Daily Devotion

“The greatest danger to the church has never come from external persecution and opposition, but from internal secularization and spiritual apathy. When Christians begin to crave worldly comforts and imitate worldly patterns, losing their witness of self-denial, holiness, and bearing the cross, the church loses its salty flavor and becomes nothing more than an empty shell.”

Andrew Gih · Preaching and Revival

Scripture

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.”

Reflection

Pastor Ji Zhiwen's warnings and the teachings of Jesus Christ serve as a mirror, pointing directly to the comfort in our hearts. Secularization rarely collapses overnight; rather, it is the gradual cooling of spirituality through the pursuit of comfort and compromise with the world. When the church or we as individuals lose our witness of holiness, self-sacrifice, and bearing the cross, no matter how respectable our outward appearance, we are nothing more than "salt that has lost its preservative and seasoning properties." Without separating ourselves from the world, we cannot bring change in the darkness.