The Rev Dr Gerry Gallimore on Tuesday night told Christians attending the 49th annual Kingston Keswick convention "you are the salt of Kingston".

Drawing from St Matthew 5:1-16, Gallimore, who is a former national president of the para-church organisation, Jamaica Youth for Christ, told worshippers assembled at the 49th annual Keswick Convention held at Boulevard Baptist Church in St Andrew that they must be active in curbing the moral and spiritual decay on the island.

Bringing change to society

He said that in much the same way salt was used as a preservative for meat, so, too, should Christians curb the rate of moral and spiritual decay.

Christians, he said, are more accountable to God for the moral and spiritual climate of the nation than successive governments.

"So, when you are tempted to blame the prime minister, remember you are the salt of the Earth," he stated.

Addressing the conference theme 'You Can Change the City', Gallimore, a former deacon at Bethel Baptist Church in St Andrew, observed that salt when added to food often brings about a pleasant taste.

In the same way, he said Christians by their lifestyle and witness ought "to make society more palatable", and stressed, "Christians are not the sugar of the Earth, but the salt." He lamented that many Christians want to function as sugar, i.e. they do not want to "rock the boat", and do not want to become unpopular.

The preacher challenged the Christians present to lead the way in exposing corruption and taking risks to positively transform the country.

If Christians are faithful in that regard, he explained, then people will develop a strong desire to have a meaningful relationship with God. Salt when applied to food will often create a thirst, he said.

Similarly, if Christians go where they are needed most then that will serve to evoke among people a desire to know God for themselves, he said.

Gallimore, who is widely regarded locally as an elder statesman of the Jamaican Church, was a founding member and chairman of both the National Prayer Breakfast and the regional conferences known as the Congress for the Evangelisation of the Caribbean (CONECAR).

In addition, he has been chairman of both the 1973 and 1980 national evangelistic crusades, which were conducted in partnership with the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association. His is a voice that has earned much respect in the corridors of power in the 1970s and 1980s.

righteousness nation

Beginning in 1969, he served as national director of Jamaica Youth for Christ. Then, in 1984, he became Youth for Christ area director for the Americas.

In 1990, he was promoted to the post of president and CEO of Youth for Christ International. At the end of his presidency at Youth for Christ International, Gallimore and wife Sonia moved to South Florida and became senior pastor of Metropolitan Baptist Church until his retirement in 2006.

The clergyman also challenged the congregation to function as lights to illumine the paths that society should take to become a righteousness nation.

Lights in darkness

He said: "We often blame the darkness. We bemoan the darkness. The darkness cannot put out the light. Only light can put out darkness. We have made the darkness more powerful than the light."

Churches, he said must be like a city on a hill for in that way "people will see you even if you can't see them".

As salt, he said, Christians must curb societal rot, and as light, they must point the way the country should go. But Christians, he stressed, must also be keen to preserve that which is good and honourable in the society.

In closing, Gallimore pleaded with the congregation to become more involved in social gospel activities such as ministering to the hurting and dispossessed in the country.

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