We’ve all heard it before—the owner of the ball wasn’t able to control the rules of the game so he’s going to quit playing. This is a common occurrence among children who haven’t learned yet that sometimes we can’t be completely in charge. As we mature we begin to realize that we seldom are in charge. But do we ever really get over the desire to control things? Do we ever grow out of the urge to quit and just go home? In his first epistle to the Corinthians, Paul said, "When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put childish ways behind me" (1 Cor. 13:11). That is the goal for all of us, but how well do we achieve the goal of maturity?
Maybe
we’re doing this the wrong way" and
"We’ve had voter registration drives with
pro-life literature in front of the courthouse for
the last two decades, and we now have exactly zero
people in office who are concerned with the sanctity
of life. Maybe this isn’t really our
calling." The statements all begin with the task
that the pro-life group has been doing faithfully for
years, and they all end with a phrase that sounds a
lot like "I’m going home and I’m
taking my ball with me."
than
if they are left unsalted. Salt will not make tainted
meat good, it simply lowers the rate of decay. If we
apply this principle to the analogy of Christians
being the salt of the earth, we see that our duty in
our society is to slow the rate of decaying
morals—to preserve the values that we hold dear.
We are to be the salt of the earth because Jesus said
that this is the proper thing to do. He also said,
" but if the salt have lost his savor, wherewith
shall it be salted? it is thenceforth good for
nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden under
foot of men." So if we are to continue to be
used by God, we must be prepared to be the salt of
the earth. We must be willing to slow the rate of
decay while not necessarily ending that decay. If we
decide to just quit, we are "good for nothing,
but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of
me." This is something we cannot control. If God
wants to reverse the decay, He will do so. Our job is
just to effect preservation. We are simply called to
do that which is right.