[Matt 5:13-16]
13
"You are the salt of the earth. 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 by men. 14 "You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden.
15 Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house.
16 In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.
I feel that
churches today do not teach enough on this particular teaching. As a result,
most believers are church-based Christians with little impact in the world they
live in. As a Christian leader who is also working full time in the
marketplace, I witness this first hand!
This can
also be due to a lack of understanding about the Kingdom of God.
The Kingdom of God comes to where the principles of
God (righteousness and justice) are practiced. So often, they are confined to
the church environment.
If we truly
obey Jesus teachings to be Salt & Light in the world, we need to understand
that the Kingdom of God encompasses the entire Universe. We need to start
bringing the Kingdom of God to wherever we are – in our homes, universities,
workplaces, society…… The wisdom of how to do it would be taught through the local
churches [Eph. 3:10].
I believe
that if we persistently and conscientiously advance God’s Kingdom wherever we
are, God will grant us His favour and help.
1) My boss
introduces me to everyone as an engineer and a pastor
2) The company
was awarded Caring Company for providing free service to a Charity which
employs the “disabled”.
3) I am the
Chairman of the company’s Sports & Social Club which runs a number of
interest groups including Putonghua, photography, cake-making, sports, picnics,
Bible study, prayers. This helped to transform the image & atmosphere of
the company and the spirit of the staff.
4) We hold
monthly birthday celebration for birthday staff. The cakes are made by members
of the Cake-making Interest Group. This helps to promote love & care in the
company.
5) For our
company brochure, I helped to draft the Company Philosophy (Vision) Statement
as follows: “
{Company Name} always aspire to excellence. We
value and practice teamwork in all our projects, encouraging and promoting team
spirit in our own staff and in our business associates and clients. We believe
in the creation of optimized, context-responsive, tailor-made services through
clear communication on Day 1.
D for Dedication
We remain dedicated in all our
commissions, both during the consultancy and
any post consultancyservices required, giving peace of mind to our clients.
R for Reliability
We understand the importance of
reliability in the delivery of our services in terms of both quality and programme, and we aim to meet such
expectations from our clients.
E for
Excellence
We cultivate excellence in our staff
through continuous professional development (CPD), equippingthem in state-of-the art technical knowledge and good project management techniques in our services.
A for Authenticity
We appreciate the need to be genuine
in our relationship with our business associates and clients. We firmly believe that honesty is the
best policy.
M for
Market-leader
We aspire to become a market leader
in our fields of services and we shall continue to develop ourcompanies to achieve this goal, delivering excellent services to our clients and business associates
and a sense of pride in our staff.
If we want
to see God’s Kingdom on earth, may be all Christ followers need to have a paradigm
shift in our mindset and start engaging the world as Salt and Light Christians
on a 24/7 basis besides praying “may Your Kingdom come”!
This is my prayer – “Teach
me, O LORD, to follow your decrees; then I will keep them to the end. Give me
understanding, and I will keep your law and obey it with all my heart. Direct
me in the path of your commands, for there I find delight. Turn my heart toward
your statutes and not toward selfish gain. Turn my eyes away from worthless
things; preserve my life according to your word. Fulfill your promise to your
servant, so that you may be feared. Take away the disgrace I dread, for your
laws are good. How I long for your precepts! Preserve my life in your
righteousness.” [Ps 119:33-40 NIV]
Do not do a Jonah, although we are in an
environment that is hostile to the Gospel. Let us cooperate with God and He
will help us. No one can run away from God’s calling any way! “The word of the LORD came to Jonah……"Go to the great
city of Nineveh and preach against it, because its wickedness has come up before
me." But Jonah ran away from the LORD and headed for Tarshish…..Then the
LORD sent a great wind on the sea…..they took Jonah and threw him overboard,
and the raging sea grew calm……the LORD provided a great fish to swallow Jonah,
and Jonah was inside the fish three days and three nights. [Jonah 1:1-5,11-17 NIV]
The wisdom of God tells us that “Like snow in summer
or rain in harvest, honor is not fitting for a fool. Like cutting off one's
feet or drinking violence is the sending of a message by the hand of a fool. Like
a lame man's legs that hang limp is a proverb in the mouth of a fool. Like
tying a stone in a sling is the giving of honor to a fool. Like a thornbush in
a drunkard's hand is a proverb in the mouth of a fool. Like an archer who
wounds at random is he who hires a fool or any passer-by.” [Prov 26:1-2 NIV]
