Yeast Is Impotent By Itself
I read a quote on Facebook that prompted me to write this article. The author is a well known writer who has a tendency to be provocative in his teachings. This time, he gets it right and makes a good point.
He said that Christians need to be IN the world, even though they are to be separate FROM the world. If we are to have influence on anyone, it is only going to ha
ppen OUT in the world. He said that the leaven does not work while it is in the packet. That is true.
Years ago, my wife and I got a bread-maker oven. We followed many recepies and tried many different kinds of breads. A few times we forgot to put in the yeast, and the result was a disaster. If we had done it enough, we could have made a walkway in the back yard. Anyone who bakes can tell you the importance of the leaven. Somehow it mixes in with the bread dough and permeates it in such a way that the bread dough rises and gives bread the texture that so many people enjoy in their wheat products.
In many ways, the Christian is to become the leaven this world needs to turn around and serve God.
Christ talked about leven when He said to "beware the leven of the Sadducees". The reason being that their influence was not good, but harmful. Christians have the ability to be a good influence, but far too often the potential for good is left in the packet or jar. In other words, we are fantastic Christians when we go to church, but once we leave, we keep everything bottled up or in this case, left in the packet.
Anyone who bakes can tell you that the yeast inside the packet has potential, but the potential is not realized until it is released. The same goes for Christians. We all have potential, but we need to let it out and be exposed to others. It is like the salt of the earth we are supposed to be. A person who bakes knows that salt sprinkled around a dish of food is tastier than one without salt. But they also know if the salt is just piled up in one corner of the dish, the majority of the meal will be bland, and the corner with the salt will be inedible. We are not to keep the salt in the shaker or the box; rather it is to be sprinkled around. We as Christians have a duty to leave a little of ourselves around wherever we go. Our influence is supposed to permeate through our world and be a blessing for everyone.
The Bible also teaches us that just a little bit will do. It is not like we have to load up with piles of leaven to effect our community. A little leaven leaveneth the whole lump.
So what kind of leaven do we need to spread towards those who are lost? Borrowing from Colossians, chapter 3: 12-14, we take the qualities of the new man in Christ. Having a heart of compassion, then add some kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience. We are to bear with one another, and forgive one another, and to top it all off, we add love which is the perfect bond of unity. Love is also involved in the greatest and second greatest commands. Upon these two rest the whole of God's law. We must be willing to help people get to heaven, and we can become effective in spreading the truth and the love of Christ in our world.
By Carey Scott

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