In what has often been referred to as “The Sermon on the Mount” recorded in Matthew chapters 5-7, Jesus told His disciples: “You are the salt of the earth” and “You are the light of the world” (Mt. 5:13,14).  As followers of Jesus Christ, we are to have a positive, preserving influence on the world around us as Christ, who is the “Light of the World” (Jn. 1:12), shines through us.  In order for that to happen, we can’t be “conformed to this world” but must be “transformed by the renewing of our mind” (through the cleansing of the Word of God…Jn. 15:3; Eph. 5:26) as we live out the will of God(Ro. 12:2).  

     Just as the first-century believers refused to be absorbed into the godless society of Rome, we too must refuse to be absorbed into the godless culture of our day that is in a moral and spiritual downward spiral. The early believers had obviously not heard the adage, “When in Rome, do as the Romans do.”  The Roman government decided in order to eliminate the influence this new “Christianity” was having on their culture, they would make it illegal to “not fit in!”  Sound familiar? “They made an attempt to stamp out Christianity as a disturber of pagan unity. All must bow to Caesar . All must conform to pagan custom. All must behave like true Romans. Nonconformists were threatened with death, and many chose death rather than conform to Rome and compromise their consciences” ( a quote from a sermon by Billy Graham, “Do not conform to the World,” in Decision, June 2023). 

     It was to these persecuted believers that Paul wrote his challenge in Rom. 12:2: “And do not be conformed to this world.”  The pagan world and secular governments are still attempting to bring Christians into conformity to their anti-Christian, unbiblical way of thinking and living. A believer, who refuses to conform, but continues to stand fast in his/her faith and live an obedient life, making God’s Word the final authority, is a constant rebuke to those who accept the moral standards of this world. 

     Unfortunately some believers and many churches think that it is more effective to make some compromises to fit in and be popular so as to not offend anyone and drive them away.  What a tragic mistake, for in doing so we cease to be “salt and light.”  We are never to be ashamed of the simple preaching of the Cross, and of the gospel, for it is still “the power of God unto salvation to all who believe” (Ro. 1:16).  Granted, to many–those who are perishing–it is “foolishness, but to us who are being saved, it is the power of God” (I Cor. 1:18).   When the Christian or the church becomes popular with the unbelieving world, there’s a problem!  You see, the world hates Jesus and He warned us, “If the world hates you, you know that it has hated Me before it hated you” (Jn. 15:18).  Although Christians may be shown a grudging respect at times, when we are walking faithfully obedient to His Word, we will most assuredly incur the wrath of the unbelieving world. .  Paul wrote: “And indeed, all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus, will be persecuted” (II Tim. 3:12). (Note that it says all,,,will be).

     One of Satan’s most effective strategies is conformity and compromise.  He knew that if we hid our “light” and kept the salt in the shaker, we would not influence anyone toward Christ. Knowing that, Jesus in His visit with the Father before going to the cross, prayed: “I do not ask Thee to take them out of the world, but to keep them from the evil one. They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. Sanctify them in the truth; Thy word is truth. As Thou didst send Me into the world, I also have sent them into the world” (Jn. 17:15-18).  And to the believers in Corinth who were struggling spiritually and tending to conform to the pagan culture, Paul challenged: “Come out from their midst and be separate…and do not touch what is unclean” (II Cor. 6:17, quoting Isa. 52:11).      

     The Gulf Stream is a strong ocean current that brings warm water from the Gulf of Mexico into the Atlantic Ocean, extending all the way up the eastern coast of the U.S. and Canada, where it meets the Labrador Current, deflecting it to the right toward western Europe through the “Coriolis” effect by which, if an object moves on the surface of the Earth, it always deflects to the right in the Northern hemisphere and to the left in the Southern Hemisphere because of the earth’s rotation.   The Gulf Stream influences the climate of the east coast of Florida, keeping temperatures there warmer in the winter and cooler in the summer than in the other southeastern states. The Gulf Stream, which is 62 miles wide and 2600 to 3900 feet deep, has an average temperature of 77 deg. F. in the spring and winter, 88 deg. in the summer and 82 in Autumn.  The current velocity is fastest at the surface at a maximum speed of 5.6 mph.  The inner edge comes within 10 miles of Miami and Ft. Lauderdale, Florida.  It warms western European countries as well. England, for example, is about the same distance from the equator as cold regions of Canada, yet due to the Gulf Stream, has a much warmer climate.  The Gulf Stream transports an amount of water greater than that carried by all the rivers in the world combined. 

      The Gulf Stream is in the ocean, but is not really part of it, yet has a major influence everywhere it goes.   (Hmm, sounds like what the life of a Christian should be like!).  We’ve known about the Gulf Stream for only a little more than 500 years. In 1513, Spanish explorer, Ponce de Leon, noted that there was a strong current that speeded up the sailing trip from Mexico to Spain.  In the late 18th Century, Benjamin Franklin became the first to chart out the path of the Gulf Stream on a map. Now satellites that collect information about sea surface temperatures can draw up the path of the warm Gulf Stream current with great precision.  Oh, wait, someone actually wrote about the “paths of the seas” during the 10th Century B.C.!  In Psalm chapter 8, King David wrote about the wonder of God’s creation and emphasized how man was made as the crown of all His creation and given authority to rule over all “the works of God’s Hands” including “all sheep and oxen, and also the beasts of the field, the birds of the heavens, and the fish of the sea, whatever passes through the paths of the seas” (vv. 5-8).   (NOTE:   There are other currents, or “paths in the seas,” besides the Gulf Stream. For example, the Kuroshio or Japan Current is some 62 miles wide, 1300 feet deep with an average temperature of 75 deg. F., and flows up the north Pacific Ocean basin.)  God’s Word is not a book of science per se, but anything it says connected to any area of science will be accurate and up-to-date. It is interesting how long it has taken man to discover the things God spoke of centuries or even millenia earlier in His revealed Word, the Bible–but a topic for another day!

      Suffice it to say, we as Christ’s Ambassadors (II Cor. 5:20), are to have a positive influence for His Kingdom and in order to do that, we must be, like the Gulf Stream, uncompromising as we live in the world without becoming part of it so that we can be the influence wherever we go.

Forever His,

Pastor Dave