Freak out and give in
Doesn’t matter what you believe in
Stay cool
And be somebody’s fool this year
‘Cause they know
Who is righteous, what is bold
So I’m told

Who wants honey?
As long as there’s some money
Who wants that honey?

Oh-oh, oh-oh
Hipsters unite
Come align for the big fight to rock (For you)
But beware
All those angels with their wings glued on
‘Cause deep down
They are frightened and they’re scared
If you don’t stare

Who wants honey?
As long as there’s some money
Who wants that honey?

Let me out

Tell me all of your secrets
Cannot help but believe this is true
Tell me all of your secrets
I know, I know, I know
Should have listened when I was told

Who wants that honey?
As long as there’s some money
Who wants that honey?

Let me out
–Smashing Pumpkins, “Cherub Rock”–

—

¹³ You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt loses its flavor, how shall it be seasoned? It is then good for nothing but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot by men. ¹⁴ You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden. ¹⁵ Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. ¹⁶ Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.
–Matthew 5:13-16 (NKJV)–

Come out from among them
And be separate, says the Lord.
Do not touch what is unclean,
And I will receive you.
–2 Corinthians 6:17 (NKJV)–

Adulterers and adulteresses! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Whoever therefore wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.
–James 4:4 (NKJV)–

I look upon all the world as my parish; thus far I mean, that, in whatever part of it I am, I judge it meet, right, and my bounden duty to declare unto all that are willing to hear, the glad tidings of salvation.
–John Wesley–

—

Christ had lately called his disciples, and told them that they should be fishers of men; here he tells them further what he designed them to be–the salt of the earth, and lights of the world, that they might be indeed what it was expected they should be.

I. Ye are the salt of the earth. This would encourage and support them under their sufferings, that, though they should be treated with contempt, yet they should really be blessings to the world, and the more so for their suffering thus. The prophets, who went before them, were the salt of the land of Canaan; but the apostles were the salt of the whole earth, for they must go into all the world to preach the gospel. It was a discouragement to them that they were so few and so weak. What could they do in so large a province as the whole earth? Nothing, if they were to work by force of arms and dint of sword; but, being to work silent as salt, one handful of that salt would diffuse its savour far and wide; would go a great way, and work insensibly and irresistibly as leaven, Matthew 13:33. The doctrine of the gospel is as salt; it is penetrating, quick, and powerful (Hebrews 4:12); it reaches the heart Acts 2:37. It is cleansing, it is relishing, and preserves from putrefaction. We read of the savour of the knowledge of Christ (2 Corinthians 2:14); for all other learning is insipid without that. An everlasting covenant is called a covenant of salt (Numbers 18:19); and the gospel is an everlasting gospel. Salt was required in all the sacrifices (Leviticus 2:13), in Ezekiel’s mystical temple, Ezekiel 43:24. Now Christ’s disciples having themselves learned the doctrine of the gospel, and being employed to teach it to others, were as salt. Note, Christians, and especially ministers, are the salt of the earth.

1. If they be as they should be they are as good salt, white, and small, and broken into many grains, but very useful and necessary. Pliny says, Sine sale, vita humana non potest degere–Without salt human life cannot be sustained. See in this, (1.) What they are to be in themselves–seasoned with the gospel, with the salt of grace; thoughts and affections, words and actions, all seasoned with grace, Colossians 4:6. Have salt in yourselves, else you cannot diffuse it among others, Mark 9:50. (2.) What they are to be to others; they must not only be good but do good, must insinuate themselves into the minds of the people, not to serve any secular interest of their own, but that they might transform them into the taste and relish of the gospel. (3.) What great blessings they are to the world. Mankind, lying in ignorance and wickedness, were a vast heap of unsavoury stuff, ready to putrefy; but Christ sent forth his disciples, by their lives and doctrines, to season it with knowledge and grace, and so to render it acceptable to God, to the angels, and to all that relish divine things. (4.) How they must expect to be disposed of. They must not be laid on a heap, must not continue always together at Jerusalem, but must be scattered as salt upon the meat, here a grain and there a grain; as the Levites were dispersed in Israel, that, wherever they live, they may communicate their savour. Some have observed, that whereas it is foolishly called an ill omen to have the salt fall towards us, it is really an ill omen to have the salt fall from us.

2. If they be not, they are as salt that has lost its savour. If you, who should season others, are yourselves unsavoury, void of spiritual life, relish, and vigour; if a Christian be so, especially if a minister be so, his condition is very sad; for, (1.) He is irrecoverable: Wherewith shall it be salted? Salt is a remedy for unsavoury meat, but there is no remedy for unsavoury salt. Christianity will give a man a relish; but if a man can take up and continue the profession of it, and yet remain flat and foolish, and graceless and insipid, no other doctrine, no other means, can be applied, to make him savoury. If Christianity do not do it, nothing will. (2.) He is unprofitable: It is thenceforth good for nothing; what use can it be put to, in which it will not do more hurt than good? As a man without reason, so is a Christian without grace. A wicked man is the worst of creatures; a wicked Christian is the worst of men; and a wicked minister is the worst of Christians. (3.) He is doomed to ruin and rejection; He shall be cast out–expelled the church and the communion of the faithful, to which he is a blot and a burden; and he shall be trodden under foot of men. Let God be glorified in the shame and rejection of those by whom he has been reproached, and who have made themselves fit for nothing but to be trampled upon.

—MATTHEW HENRY COMMENTARY—

—

Arthur Gish, Beyond the Rat Race (Herald Press, 1973).

Dr. John R. Rice, The Unequal Yoke (Sword of the Lord Publishers, 1946).

—. The Evangelist (Sword of the Lord Publishers, 1968).

Richard Steele, The Religious Tradesman (Sprinkle Publications, 1989).

Viola Walden, John R. Rice: The Captain of Our Team (Sword of the Lord, 2000).

Billy Graham, A Biblical Standard for Evangelists (World Wide Publications, 1984).

Ernest Pickering, Biblical Separation (Regular Baptist Press, 1979).

J. C. Ryle, Separation from the World (Waymark Books, 2012).

Watchman Nee, Separation from the World (Living Stream Ministry, 1993).

Mark Sidwell, Set Apart (BJU Press, 2016).

EEOC, “Religious Discrimination.”