Kingdom Confusion, Part 2: Kingdom Posture/Salt & Light
Welcome to the second week of our series Kingdom Confusion. This week, Pastor Pete Stearns discusses what it looks like to live in a kingdom posture.
1.Read Matthew 5:13-16 together. Before you dive into the study questions, talk about the passage. What is your understanding or interpretation of what Jesus is saying here?
In the Primer Podcast, Pete says that a primary focus of this passage is Jesus calling us to be “salt” and “light” for others. In the next three questions, work out in your group what this looks like in your life.
2. In what ways are you living for others in your family?
3. How can your life reflect the salt and light of God’s love for your friends, co-workers, and acquaintances?
4. What does it look like for you to surrender your life to Jesus for the sake of the stranger, the outcast, or those who have different beliefs than you?
Similar to last week’s discussion of the Sadducees, Pharisee, and Essenes, Pete said that the following are ways we may “put our lamp under a bowl”:
• diluting the Kingdom of God by compromising our faith or submitting to the kingdoms of this world
• putting up walls, or removing ourselves from the world, to protect our faith
5. To which of these are you most prone? Which seems to be the most prevalent in our culture today? Can you give examples of each?
6. Discuss what it might look like to live in the balance between these two extremes.
In both the podcast and sermon, Pete talked discussed some negative effects that occurred when Emperor Constantine made Christianity the official religion of the Roman Empire in the 4th century and the “saltiness” of the Christian witness was diluted by the worldly powers of empire.
7. What lessons can we draw from this today? Discuss how can we avoid the pitfalls of “kingdom confusion” so that our lives can become instruments of redemption and restoration.
(*Video available after Sunday services)
