“You are the salt of the earth, but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled under people’s feet.” – Matthew 5:13
In the ancient world, salt was incredibly precious. Indeed, it was so valuable that sometimes people were paid not with money but with salt (which is where our English word salary comes from). It gave flavor to food, much as it does today, but that wasn’t the reason salt was so precious. Salt was precious because it kept food from rotting in an age without refrigeration. It kept people fed and healthy long after meat had been butchered. However, salt could become impure and lose both it’s distinctive flavor and corruption-preventing properties. In that case it would simply be thrown away.
Jesus said that His followers are to be the salt of the earth. We must have a distinct flavor that’s different from everyone else. That distinct flavor is supposed to be our love for each other (see John 13:34-35). If we fail to have that flavor, we aren’t good for much.
More than that, we’re called to bless and preserve culture, working against rot and decay. Again, if we aren’t doing that, we aren’t good for much. If you look around, you should notice that our culture is decaying. Moral corruption, the celebration of sin, the triumph of greed, and complete spiritual rot and ruin are very far along. You’re the salt of the earth, what are you doing to prevent that and bring restoration?
Being the salt of the earth doesn’t look like retreating from the culture behind the fortified walls of the church. Being the salt of the earth doesn’t look like surrendering to the culture and celebrating what our culture celebrates. It doesn’t look like celebrating people “living their truth” when that’s an outright lie. It doesn’t look like leaving people to “you do you”. It also doesn’t look like grasping for earthly power or loudly and angrily condemning those who disagree with us.
Being the salt of the earth looks like being Jesus in our dark and dying culture. It looks like walking in His character while sharing the truth of Scripture directly and lovingly as He did. It looks like being willing to suffer and be humiliated to go where those far from God are with both a loving embrace and the guidance to “Sin no more”. It looks like getting off the church property and getting involved in the problems that are tearing our society apart – issues like abortion, poverty, homelessness, racism, human trafficking, and sexual immorality. It looks like sharing the hope of Christ with people who are desperately seeking hope in every substance, experience, or fad they see.
We are the salt of the earth. You are the salt of the earth. How do you taste?
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