Salt of the Earth

“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. “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden; nor does anyone light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven.

What this piece of Scripture is telling us is that we need to discover the lost radiance of the Christian faith.

We have various pieces of our individual lives that we use or sometimes abuse over long periods of time. They are in constant use, and most have been for many years.

For some of these pieces of our lives, we eventually begin to lose interest in them. We have worn them out – or they have worn us out.

They have become less exciting – commonplace -  and we are ready to toss them aside.

Oliver Wendell Holmes once wrote:

“I might have entered the ministry if certain clergymen I knew had not looked and acted so much like undertakers.”

An author from long ago – Robert Louis Stevenson once wrote:

“I have been to church today, and I am not depressed.”

Now, let me tell you, I believe that is a sad statement – a sad commentary on the atmosphere that exists in some churches today as it was in the days when Stevenson lived.

These thing – or attitudes – happen because of a lack of radiance, or a lack of seasoning in the life of some Christians even today. There is a lack of worth and usefulness. There is an abundance of “going through the motions” of life in the church.

When, or if, we are just going through the motions, worship and fellowship with other Christians is an action of “just going through the motions; doing what makes me look respectable in my community or among my acquaintances.

You have all heard the saying: “He (or she) is a good person.”

That is what many people strive to achieve – to be known as – and to be called “a good person”.

But being known as a “good person” does not mean he or she is on the way to Heaven or is even a Christian.

That saying indicates that solid worth and usefulness are truly statements that compliment the person that they are describing. That person is the “salt of the earth”.

But Jesus said that “if the salt has become flat and tasteless, it is no longer any good for anything”.

In the Greek and Roman world – the world that Jesus lived in as we see in Him in the Scriptures –  in that world at that time - salt was a highly valuable commodity.

When He referred to His disciples as “the salt of the earth” He meant that His followers should work to slow down moral decay and corruption in the world in which they lived.

Salt was used to preserve food, and as such for Christians – who are the “salt of the earth” we are meant to bring goodness, joy, and be a positive  influence on the world.

Salt was used for sealing sacred documents, and it was used in conducting religious rituals.

In the Old Testament in Leviticus 2:13 and in Numbers 18:19 we find mention of a “covenant of salt”, which represents a permanent, unbreakable bond between God and His people.

There were three special qualities connected to Salt in those days:

1.   Purity

2.   Preservative

3.   Flavor

It is a preserving and a purifying agent that is needed in this unwholesome world.

Try to imagine the world today without good, honest, decent people – those who are pure minded, earnest in their devotion to God, and unselfish in their dealings with other people

Let’s take a look at Purity in the world.

We think of something that is pure in a state of whiteness – the purest of all things.

That purity comes from the sun and the sea – and where did the sun and the sea originate – by the hand of God in His creation of the world.

As Christians, we are to be the salt of the earth, and in so being, we must be examples of Purity.

On the opposite side of that are the characteristics of the world – previously held high standards are lowered – those being – standards of honesty, diligence in work, conscientiousness, and all moral standards.

Christians must hold high the standard of purity –

in our speech     

in our conduct    

in our thoughts

Paul tells us in his letter to the church in Colossae – (4:6): “Let your speech be with grace, as though seasoned with salt, so that you will know how you should respond to each person.”

Now, all this would be easy to follow and accomplish if we could just completely withdraw from the world. – And people – groups of people have tried that – withdrawing from the world – to avoid being influenced by the practices approved of by the majority of people in the world.

So, while we cannot withdraw from the world to remain pure, we must guard our speech and our habits.

We cannot withdraw from this world. James gives us some guidance on this fact in his letter – James 1:27: “Pure and undefiled religion in the sight of our God and Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their distress  and to keep oneself unstained by the world.” NASB

We might include another thought there – the Church is here to preserve the world – not to annihilate it.

Now, what do preservatives do? They keep things fresh and free from corruption. The church, then, must have an antiseptic influence on areas of our lives, living as the salt of the earth.

Christians must be that cleansing antiseptic in daily living in this world – in any society or group of people we happen to find ourselves.

In this way we defeat corruption and make it possible for others to strive to attain a life pleasing to God.

So, Christians act as a preservative against the corruption of the world.

It was even considered “divine” by the Greeks, and the Romans considered it to be as valuable and necessary as the Sun is.

Our influence must be felt wherever we go in our daily living in whatever community we live and move in.

If we, as Christians in a non-Christian world, fail in that, there is no good reason for us to exist.

Jesus says to cast that person out to be trampled on by men.

Another way salt is valuable in our lives is that it provides FLAVOR.

When we eat certain foods we expect them to have a certain flavor that tastes good to our taste buds.

Food without flavor is tasteless, sometimes even sickening.

Christianity is to life what salt is to food – it provides flavor to our lives.

Often people connect Christianity with the opposite – or a lack of flavor.

They often connect the Christian life with that which takes the flavor out of life.

In a worried and depressed world, the Christian should – and must – be one who remains peaceful and full of the joy of life --- rather than becoming a prophet of doom.

We must be – in the world, and to the world – a scatterer of joy and of peace, and a promise.

It is vital that we who are Christians spreading the salt of the earth in our daily lives – making the world in which we live to be made pure by our following the teachings of Jesus and yielding to His Word.

To sum all of this up ---- Christians are purifiers - by becoming holy examples though our efforts to spread the good news of the Gospel.