You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt has become tasteless, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled under foot by men.
– Matthew 5:13
Nearly everyone is familiar with the effect salt has when it is added to food. You can taste the difference. Put some ketchup on food and take a bite. If it is “no salt added” ketchup, you will know as soon as it reaches your tongue. (And unless you are on a diet with extreme salt limitations, you will probably toss the bottle of ketchup.) One of the interesting aspects of salt’s presence in food is that you don’t have to see it to know it is present—or if it is absent.
That’s the thing about salt. Seeing it is not what is important, but rather experiencing its effect. If I see a side of meat hanging unrefrigerated in the open air, I will know that salt is present if the meat is well-preserved. In centuries past, this was one of the crucial purposes of salt. In our modern era we have refrigeration everywhere. We can even ship refrigerated items in insulated cardboard boxes. For people in Jesus’ day, they needed a different means to preserve food. Salt was the answer. As such, salt provided a great illustration for Jesus to teach about the influence of his followers.
The thing that makes salt valuable is its “saltiness,” its ability to do what salt does. Imagine for a moment that salt can talk (play along with me here). A measure of salt says to Jesus, “I am salt!” After a quick analysis, Jesus replies, “Maybe so, but you aren’t salty.” The measure stands firm: “I AM SALT!” Unimpressed, Jesus says, “You’re missing the point. Your saltiness is absent. You don’t do what salt is supposed to do. What good is it that you claim to be salt?” Okay, enough of the little game. Do you see the point? Of salt that has lost its ability to be salty, Jesus says it is “no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled under foot by men.” The thing that matters about salt is not what the label says, but what it is able to do. Same thing with Christians.
What is our world like without the “saltiness” of Christians? To some degree, I think we can already see the answer. Many years ago I had a church member say to me that, in his opinion, politics was not a good venture for Christians. I understand the point he was making, and do not disagree with it. The world of politics has a high capacity to corrupt people. However, consider what our political world would be like if it were completely void of people who bring Christian ethics with them. We could say this about any other realm in our society, whether it is sports and entertainment, business, education, or anything else. Our world desperately needs the “saltiness” of Jesus-followers.
If we are followers of Jesus, born of His Spirit, there is nothing wrong with claiming the name “Christian.” With that said, we are reminded that Jesus calls his disciples the “salt of the earth.” If we have lost our “Christian saltiness,” what we call ourselves amounts to nothing.
See you along the Winding Path.
The Winding Path 