God's Chemistry

I know it has been a really long time since I last posted on here, for that I am sorry. Life happens and things get pushed out of the way. Well, life is still happening but I felt like writing something and I have learned to get it written as soon as possible lest it flee my mind.




"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." Matthew 5:13



     In The Sermon On the Mount, Jesus tells His followers that they are, "the salt of the earth." Salt's role is to make things taste better, to make the thing it is applied to better. That is the common interpretation I have heard of this verse and I don't disagree with it. I do think there may be more to it than that though. You see I teach high school chemistry and I got to thinking about salt. What follows is a little bit of a chemistry lesson, sorry about that, but I promise it won't be too painful.

     First I need to talk about water for a little while. One thing that almost everyone thinks they know about water is wrong. Contrary to popular opinion, water does not conduct electricity. Yes, you read that right, it doesn't conduct electricity. It is only when an ionic compound (that is a separate lesson and I won't bore you with it now.) is dissolved in it will water conduct electricity. Salt just happens to be an ionic compound. You see it is the salt in the water that allows electricity to flow through it. I think that is the Christian's role in the world, to be the salt that allows God's power to flow through the world. Yes, we should add flavor to the world but I think there is more to it. We are to be the conduit for God's power to flow through the world.

     Now there is a funny thing about salt. Salt that isn't dissolved in water, salt in its solid form, doesn't conduct electricity very well at all. It isn't until it is immersed in water that it can live up to its full conductive potential. We as Christians are the same way. it isn't until we are in the world that we can live up to the full potential that God has called us to. If we stay within the walls of the church we become like salt in its solid form, a very poor conduit for the power of God. We need to venture out the doors of our church and enter the water.



(Important note. While it is true that pure water does not conduct electricity, that is not a license to start making toast in the shower. Your presence in the water adds enough salt and other electrolytes to make the water conductive. So please continue to obey the warnings on your electrical appliances.)

We Aren't Bouncers

      "I like your Christ, I don't like your Christians. Your Christians are so unlike your Christ." This quote has been attributed to Gandhi, but I have seen some people question whether that is true or not. Regardless of who said it the quote has been rolling around in my mind a lot lately. I have seen a lot of Christians acting in manners that make me understand the sentiment of this quote.

     Every day I see Christians self-righteously pointing at others and yelling sinner. This has always puzzled me. We have all sinned, how can anyone point at another's sin in a condescending manner? We have somehow missed the point of what our mission is. We get so caught up in the specifics of another's sin, when the specifics don't matter. The point isn't that we have committed this sin or that sin, the point is that we are sinners. We don't need to point out another's sin, we need to make them realize that they are sinners and in need of cleansing.

     That doesn't mean we have to excuse sin. Sin is sin and nothing will ever change that. Individual sins will need to be dealt with, but that isn't really our job. Our job is to bring people to the one who can do something about sin, not try to fix it ourselves. Even worse, I see Christians excluding people because of a specific sin. That is like a lifeguard asking someone how they came to be in the water before deciding to save them or not. How they got there doesn't matter now, they just need saving. After they have been saved measures can be taken to make sure it doesn't happen again, but that isn't the lifeguard's job.

     We need to understand that as Christians our job is marketing, not quality control. We aren't bouncers standing at a velvet rope deciding who does and doesn't get in. We are merely barkers trying to draw a crowd. When we point our fingers we dilute our message.

Have You Ever Been Really Scared?

First I need to apologize for taking so long between posts, it has been hard to write anything these last few months for several reasons. Second, I don't know if this post is for anyone except me but I had to write it. Thanks for taking the time to read my ramblings and I promise I will try to be more regular again. God bless.

     Have you ever been scared, I mean really scared? Not horror movie scared or thrill ride scared, but afraid to take the next step scared? I feel like I have been living that way for the last 6 months. I know I don't show it, but that is because I am good at hiding things like that. Now, I am not in any danger or anything like that, it is just life situations that have kept me in fear.

     I have learned an interesting lesson through this, faith is a strange thing. I have discovered that faith is easy to have when you don't really need it, but as soon as things get dicey faith becomes really hard to have. These last few months have been fraught with all kinds of challenges for me, chief among them have been finances. I have discovered that financial problems are great for your prayer life. My budget is extremely tight. My expenses basically equal my income and I knew there were some things coming up that were going to cause my expenses to increase. This was when God challenged me to look at my tithing, or lack thereof. Now, I have a degree in math. I know that if 100% of my income barely covers my expenses, there is no way 90% will even come close. God, however, was not impressed with my math and continued to push me to tithe. So I started tithing. Every time I write the check I am scared to death, it is a struggle to put it in the plate, but I have for the last  months.

     I would like to say that money has just poured in and I have no money worries. I would like to say that but I can't. I can say that every bill has been paid, but it hasn't gotten any less scary. This brought to wonder, is it still faith if you are scared while doing it? This is one of the biggest steps of faith I have ever taken. I know it is what God wants me to do and I know that He will see me through everything that arises, but I am still scared. Then I realized that that is what faith really is. Faith is being scared but still taking that next step because you know that God has you by the hand and He won't lead you to destruction.

     So I guess the answer is yes, it is still faith if you are scared. It stops being faith it the fear keeps you from taking the next step. So keep walking even if you are afraid, God will uphold you with His strong right hand.