Confident enough to be different. Strong enough to stand.
Oh, taste and see – the Lord in me is good!
Focus of the Month: “You have heard it said…”
A modern definition of “salty” refers to “being upset, angry, or bitter.” It also implies a person who feels out of place or attacked. This leaves a negative impression of the word. Yet, Jesus taught “salty” to mean something completely different.
Before we look at Jesus’ words in the Sermon on the Mount, let’s consider the many uses of “salt.” Can you think of any? … Salt adds flavor. It preserves, exfoliates, and acts as a binding agent. Salt cleans or disinfects. Its an essential mineral in the balance of our systems. Salt deodorizes, relieves pain, and enhances color. It speeds cooking time and helps to quickly shell eggs. Salt provides an insurmountable number of applications!
So what does Jesus say about salt? Look at Matthew 5:13:
“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.”
Jesus compared the disciples – the Christ-followers – to the salt of the earth. If we look at the purposes of salt and transpose those to the lives of the disciples, we understand Jesus charged the disciples to bring flavor, preservation, binding, cleansing, significance, sanitizing, and pain relief to the world. So, let’s break these words down a little more:
Flavor = Seasoning, Sweetness, Essence, Enjoyment, Excitement
Preservation = Sustenance, Protection, Safeguarding, Salvation, Defense
Binding = Fastened, Attached, Covered, United
Cleansing = Sanctifying, Purifying, Restoring
Significance = Essential, Needed, Crucial, Required
Sanitizing = Disinfect, Decontaminate, Purge
Pain Relief = Painkiller, Medicine, Ointment = Provides Relief and Healing
So how can anyone be all these things in the world and to the world? The list seems impossible! It can only be done through Jesus Christ – as a believer in Him, follower of Him, and recipient of His Spirit.
Paul wrote in Galatians 2:20 that it is not him who lives, but Christ in him, and the life he lives in the flesh is only by faith in the Son of God. In 2 Corinthians 13:3, Paul encouraged other Christ-followers that Jesus is not weak toward them, but mighty in them. In Colossians 4:5-6, Paul admonished the church to “Conduct yourselves with wisdom toward outsiders, making the most of the opportunity. Let your speech always be with grace, as though seasoned with salt, so that you will know how you should respond to each person.”
“…seasoned with salt…” That’s not only how we are to live, but also how we are to talk with others and how we are to respond to each person… So what does that sound like?
Looking at our list above: sweet, excited, sustaining, protective, united, purifying, restoring, essential, sanitizing, relieving, and healing.
Do your communications provide that to others? Or is your “saltiness” more like the trendy definition – upset, angry, bitter?
One more thought… Jesus said tasteless salt is no good for anything. In researching how salt becomes tasteless, I found these facts:
1. Salt cannot be altered. It remains the same forever.
2. Salt only becomes tasteless through diluting – adding too much water or other substance.
Christians, in their genuine faith, never lose their saltiness. The properties of being a disciple of Christ forever remain. Yet, just as salt can be diluted so far as to be undetectable, so the Christ-follower can be rendered useless if too adulterated by the world.
What kind of “salty” are you? What kind of “salty” do you want to be?
Search your heart. Taste and see that the Lord is good! Feed on His faithfulness, and be His salt in the earth!
Holding Fast to Hope,
Maryann
Scripture References: Matthew 5:13-16; Psalm 34:8; Galatians 2:20; 2 Corinthians 13:3; Colossians 4:5-6; Psalm 100:5
