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Pointers along the way #196

Salt, light and political correctness
- Jacob Ninan

A guy who stands at the fork of a road and tries to tell those who want to speed along with the crowd on a wide, smooth road that they are heading for a disaster (which they can't see), and tells them to choose instead a narrow, rough road will certainly not be popular. But that is what the 'gospel' essentially says! (Mt.7:13,14). The gospel is not just about promises for a nice life but it also contains warnings about the consequences of wrong living. How can we consider warnings as gospel or good news? It's good news that we can now be saved from those calamities that we would get into if we don't take the offer of salvation from God. But the fashion of the day is to be politically correct, not to hurt anyone's feelings, not to mention anything negative, not to imply that anyone could be wrong about anything, etc. Be happy and positive, by ignoring all the bad news and avoiding thinking about consequences!

What happens then? People are told about Jesus who is meekly knocking at their door and they 'accept' Him as if they are doing Him a favour! They are told that He accepts them 'just as they are' and they don't see any need to make any changes to their lifestyles. They are not sinners any more, but 'saints,' and 'sin' is an unwelcome word. What do they get saved from? Not sin, or from the perverse generation (Mt.1:21;Ac.2:40), but from hell and the guilt of sin. Obedience to God's commandments is irrelevant, because we are not saved by works! It is not politically correct to use the name of Jesus in public, and it is utter heresy to claim that He is the only way to the Father (Jn.14:6;Ac.4:12)! We mustn't tell anyone that what he is doing is not right and that it will destroy him, because we must respect his individuality and personal freedom!

We Christians seem to be more vigilant against appearing to be narrow minded than against sin or compromise. We try our best to fit our gospel to public opinion and mood, and to make our presentations in the language and style of the world, rather than show the world what a difference there is between the life that God offers and what there is in the world! We have become 'large hearted,' tolerating all forms of behaviour!

No wonder our salt seems to have lost its flavour and our light is hidden under a basket (Mt.5:13-15). We are scratching our heads to figure out what has happened to our Christian witness. We ask why we don't seem to have the power and the anointing the early disciples had.

Actually we have nothing to be ashamed about anything that Jesus has said. We don't have to take an apologetic position in explaining the truth because it is the truth even if no one accepts it. People may scorn, laugh or mock us, to their own harm and ultimate shame. But God has given us the flavour and the light that have saved us and now can save the others. Let us not be cowed down from standing for and proclaiming the truth in its full form, so that 'as many as received' can be saved.

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