“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
These words were spoken by Jesus to his followers, and they still matter today. Question is: what does it mean to be the salt of the earth? At the time this was spoken, salt would have had many uses, and this crowd would have known all of them.
As far as cooking goes, salt is a flavor enhancer. Unlike many spices, though it does have its own salty flavor, its purpose is not to compete with other spices but to enrich them. Added to nearly every recipe makes it become almost an activator for other ingredients. Even in the world of sweets, adding a pinch of salt allows other flavors to stand out more and come together, making the taste stronger as a whole.
Additionally, salt had other common purposes that would have been immediately understood when he spoke this to the crowd. One use would be to cure and preserve foods that otherwise would have ruined before they had a chance to eat them. In a time without fridges or freezers, salt gave many foods a longer shelf life.
Salt also was used to prevent infections in wounds and even soothe burns and stings. Not a pleasant experience but necessary if the patient should wish to keep his or her limb and, in more dire cases, their life. While I’m sure we could go down the list of many other household uses, the point this message that could be lost on us culturally is that salt was universally recognized not just as good and helpful but as absolutely necessary for many everyday uses, including life and death.
With that understanding, being the salt of the earth means you are necessary. You must realize now that going forward if you follow Jesus, your function should enhance, unite, preserve, prevent, and even help refine both the body of Christ and all those who come in contact with it. Because of Jesus and for Jesus. It meant that these functions should be found in us at all times, for they cannot be found elsewhere on the earth. While there can be other things that could pose as one of these functions, or at least closely imitate it, no other substance can fully take its place in all scenarios. What’s more, if these qualities are not found in us, what good is this? What do we have to offer the world? We couldn’t possibly be more like the world than the world is. So, who else would fill this role? In other words, as servants of Christ, we must be worth our salt.
“I, therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner of the calling in which you have been called.”
Ephesians 4:1
When Andrew and I were newlyweds, I was a junior in college and he was in his last year. We were still very much involved in on-campus bible studies, fellowships, and worship nights, however in our new season of life, we found ourselves both missing and desiring the discipleship of having other married couples around us. It was for this reason we found ourselves venturing a little further from campus one Sunday morning to a new church and young marrieds class.
Everyone wonders if they’ll fit in or rather, worries they’ll stick out like a sore thumb when visiting—we actually did. I was freshly 21 and he 22, sitting in a room full of young to mid-30s with kids. From my point of view currently, this doesn’t seem all that far of a gap, but to a 21-year-old junior, it was vast. Especially when the get-to-know-you questions revolve around what you do for a living and where you live. I think they must have felt it too, because one of the more outspoken members encouraged us to stick around because at their fellowships, they had alcohol.
I’m fairly certain I audibly chuckled. We had just driven from LSU’s campus. If we were looking for a party, we’d have found one, and we wouldn’t have looked there. What we were looking for were people who had walked before us and could offer wisdom on our new stage of life. Yes, we recognized the difference between us, but we weren't hoping to bridge that; we were just looking for acceptance and discipleship. We were looking for salt.
I’m not coming down on anyone—I’m guilty of it too. Who isn’t? It seems so natural to try and look like the world. And who wants to seem irrelevant? I totally get the draw to do this. I am now a young 30s with kids often tempted to appeal to the world by appearing like I can hang with it. But you know what? I can’t.
I prefer to be in my bed, TV off with book in hand by 8pm. I’m dancing in the minivan to Raffi at the stoplight because it’s fun to my kids regardless of how it looks to passersby. I have no idea what’s cool, what the new slang is, and I’m 100% certain the beginnings of my new quilt collection do not make me relevant. This also doesn't mean I have nothing to teach those coming behind me. My goal cannot be to look like or appear as those younger than me but to model for them how to walk in a manner that is worthy of our calling. Anything else they will see right through.
I am not saying aging, discipleship, or witnessing has to look a certain way. That personalities or interests as Christians should be a certain checklist. In fact, we're going to talk more about this in the next blog post. I’m also not saying that we should ever become stuck in our ways and cease being all things to all people so that some may be saved. The key here is in our motivation. I think often times our choices can be made not to appeal to a lost world for the sake of the gospel, but to gain its approval. However, we don’t need to gain one’s approval to nourish them with the bread of life. In fact, God's word would say these two motivations are in complete opposition. Question is: which is our goal?
"For am I now seeking the approval of man, or of God? Or am I trying to please man? If I were still trying to please man, I would not be a servant of Christ."
Galatians 1:10
May we always serve man out of our reverence to Christ, but may we never make man's approval our measure. No matter what the world sees initially when they look at us, they should find the effects of being the salt of the earth. Enhancing, preserving, and strengthening the message of God’s good news to a world that has no need for more of itself but desperately needs salt.
“For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.”
Ephesians 2:10
Whatever our likes and dislikes, whatever our age, interests, or personalities, let's be sure our substance is never compromised. Let’s stop looking to the world for how we should be and start modeling the salt of the earth for the world to see by looking to the Spirit. Let’s stop trying to be so relatable and instead focus on being worth our salt, set on walking in the good works God prepared for us long ago. After all, what could be more relevant than the gospel to a dying world?
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