You are the Salt of the World

Salt is one of the essential compounds of life. Nutritionally, we need salt to survive since a lack of salt is the cause of many diseases. There are even increasing debates concerning the recent warnings recommending a sodium reduced diet. It is now believed that such a diet is actually detrimental to our health because it raises the chances of heart attack. What a crazy world. Salt was so valuable in the ancient world it would often be used as a currency. The purer the salt, the greater the value.

When Jesus says: “You are the salt of the world” it was not simply a nice play on words. He was saying that He has placed you as an essential compound in the lives of those around you. You are to bring the flavour and preserving nature of Christ into everything you do. We are to be a valuable currency in the lives of others. You’ve heard the phrase ‘that left a bad taste in my mouth’? When others encounter us, do we bring them the flavour of Christ that causes them to thirst for more of Him – or a bitter taste? Do we add value to Christ and His witness with our encounter?

This declaration of our identity as salt comes with a dire warning – “if that salt loses it saltiness (effectiveness) how can it become salty (effective) again? It becomes of no value and is worth nothing but to be thrown out and trampled by people”.

It is actually not an easy thing for salt to ‘lose its saltiness’ because it is such a stable compound. What Jesus may be referring to is the impurities that could get mixed into the salt decreasing its effect to flavour and preserve. This was either because it was mined from a poor source, or because of the actions of dishonest merchants who would cut the salt by adding a cheap filler to make the salt go further in order to increase their profit margin. The salt was not the problem. It was the impure fillers that were added that cut the salt so much that the salt itself would become unusable and worthless.

That can happen with our faith, can it not? Our essential relationship with Christ is the salt, but we add all these fillers into our lives – habits, behaviours, attitudes, choices, attitudes (etc, etc) that cut our ‘salt’ so thin, that little flavour of Christ is reflected in our lives . Again, in the ancient world because there was no garbage collection or waste baskets, many ‘worthless or spent items’ would simply be thrown out the door of the house to be trampled underfoot, to become part of the hard pack, a sad end for such a valuable commodity. Considering the time and effort it would take to separate the few crystals of pure salt from the impurities and fillers it just wasn’t worth the effort. There is no doubt that these words of Jesus are kinda rough – Jesus is warning, “don’t even go there – stay pure.

Today, think about the impurities and fillers we’ve allowed in our lives. Are we willing to eliminate them so our salt factor increases? Sometimes it can be difficult or even painful to identify these fillers and impurities. Remember, Christ values you and your impact so highly that He declares you to be ‘the salt of the world’. Let us seek to increase the purity and effectiveness of our salt for Him.

Anyway, I was just thinking…