Today's Daily Lesson comes from Matthew chapter 5 verses 11 through 13:
11 ‘Blessed are you when people revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. 12Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you. 13 ‘You are the salt of the earth; but if salt has lost its taste, how can its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything, but is thrown out and trampled under foot.
Jesus spoke to his followers assuming they would find trouble for following him. He took it as a given that they would be reviled and maligned for what they and He stood for. He said they would receive the prophet's reward -- trouble, good trouble.
William Sloane Coffin said we speak of the "priesthood of all believers", but need to rediscover the "prophethood of all believers". Priests get invited over for dinner; prophets get cut out of their parents' will.
Phil Strickland, the head of the Baptist General Convention of Texas' Christian Life Commission when it had a prophetic spine, once said we Christians too often leave salt in the saltshaker.
The world needs a little of our prophetic salt right now -- and pepper too.
Let's don't be too timid about using them.
Ryon Price is Senior Pastor of Broadway Baptist Church in Fort Worth, Texas.
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