Let's Leave the Lights On

What does it mean to be salt and light in the world? I’ve been pondering this since visiting a Bible Study on this topic. As I listened to salt and light examples being tossed about, I grew more uncomfortable by the moment. Some turned their wine glasses upside down at weddings to be clear that they were avoiding the “devil’s brew.” Others suggested stands on moral issues like homosexuality and pro-life. Laments went up about high divorce rates and marital infidelity among Christians. I suggested that possibly love was what demonstrated salt and light but this since group didn’t know me any better than I knew them, their discussions continued and I quietly grew pensive.

That thoughtful sadness continued throughout the week as I finished emptying my childhood home and walked around letting memories flow. It will soon belong to someone else. As I stood on the corner double lot staring at the two-story white and green frame home, I pictured it lit up as it had been every night I returned from a date. My parents believed in “leaving the lights on” for me. The house and its residents were an unchanging light on a corner in a ever changing neighborhood. Generations of neighborhood children – many latchkey kids- grew playing in that yard, eating popsicles from their freezer, and calling my parents Ginny and Granpap. Just two blocks from our church, our house was the “after church” young gathering place. I remembered dances, barbeques, and majorette practices in the side yard and slumber parties and dates inside. The lights greeted us on prom night as my friends gathered for a late night breakfast. My brother and I left home but the lights stayed on.

They Sat Here Daily Greeting Schoolchildren

Mail carriers looked forward to the encouragement they would receive there. The house is ½ block from an elementary school and Mama sat outside daily before and after school handing out treats, returning restored toys, and offering words of wisdom and encouragement. When Daddy cut his grass, that riding lawn mower continued into the neighborhood. My parents loved their church and God and everyone knew it. They were private people who didn’t tout their good deeds so they were uncomfortable when I used them as an obvious example for the world. Daddy told me once not to bother helping people if I wasn’t going to enjoy it or expected a thank you.

To me, that is salt and light – quiet demonstrated love, leaving the lights on, and glorifying God right up to the end of an earthly life. No, I never saw my parents drink at weddings. The thought of abortion broke their hearts and there was no divorce or marital infidelity, but that wasn’t why people from preschoolers to the aged wept like babies at their funerals. They wept because the lights went off at 1110 Wolfe St. I may never live up to that humble legacy but I ask all of you to join me in using their example to leave the lights on for the world.

Scripture

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. You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden.  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. In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven. Matthew 5:13-16

Topic: Salt and Light

Be the salt of the earth.

Make sure your salt stays salty.

Be the light of the world.

Don’t put your light under a bowl.

Give light to everyone so people can see your good deeds and glorify the Heavenly Father.

Evangelism Tip

Let the world know you are Christians by demonstrated love.

Is your home a happy place where people want to visit? Do you neighbors see your demonstrated love? Do people look forward to your smile? Will people weep at your funeral? Do your loving deeds glorify God? There is no better way to evangelize.

Evangelize America

This has been a week of evangelizing and ministering through social media and e-mails to people literally all over the world. Right from the beginning, a major part of this ministry has been evangelizing on the web and I feel a responsibility for the growing number of people this ministry touches through this. The world is changing and the effectiveness of electronic venues for helping a struggling world is growing. I would ask a favor. Help us minister to others electronically. Would you repost our posts and post links to our blogs? Forward this Moment to friends and family and suggest they subscribe on their own. Suggest me as a “friend” or someone to “Tweet” with, like The Pocket Full of Change Ministries and the Cheryle M. Touchton Auther Facebook pages, and ask to be added to the Facebook Evangelize America group. These take an enormous amount of time to maintain but the resulting salvations and discipleship growth makes it worth it. If your friends and family reach out, I promise to respond.