You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt has become tasteless, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled under foot by men. You are the light of the world . . . Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven. – Matthew 5:13-14,16
When we look closely at a deteriorating culture, we will probably see the people of God withdrawing from it. For example, when Christians abandon inner city and urban neighborhoods, taking their skills, resources, and moral influence with them, those neighborhoods deteriorate.
When Christians leave the public school system, moral values are systematically erased until they become almost illegal to teach. When Christians vacate the media, a spiritual approach to defining everything we hold dear goes with them. When Christians get out of politics, righteous political decisions leave with them.
God’s people have been called to penetrate society. Of course, evangelism is always first, because without forgiveness of sins, anything else we give a person is temporary. We have been called first and foremost to win people to Christ. But after a person receives Christ for eternity, he must represent Christ in history. Christians must offer others hope; no earthly institution offers real hope for the world. The absence of righteousness in our culture has everything to do with the absence of God’s people penetrating the culture. When there is no yeast, the bread stays flat.
