Being Jesus to the World

In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus tells His followers, "You are the salt of the earth...You are the light of the world...Therefore, let your light shine before men, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven" (Matthew 5:13-16).

This past week, I was running an errand at Wal-Mart. As I left the building making my way to my car, I spotted an older gentleman in the parking lot stopping person after person and then moving on. As he made his way towards me, I thought, "What is he selling? I'm in a hurry and I need to get back to my office." You know, the usual response we loving people tend to have in situations such as this. As I walked closer, he approached me and gently asked, "Do you have any jumper cables?" "I do", I responded. "Would you please give me a jump?" My entire demeanor changed. "Absolutely," I said.

So, I retrieved my cables from the trunk of my car and proceeded to his car which was parked directly in front of mine in the parking lot. After attaching the cables and giving the starter a couple of turns, his engine would not turn over. Recognizing there must be more wrong than simply a dead battery, I took my cables and placed them back in the trunk of my car.

My first thought was, "Well, I tried to help him, but it didn't work out". So, I began to get into my car to drive off. Half way into the car, I stopped. I turned towards the gentleman, who was still standing outside of his car, and asked, "Hey, is there any place I could take you?" Pausing and looking down to the pavement, he said, "Actually, could you take me to my house? I live only 3 miles from here." "Absolutely," I replied. "Hop in."

The man was very quiet for most of the ride home. After arriving at his driveway, he turned to me and said, "I don't know how in the world I could ever thank you for doing this." I turned to him and said, "God has been very grace-giving to me. Allow me to be grace-giving to you." "Thank you, son. Have a good night."

I share this because we as Christians fail to understand the significance of the words of Jesus. He does not tell us to be salt or to be light. He tells us that we are salt and that we are light. Therefore, our everyday goal should be to externally personify the internal transformation of our lives. In other words, our prayer should not be "God, make us salt today or make us light today". Instead, we should pray, "God, may I personify who I already I am through Jesus Christ." My original attitude did not personify that reality. By God's Spirit in me, though, I pray that my eventual actions did.