Salt and Light
By Jessica Greer
For the last 25 years, the Bullseye has served as a church newsletter defending the hope of God’s plan through the family.
The paradox of the nuclear family mirrors that of the church in that each individual in Christ makes up a whole. The essence of this ministry has maintained God’s Word at the center for over two decades, even as the turn of the century erupted into moral chaos.
The heritage of the Bullseye is one of Salt and Light – and this became all the more counterculture during one of America’s most notorious eras of moral decline.
This has not been due to “good” religion, “right” politics, or familial Christian influencers. The only explanation is that Christian fathers, mothers, and their children have given testimony to the workings of God in their lives through His Word, His ways, and His Spirit.
This has been the aim of the Bullseye: to give many Christian writers, artists, and poets an additional platform through which to be Salt and Light.
As Jesus told His disciples in Matthew 5:13, “You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot.”
America’s rare Judeo-Christian roots established Freedom of Religion as a right in the First Amendment. The continuously debated misinterpretation of “Separation of Church and State” continues to intimidate Christians into limbo when they should be standing firm in that right.
The question becomes: To what extent may Christians impact their world with their influence? How do we exercise our right to religious freedom without intruding on other universal rights?
Jesus’ example of Salt is perhaps the age old metaphorical answer. Salt offers multiple benefits. Salt preserves; salt gives flavor; salt can even clean and heal wounds, when properly applied.
According to Barnes’ Notes, “Salt renders food pleasant and palatable, and preserves from putrefaction. So, Christians, by their lives and instruction, are to keep the world from entire moral corruption.”
In Matthew 5:14-16 Jesus continues, “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead, they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.”
Barnes Notes comments here that “all Christians are lights of the world because they, by their instructions and example, show what God requires, what is the condition of man, what is the way of duty, peace, and happiness – the way that leads to heaven.”
The very nature of a healthy Christian is counteractive to darkness and decay.
Colossians 4:6 encourages us to “let your speech be always with grace, seasoned with salt.” Just as salt is meant to be spread over food; sprinkled across the plate… so Christians are to influence the world in every capacity.
It just so happens that in this great country, our entire system of government is based on these very ideals. Christians do not merely have the right to worship in their churches or to practice their beliefs in private. On the contrary: Christians have the freedom to exercise their faith in the public sphere; to lead, to produce, and to do good works according to God’s will before the world.
This truth has become all the more important as worldly power structures take on a new shape. The culture wars of postmodernism are ceasing; the backward and upside-down lies of wokism are collapsing, and the truth is being revealed daily on a mass scale.
This has been an unprecedented turn of events within the last 100 years. While DOGE uncovers millions to billions of dollars of government corruption, the scales continue to fall from our eyes.
Conservative movements in the US and abroad are celebrating this victory with ongoing commentaries that ponder what comes next.
Intellectuals like Douglas Murray have unveiled prospective goals for the cultural shift, dubbing it the Era of Reconstruction. This comes in response to the postmodern deconstructionists who take apart the world with neither the rationale nor the common sense to put it back together.
While the excitement amongst many popular voices on the right may feel comforting for those of us who have proclaimed the counterculture message for the last 30 years, we must be aware that we, too, can be sucked up in this vacuum of noise.
We may become complacent and release our foot from the gas, resting assured that moral truth is finally making a comeback.
Suddenly, the world doesn’t seem so dark or in need of such flavorful salt. The salt may lose its flavor.
Salt can be contaminated after excess exposure to humidity, rain, sun, and other elements. It can absorb the chemicals of other minerals, and this may cause it to become ineffective in its flavor.
Taking on the opinions of men, swallowing up worldliness, and losing our distinction as children of God’s kingdom will deem us good for nothing: flavorless Christians.
I would argue that now is the moment in which Salt and Light should fill every new open door.
Christians are not conservative/traditional/progressives. We have no desire to Reconstruct a broken world. Our desire is to bring a message of Redemption and Revival; to guide this world to the Reconciliation that has already been made available in Christ alone.
Over the past five years or so, numerous celebrities have been humbling themselves before Christ without any religious explanation. Lola Sheen (daughter of Charlie Sheen and Denise Richards) in an interview with CBN News told of calling upon Jesus without any religious understanding. She said, “I woke up the next day and looked up: How do you give your life to Jesus? because all I wanted to do was give Him my life.”
Her story is similar to that of Russell Brand, Jim Carrey, and many others who are running towards even the smallest flicker of Light in their dark corners.
The Bullseye is a Salt Shaker; a new medium for spreading the Good News of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Our goal is to give the Church another platform from which to put forth a biblical worldview.
We seek to challenge the deception in our culture, to glorify Christ through testimonies, and to share biblical wisdom and instruction that will help encourage godly families.
In an effort to continue that mandate in the midst of this changing cultural climate, it is a privilege for me to take over as the editor of the Bullseye.
The great challenge is to get the message to new audiences. This must include the efforts of many Christians who believe that God has given them a word to bring biblical realities to a freshly open generation.
Therefore we are calling all writers, thinkers, artists, and believers in Christ to join us in an effort to light up various avenues to deliver this news. Whether via social media or other technological platforms, delivering the message of hope to multiple audiences will take strategy.
Much of people’s lives are now lived out on various online platforms that serve a hundred different purposes. It is with technological nuance in mind that we are now approaching our delivery of articles. The essence of the Bullseye does not change; this is not a rebranding of our message.
This is expansion into new territory to include a broader audience and take dominion across multiple
media to reap the harvest – which I believe is supernaturally ripe.
We all have our politics and our opinions, but one continual theme from news cycle to news cycle throughout the last election was that while Americans are uncertain about the future of the democracy, they know that America has been on the wrong path for far too long.
Voters understood that it was time to change course. There was a refreshing humility in the acknowledgement that we are, in fact, a lost nation.
Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth and the life. No man comes to the Father but by Me” (John 14:6). We don’t just need another way – we need The Way.
No policy, podcaster, or conservative intellectual could replace the discernment and message of the ordinary Christian in leading individuals in this country toward The Way.
We have all heard the worldly mantra of victimhood, Hurt people hurt people. Well, I believe that Free people free people!
The Bullseye remains committed to reflecting God’s truth in our real world, inviting believers to partner with us as we continue to obey the Lord and be that Salt and Light that He still calls us to be.
We extend our humble thanks to the entire Bullseye team for their obedience to God’s direction and for their faithful contributions of inspired content to this family publication over its first 25 years.
May the Holy Spirit continue to inspire us and may God’s Word continue to be our compass as we move forward and shine the Light of Jesus into a dark world.