![]() ![]() You wouldn’t respect yourself, no one else would respect you.ī) You don’t take it because you think about her. To pick on a weak person means you would be weak. So the first question he would ask them is: do you do it, yes or no? And of course, you wouldn’t be surprised to know that over the years – in spite of the fact that in this thought experiment it’s not against the law – virtually all of his students always said: “No, you don’t.” Then he would say: let me give you three reasons why and I want you to identify which one is your reason –Ī) You don’t do it because, for you, to take that money from that person would mean you would be a weak person, you would be a dishonourable person. And here’s three things you know for this thought experiment: He would say: imagine it’s late at night and you are on a lonely street and you see a little old lady coming, walking along with a big purse filled with jewels and money. Here’s what he would do with his students: he would give them a thought experiment. ![]() There is a professor at a major American university – a professor of history – that had, I think, a very effective way of helping his students see how Western society had developed over the years. Salt is only helpful to the meat if it’s not like the meat, if it’s itself.įirst, Christianity has been massively ‘salt’ in our society already and it still is operating today. So, I’d like to unpack that a little bit and look at how Christians have been ‘salt’ in a massive way in Western society, how they still can be salt, but only if they stay themselves. But only if Christians remain ‘salt’, which is different from the rest of the culture. And in every society that means Jesus says: my disciples should be bringing out the best in that particular culture and preventing its worse tendencies as well. That doesn’t mean ‘the ground’, it means the world, society. The metaphor Jesus is using is to say to his disciples that the Christians should be dispersed in the societies of the world. If it’s not different chemically from the meat, then it’s of no use at all. ![]() But only if the salt is salt, that is, only if it’s chemically different from the meat. But on the other hand, it’s a preservative – it keeps it from decaying. On the one hand it’s savoury – it brings out the taste, the best in the meat. Now Jesus was using a metaphor – salt – and when salt is dispersed into meat it is both savoury and preservative. 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). The subject is: What can Christianity offer our society in the 21 st century? And I’d like to answer that question from the last verse that was just read to you out of that famous passage: “You are the salt of the earth. I’m glad to be addressing you on this subject. Isaac Watts has a hymn in which he talks about peculiar honours – this does feel peculiar for me – as an American talking to you about this subject, but it is an honour.
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