The Salt of the Earth

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


If you spend much time around church people you will inevitably hear mention of Christians being "salt and light." We talk about that and proclaim it, but do we really understand what it means? How can Christians possibly represent salt to this world? What does the statement say about the world, and about our lives? Let's consider these questions.


Historically, salt has had three purposes: It is used to purify, preserve and give taste. If Christians are to be salt in the world then we must accomplish one, or all, of these three things. I would contend that the purpose of Jesus' statement deals with the issue of preservation and purification since it would be completely inaccurate to claim that we are to make a sinful world palatable.


Before anything else this verse implies the need of the world. If we are salt then the world is in need of what salt provides. It is in need of purification and preservation. It is difficult to dispute that the world is in a decaying state. We need look no further than the morning news to see the sinful things that are taking place around us. Our societies are driven by sex and materialism, and decisions are made by governments for the self-preservation of their politicians. Just when we come to the point that we do not feel the world could get any worse we are always unpleasantly surprised by the ways man conceives to sin.


When we consider the call to be the salt of the earth we must do so against this context. In days gone by salt was used as a means of purifying. It was used on wounds to clean them and protect from infection. It is no mistake that this verse comes directly after the last of the beatitudes, which says, Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you (Matt. 5:11, 12).  


To answer the call to be salt is to bring persecution on ourselves. We use the term "rubbing salt in a wound" today as a negative thing. But this is what was once necessary to clean and protect a wound. As the world decays it is necessary that salt be applied to it. What the world needs is a cleansing agent. Something that will help stop the decay. If Christians are to do this they must look and act different than the rest of the world. When we look at the church we too often see gatherings that are not much different from the world. We neglect the biblical mandate to live a holy life; sue one another in secular courts even though Scripture says we're already defeated when this happens, and many times we even do whatever is necessary to look as much like our sinful world as possible. The world does not need such a church.


What the world needs are people who will model the character of Christ. People who will be faithful witnesses, and display His love to all. People who will stand in truth and will not allow the decay of this world to drag them down. That's what it means to be salt. There is no compromise in the call of Christ. If salt loses its saltiness how will it be restored? It won't! Salt cannot lost it's inherent properties. It can only become corrupted and impure. Salt that is not pure is of no use to the work of Christ. It is good only to be thrown out and trampled under people's feet.


In light of the call to be the salt of the earth, where does the church stand today? Are we useful to the purifying, preserving work of Christ? We could go even further. Are we personally living in a way that allows Christ to work through us? Are we really salt?