Garry continued preaching about the topic of growth as he continued his study on 2 Peter 1:8-9 TNIV. Peter urges us to add various qualities to our faith and reminds us that if we possess these qualities in increasing measure, we will not be ineffective. Growth may seem painfully slow to us and is at times difficult to measure. We have been growing a chilli, far more slowly than the instructions indicated, but there are definite signs of growth here!
As we walk with God, growth will come, even if this is not as fast as we would like it to be! We often feel anaesthetised by the ordinary, but God wants us to have an effect on all around us; He wants us to be ‘out of the ordinary’, for we are called to be salt and light in our communities (Matt 5:13-16 TNIV). The Message version reminds us that we are here ‘to be the salt seasoning that brings out the God-flavours in the world’ and the light that shows the ‘God-colours in the world.’ There will always be avenues of service within the church, but God also wants us to realise that we have an area of effectiveness outside the building as well, for the salt needs to be shaken out of the salt-cellar to be effective and He wants our light to shine in the darkness.
Most of us view our working lives as ‘jobs’, but we need to understand that for Christians, every job is a vocation, for God has called us (see Matt 9:13 TNIV, Acts 2:39 TNIV.) God wants us to be headlights, not indicators. Indicators are intermittent, but a headlight shines brightly and consistently into the darkness. We are called to reflect His light in our ordinary, everyday lives, understanding that we are called to be different, not obnoxious! (More like salt than pepper, which can get ‘up your nose’!) Christians are called to be different, since we are marching to a different beat, but we are not contrary or obnoxious for the sake of it. Instead, we should be winsome (attractive or charming in a delightful way, showing a childlike joy which is pleasing to all in its freshness and honesty.) We need to remember that we are representatives of God, His ambassadors (2 Cor 5:18-20 TNIV), called to be His ‘movers and shakers’ (since God is the God who will shake all that can be shaken – see Hebrews 12:26-27 TNIV).