Salt, Light, and The Lamb: Redefining Influence in a World of Power

   Have you ever noticed how growth often happens in the most uncomfortable moments? No one really likes discomfort. We try to avoid it at all costs. But, if we’re being honest, it’s often in those seasons of discomfort that God works the deepest in us—whether it’s a health scare pushing us toward a better lifestyle or a challenging situation that causes us to rethink how we’ve been living. Discomfort, though hard, is often where transformation begins.
   This idea hit home for me during our church’s latest sermon in the series, Politics of the Lamb. I’ll be real—it wasn’t the easiest message to sit through. I get it. It feels unsettling, like a plow cutting through the hard ground of our souls, forcing us to confront some tough truths. But maybe that’s the point. Maybe God is pruning us, as Jesus said in John 15, cutting away the things that keep us from truly living out His values.
   In this series, we’ve been talking about influence, which is something we’re all thinking about, especially in an election year. It’s easy to feel anxious when we see the influence of Christianity in America isn’t what it used to be. There’s this collective feeling of, "We’ve got to stop the bleeding!" And so, we rally, we vote, we push for change.
   And don’t get me wrong—voting is important. As American citizens, it’s a privilege to vote. But Jesus’ call for influence doesn’t sound like the rallying cries of Fox News or CNN. In His famous Sermon on the Mount, Jesus lays out His “Constitution” for how His followers are meant to influence the world, and it’s radically different from what we might expect.
   Jesus calls us the salt of the earth and the light of the world. Salt, in ancient times, was used to preserve, and light illuminates darkness. These are not glamorous roles—they’re ordinary but powerful. Our influence isn’t meant to come from a place of power, but from embodying the counter-cultural values of Christ: humility, mercy, purity, and peace.
   The world tells us to gain influence through power, but Jesus flips that on its head. Our call is to embody the values of the Lamb. Not to roar like lions but to shine like lights in the darkness, preserving what is good and pointing others toward the light of Christ.