SALTY CHRISTIANS

“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, ESV).

What image immediately springs to mind when I say “salt”? Perhaps it’s a saltshaker; salty french fries; saltwater going up your nose when you are swimming in the ocean; putting rock salt on icy sidewalks in winter; rings of salt on your clothes after you have been sweating. We all have different images that pop up.

What was Jesus saying when He said that “you are the salt of the earth”?

In Bible times salt had several common uses:

       1.  Preservative — Salt was used to preserve meat, for example. When things were rotting around it, meat was preserved by an ample application of salt. Salt has cleansing and preservative qualities. On long  trips, travelers carried meat packed in salt.

          2.   Seasoning — Salt was put on food of all kinds as an agent of taste enhancement. Most people think food tastes better with a just-so-subtle use of salt as a seasoning.

          3.   Medicinal — Salt also has medicinal qualities. For hundreds of years it has been a common home remedy for a lot of things. Often people with a sore throat will gargle with saltwater. Salt is sometimes used to treat minor burns, infections, bee stings, bug bites and even poison oak and poison ivy.

Today, in areas that get snow and ice in the winter, salt is used to melt the ice. It occurs to me as I write this that perhaps if there were more salty believers in our churches, just maybe it would warm things up a bit. (I wonder if they call that a revelation or could it be the chili cheese-dog I had for breakfast?)

So if we are salt, that is saying that we are to be salt-like in a decaying/rotting world. By standing for biblical truth we are acting as a preservative. As we display compassion for the sick and needy, in and out of the church, we are displaying the healing quality of salt. Salt as a flavor enhancer is quite subtle but “oh, so important!” We need more Christ-followers to live up to being salt—to be seasoning without being obnoxious—so that just as salt makes a taste difference so do “salty Christians.”

When we put these purposes together, we get a clearer picture of what Jesus had in mind when He said, “You are the salt of the earth.” Jesus was saying, “The salt is there but what are you going to do about it? Are you going to rise to the occasion and be what you should be or will you lose your flavor by sitting on the shelf?” Jesus is saying that it is the destiny of a follower to be salt. The power of salt is wasted and it might as well be thrown out if it is sitting on a shelf or resting in a shaker.

When we speak of salty Christians, we are talking about seasoned warriors who have been tried in the combat fields of real life. Over the years they have proven that they not only “talk the talk” but they also “walk the walk.” These are warriors who have weathered storms, gone through dry spells and been bewildered at times. They are believers who have experienced much and have grown and matured in their faith and in their walk with God through their trials. Their experiences have brought them to a level where their faith is not easily shaken by circumstances. They have been preserved in trials and times of wilderness wandering; they have struggled but have emerged triumphant. They are truly seasoned believers; the salt has been rubbed in and they have embraced their saltiness.

I personally believe that the Church is already in the early stages of a very stormy period. Some theologians and futurists that I read are talking about an approaching perfect storm. It will be the confluence of three or four major storms, including the cultural storm of post-modernity and the religious storm of post-Christianity (in the West).

Storms tend to have a purifying effect on everything they touch. In Texas we are assaulted by thunderstorms, tornadoes and the occasional hurricane, when everything that is not tied down or is without a good foundation seems to get blown away. Buildings that are solidly built with a good foundation may have some cosmetic damage but they normally survive.

So it will be in the “stormy weather” we are heading into. Those who lead and help others in this coming cataclysm will not be the “Sunday morning Christians” who just don’t have time to read and pray, to study and grow, and be active in their faith life. Most likely these foundationless friends will have difficulty surviving the winds and fury of the storm/persecution that is coming. The survivors will be the seasoned (read “salty”) saints who have already endured their own personal storms. They have been tried and didn’t fade, but instead they grew in grace and love. The “salty” ones will survive and lead in the coming storms.