger of collaspe. I think as Christian's the way we prevent ourselves from being caught up and swept away in this "cultural mess" is to consistantly look to Scripture. Schaeffer says, "[humanity] can know both truth about God and truth about the things of creation because in the Bible God has revealed Himself and has given man the key to understanding God's world"� (1976, p. 67). This is my favorite quote from Schaeffer, because I think it reveals several things to Christians. First, Scripture is truthful because it is a gift from God. Second, God wants to us to know Him. Third, there is a created order in which God rules over mankind. What I think has happened is that humanity has made itself the center of the universe and leave God out of the picture.
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2. Members of the Body of Christ are to be living and active in sharing the Gospel. Many Christians, at times act like the Gospel is a secret they have been let in on and they have some responsibility //not// to share it, well we know its the opposite. In his book, Zacharias claims that much of church growth is just people transferring from one church to the other (Zacharias, 2010, p. 31). I have heard that claim before and it saddens me. Stott says, "local church evangelism can claim to be the most normal, natural and productive method of spreading the Gospel today"(Stott, 2007, p. 51). So being the salt and light works the best when done by the local church, not some big gathering, or event.

3. We live in a culture driven by the perceived need for answers. That is why so many people have problems with trust and faith, because those deliberately require some lack of information. However, as Zacharias points out faith is not nearly as uncommon as we think it is and maybe that is a starting point for a bridge between believers and non-believers, if they only give it some thought. After all, even Atheism requires faith. He states, "Only so much about life can be understood by reason; so much falls short of any reasonable explanation, if one disregards faith as an answer" (Zacharias, 2010, p. 144).

4. In this life mentors are invaluable (What SAU Has Taught Me...)

5. To paraphrase a saying often attributed to Ghandi "If you wish to see a change go and //**make it so**//" ("make it so" attempt at fitting in a Star Trek Picard saying) The church has a lot of work to do and we have to be the change we wish to see (which is more like the actual saying).

=Conclusion= In summation be SAU has taught me to: 1. Be passionate about me calling. 2. Walk alongside others; seek to the wisdom of others (Mentorship) 3. Evaluate the world around me with eyes wide open