On Being Salt and Light
Sean McDowell recently hosted a Jewish guest on his podcast who vehemently denied that Jesus is the Messiah. It’s a great discussion. If you’re a fan of apologetics like me, you’ll enjoy this exercise. Listen to it and pause when he raises an objection.
How would you answer these objections?
In the words of Benedick from Much Ado About Nothing, “There’s a double meaning in that.”
- What is a biblical response to his objection?
- How can we address these objections in a winsome way?
As always, Sean is respectful. He seeks to truly understand the position of his guest, and he knows we can’t argue people into the Kingdom.
People believe what they want to believe.
With that in mind, how can we make people jealous for what we have? How can we entice them to want to believe?
In other words,
“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 underfoot by people.
“You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden;
nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. Your light must shine before people in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven. – Matthew 5:13-16
It’s important to have answers to these objections.
Not just to persuade others, but to strengthen your own faith.
It’s also important to disagree respectfully.
When I first became a believer, I was tempted to become Jesus’s bulldog. You know what? He didn’t need a bulldog bullying people into belief. He wanted me to be salt and light.
If I have the gift of prophecy and know all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith so as to remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. – 1 Corinthians 13:2
What are your thoughts? Comment below.
If you’d like to know a few of mine, I did a series on Jesus’s claim to be the Son of David, the rightful King of the Jews.
