The city council

in Jackson, Mississippi, faced an embarrassing dilemma. The council president

and another councilman were arrested for making shady deals with a strip

club. The remaining council members convened a panel of area pastors and

civic leaders to discuss the moral problems that plagued the council and

the surrounding community.

"Whose

fault is all this?" demanded the lady moderating the panel.

At first, no

one responded. I know what I'd have said: "What a ridiculous question!

Laws are clear. Morals are absolute. The council president trampled both.

If we're looking for somebody to blame, it's him. Him! "

Before anyone

aired such thoughts, however, John Perkins spoke up. John is a relatively

well-known Christian writer and speaker. He responded to the moderator,

"It's my fault."

All heads turned

his way.

"I've

lived in this community for decades as a Bible teacher. I should have

been able to create an environment where what our council president did

would have been unthinkable. You want someone to blame? I'll take the

blame. All of it."

Who's to blame?

If we see declining morals, diminishing integrity, and decreasing ethics,

whose fault is it?

Maybe we should

blame the liberals. Or the conservatives. Perhaps the political parties,

the ACLU, or social action committees.

How 'bout the

church? Maybe John Perkins was on to something. Gallup reports that 84

million Americans claim to have made a personal commitment to Jesus Christ

about one-third of our population. Yet, somehow, America ranks as one

of the most immoral societies in the history of the world.

Where are all

the Christians? Why aren't 84 million of us making a greater impact? Perhaps

it's time we Christians shoulder the responsibility Jesus mandated for

us: "You are the salt of the earth."

In Jesus' day

salt was primarily used as a preservative. The presence of Christians

in the world, Jesus taught, should prevent the world from going rotten

or rancid.

Or, stated

positively, the world should be more pure simply because Christians exist

in it. America should be more pure because 84 million Christians walk

it streets, turn on its television sets, attend its movies, and surf its

internet. Fayette County should be more pure because thousands of Christians

live in its neighborhoods, own its businesses, vote in its elections,

and attend and work in its schools.

So what's the

problem?

Jesus went

on to explain, "If salt loses its saltinessit is no longer good for

anything." Chemists explain that salt is a stable compound it's impossible

for salt to "lose its saltiness." However the salt used in Palestine

of Jesus' day was drawn from the Dead Sea. Sometimes this salt became

so full of impurities that it actually lost its ability to preserve meat.

Hmm. Salt full

of impurity loses its effectiveness. Perhaps our problem is that 84 million

professing Christians doesn't equal 84 million practicing Christians.

Imagine if

every professing believer lived as Jesus taught. Imagine if one-third

of the American population practiced the morals, integrity, honesty, and

purity exemplified and commanded by Jesus. What would the impact be? Well,

it would be likesalt.

John Stott,

one of the great Christian minds of the last century, preached, "If

meat goes bad, there is no sense in blaming the meat. That is what happens

when the bacteria are allowed to breed unchecked. The question to ask

is, 'Where is the salt?' If society becomes corrupt, there's no sense

in blaming society. That's what happens when fallen human society is left

to itself and human evil is unrestrained and unchecked. The question to

ask is 'Where is the church?'"

Daniel Overdorf

is the Sr. Minister of Fayetteville Christian Church, located at New Hope

and Hickory Roads in Fayetteville. He may be heard each Sunday at 10:30

a.m. as a part of the church's weekly worship. Daniel may be contacted

at the church office770-461-8763, or at [email protected]

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