seperate rooms

what makes people think that Christians cannot be in the world? It rather explicitly says to be in the world in Scripture, yet we tend to overlook it.

Mosaic, a church in LA, has caught my attention over the last year. Mainly because I am drawn to the words of their pastor, Erwin McManus. McManus is an art lover in a town of artists, and teaches with stories and captivating speech. But that is not the point of this.

Mosaic entered a contest recently with Doritos. The Contest: to make a doritos commercial for airing during the Super Bowl. They are in the top 6 right now. The commercial does not say the name of the church, God, Jesus, or anything Christian, except it takes place at a church funeral. (you can go to http://www.voteforcasket.com/ to vote and read the story)

Many of you are probably thinking right now- well that seems dumb and a waste of resources for Christians. I say- wrong. McManus explained in a sermon that the reason for this commercial was because he and the church believed they could make one better than other people (isn't that why someone would enter a contest- to win!) Mosaic is a community built around pushing people not only to closer relationships with God, but also to discovering the unique talents God has gifted each of us with. McManus said that he hopes this commercial will inspire others toward creativity.

Here's the main point of all of this: Christ said 1) we are the salt of the earth. 2) To be in the world and not of it. I am taking a creative license for this illustration, but it makes a good point. Imagine the world as sugar. White, pure cane sugar. Imagine Christians as salt. White grains of salt. Now pour both into a big bowl and stir them up. Can you decipher which one is sugar and which is salt? No! You can if you look closely, and definitely if you taste it, but from just looking you will never seperate them.

So why do we try to with real life? We label things so we can easily navigate through life with minimal contact with the opposite view. Look at Christian music. We listen to Christian radio which will play music from musicians from Christian record labels. But what about the bands who are Christians, but don't sign with a Christian label, because they want to try to minister through their music to non-believers. What about the band Lifehouse? They are believers, and write worship music (Songs: Hanging By A Moment, Everything, Storm, just to name a few). But few Christian radio stations will play Lifehouse, because it is not on the Christian label. And Christians go through life without hearing these magnificent songs of cries to God.

Don't be salt in a salt jar. It does no good there. Be salt on food, mixed with other spices like sugar.