FIT FOR
BATTLE
ARE CHILDREN PREPARED
TO BE SALT AND LIGHT?
“My children need to be salt and light.”
T
HIS IS BY FAR ONE OF THE MOST oft-given
reasons why Christian parents continue to send their
children to secular schools. They usually quote Jesus’
admonition in Matthew 5:13-14 where He declares, “YOU
are the salt of the earth. YOU are the light of the world”
(emphasis mine).
Parents use this verse to support their decision to
educate their children in secular programs. After all, this is
what Jesus commanded every Christian to be, right? With
this being said, the debate usually ends. So how should we
address the salt and light issue when it comes to educating
our children?
Whenever I have heard someone teach on how to
correctly interpret the Bible, they always begin by empha-
sizing the importance of context. Peter wrote that no
portion of Scripture is open to private interpretation. We
must view any portion of God’s Word in light of what other
portions of the Bible say about it. Context is extremely
important.
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Let’s look at the context of these words from our Lord.
Matthew wrote that Jesus was going all over Galilee, teach-
ing in their synagogues, preaching the good news of the
kingdom, and healing every disease and sickness among
the people. This resulted in large crowds following Him
from Galilee, Decapolis, Jerusalem, Judea, and beyond the
Jordan. With this backdrop, the writer opens up chapter
five by telling us when Jesus saw the crowds, He withdrew
and went up on a mountain.
We also know from other similar occurrences, whenever
Jesus saw large crowds, He looked on them with compas-
sion. One gospel writer stated that Jesus saw the masses
as sheep wandering about without a shepherd. They were
lost and had no hope.
On this occasion, a group of people saw Him withdraw
to a hillside, and they went to Him. This is an important
point because when this group came to Jesus, He sat down
and began teaching them. It is to this group of people that
He told them they were to be the salt and light of the world.