One of the most amazing natural phenomenons in the world can be found in the tropical waters off the southern coast of Puerto Rico.\u00a0 Phosphorescent Bay is inhabited by millions of single cell plankton.\u00a0 Each emits a harmless blue spark of light when the water is disturbed.\u00a0\u00a0 On a moonless night, miles from the glare of coastal neon, submerged divers produce an illumination that would rival any Coast Guard search and rescue operation.<\/p>\n
Jesus tells His followers in side-by-side verses (Matthew 5: 13 and 14) that they are to be BOTH salt and light in the world.\u00a0 We rarely find both these elements together in nature, or in Christ-followers, for that matter.\u00a0 When we do, it\u2019s a phenomenon, like Phosphorescent Bay. \u00a0Perhaps the reason for this anomaly is that the properties and functions of salt and light are very different.<\/p>\n
Some Christians become the lights of the world, dispelling darkness, revealing God\u2019s presence where it would otherwise not be seen, and guiding pilgrims by exemplary living.\u00a0 Other saltier types rub up against the raw elements of society, preserving what\u2019s good, giving flavor to hopeless people, changing and restoring the their lives. However, it is rare to see all of these qualities in the same person at the same time.<\/p>\n
It seems to me that the \u201clight\u201d Christians are usually the ones who like to stay close to their Power source.\u00a0 They like and need to stay clean, their lamps unclouded by the cultural dirt all around them.\u00a0 So they shine from afar, on top of the hill.\u00a0 Whether from experience or fear, they know themselves and they know the dangers and temptations that lurk when they get too close to unsympathetic non-believers.<\/p>\n
But, in order for salt to be effective it must come in close contact to the thing it desires to affect.\u00a0 It must be infused or ingested into the very flesh and fiber of that entity it\u2019s trying to help. \u00a0\u00a0\u201cSalt\u201d Christians connect with their culture.\u00a0 They not only know their unbelieving neighbors, they enjoy their company.\u00a0 They are there for those trapped in addictions, and they minister to the suicidal and depraved.<\/p>\n
Other environments where salt is needed are quite different from the world of crime and addiction.\u00a0 The materialistic American culture can also be the downfall for salty Christians.\u00a0 Slowly and subtly \u201csalt\u201d Christian grow accustomed to the comfort and extravagance of their friends–like the frog in the kettle where the water temperature is gradually raised to boiling.\u00a0 The frog adjusts to the change until it\u2019s too late to escape.<\/p>\n
But, how to be BOTH salt and light?\u00a0 Let\u2019s go back to Puerto Rico and Phosphorescent Bay where those single cell plankton thrive in the salty waters of the Atlantic.\u00a0 The light that they produce when they are stirred up by a row boat or raindrops is not only magnificent but powerful.\u00a0 It can be seen from satellites in outer space.\u00a0 Perhaps the plankton possess the answer.<\/p>\n
They live in community.\u00a0 These particular single cell creatures are not dispersed across the ocean, but rather they are found clustered together in a few locations.\u00a0 They need each other in order to glow when their salty environment is troubled.<\/p>\n
Our culture needs to see Jesus.\u00a0 Our lights can illuminate Him in the darkness.\u00a0 Our salt can be the \u201cBalm of Gilead\u201d (Jeremiah 8: 22) to heal and soothe our world.\u00a0 \u00a0Christians need to reach out together in serving others, restoring the broken and in sharing God\u2019s love, because we need each other in order to shine, while living in life\u2019s brine.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
One of the most amazing natural phenomenons in the world can be found in the tropical waters off the southern coast of Puerto Rico.\u00a0 Phosphorescent Bay is inhabited by millions of single cell plankton.\u00a0 Each emits a harmless blue spark of light when the water is disturbed.\u00a0\u00a0 On a moonless night, miles from the glare […] Read more…<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-740","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-other"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/janicebyrd.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/740","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/janicebyrd.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/janicebyrd.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/janicebyrd.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/janicebyrd.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=740"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/janicebyrd.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/740\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":741,"href":"http:\/\/janicebyrd.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/740\/revisions\/741"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/janicebyrd.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=740"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/janicebyrd.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=740"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/janicebyrd.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=740"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}