Usually when a person talks about being ‘salty,’ they are feeling a certain negative way about an event that went poorly. Some of these salty people rage quit while others leave a trail of tears in their wake. As Christians, we are called to rise above damaging responses. But how do we carry ourselves with the love of Jesus when our first response is to express the hurt and fear we feel?
“You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot.”
Jesus wasn’t merely referencing salt, the mineral. As with all His parables, Jesus used everyday situations and elements His hearers could easily understand.
What Jesus was talking about by saying, ‘You are the salt of the Earth,’ is that, like salt, we are the preservative, ice melter, and the sanitizing agent to the people around us. You might even add ‘taste improvement agent,’ but I’ll leave that up to you to determine. Additionally, salt does make a difference in the process of denaturing raw manure so it can be used as fertilizer.
Photo credit: Ries Bosch on Unsplash
Our world is suffering. Everybody hurts in some way at some point in their lives, some more than others and some for longer periods of time than others, but how might we not only mitigate that level of suffering, but eliminate it? Some people have chosen religion or politics while others chose both with the intention of finding the way out of the mess we have created. My interest is piqued when I think about the possibility that one person could solve our problems and help us clean up our messes.
Jesus fulfilled Scripture that prophesied that ‘by His stripes we would be healed,’ but here we remain suffering and alone and sick and broken hearted and in a sinful mess, generation after generation. What gives?
Have we missed something? Is there something we have ignored that would absolutely eliminate all suffering? No. That isn’t possible because we have a very real enemy and his every intention toward us is for evil. Satan is the sworn enemy of all that is good and right and true, so until he’s out of the picture, and he’s not going to be, we will have to deal with him and his demons as well as the human beings who have decided to do his bidding.
“But now apart from the law the righteousness of God has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. This righteousness is given through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference between Jew and Gentile, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.”
Suffering isn’t going anywhere not only because Satan isn’t going anywhere, but because sin isn’t going anywhere. However, God has done everything He could to change the way we might go about our lives. We don’t have to be sitting ducks waiting for Satan and his minions (and obedient humans) to pick us off. As you read in the above passage from the apostle Paul, although we were spiritually dead because of our sins, Jesus made the way to a new life in Him through an act of amazing grace. But that wasn’t enough. We also require permanence of freedom from sin. Even if someone paid off all our bills for us, we would still have to stop incurring that same old debt going forward. In other words, we would have to stop buying, and consuming, the same ol’ stuff - especially if we can’t afford it.
Because Jesus was resurrected after He laid down His life in our place as one of us, He has the legal right to offer everybody eternal life. He can only offer us eternal life if He is an eternal being. And, guess what? He’s a part of the Godhead, so He is an eternal Person, meaning He has the ability to confer life and eternal life, at that, to anyone who accepts Him as their Lord and Savior.
You might think, ‘Okay, that is awesome and whatnot, but what about the way I feel right now? What about the anger and bitterness, fear and worry and apprehension that just doesn’t go away no matter how many times I have prayed? You know, the saltiness I feel?’
Well, I’m glad you asked. The answer lies right inside that Romans 3 passage. The statement, “all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus,” means that no matter what you’ve done, and how many times you did it, you are justified (made holy) by God’s grace (His loving nature that inspired Jesus to lay down His life for us) through the redemption (complete elimination of the impact of sin on our spirit - which was certain death) that came by Christ Jesus. That’s exactly why it’s called “Good News!”
That means we don’t need to sit in our dirty diaper of sin any longer. Jesus is willing to hand us a pair of Big Boy pants as the Holy Spirit helps us to stop doing the very things that got us into trouble in the first place. Jesus can’t very well help us unless He also grants us of His Holy Spirit to guide us into all truth and provide the daily direction and conviction we need to maintain a holy lifestyle. We simply need to ask for - and receive - the baptism of the Holy Spirit in prayer.
“If it’s of You, God, I want it all.
If it’s not of You, I don’t want it at all.”
Let me share a vision God gave me some years ago when I was struggling to get out of my own dirty diaper of sin. I was in a large room with a huge pile of poop in the middle. I somehow knew it was mine and that it had to be removed, I just didn’t know where it was supposed to go. Right then, from my left, Jesus approached me with a shovel in His right hand. I didn’t dare look Him in the eye, so I looked toward the floor as I reached out my left hand to take the shovel, lamenting with tears, “I know. I’m sorry, Lord.”
He didn’t immediately hand me the shovel, so I crookedly look up at Him and He has a smile on His face. I hadn’t noticed that His left hand was behind His back until He pulled it around to the front. He was holding a shiny silver spoon. My left hand still extended toward Him to accept the shovel and the job at hand, He places the spoon in my reaching hand then quietly turns to the pile, my pile, and begins shoveling the pile, happy to help. As He tosses each shovel full aside, it disappears.
That’s love. Lots of people think love is the warm and fuzzies one gets when they’re around certain people, or even having sexual relations as in “making love.” God’s love - perfect, covenant love - manifests as a multi-faceted personal responsibility one feels toward one another. It is a holy affinity that causes us to seek to bless others as we want to be blessed. We can share in this Heavenly call toward all people only if we will allow ourselves to be vulnerable and uncomfortable. Life takes risk. Love takes risk.
Jesus made Himself like one of us because the love He has for us made it impossible for Him to not do something about our dire situation. (John 3:16-18) He was willing to die for us because He didn’t want to go another day without expressing His love for us. In the process, He made a way - the only way - for us to have the opportunity to for eternal life and to spend it with Him. The only way to gain the legal right to all people was through His own blood and He was willing to pay the price.
To be sure, if salt loses its saltiness, that unsalty salt is not worth anything but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot. It’s literally called, “salt.” It’s name comes from its flavor. What is unsalty salt but something that has lost its character and identity?
If salt becomes tasteless, it is easy to see what Jesus means. Why would you put tasteless salt on your food? Especially since it doesn’t have much nutritional value in the first place. And if you wouldn’t put it on your food, what would you do with it? Use it to melt ice and snow on your sidewalk and driveway? You’d indeed throw it out. That’s what Jesus is saying. We would throw it out because it no longer has the use we need it for. Jesus is clearly insinuating that He will do the same thing to those who lose their saltiness.
Of course Jesus isn’t talking about us tasting salty or that we would melt ice and snow with our presence, but that we are the sanitizing presence and preservative and manure curing agents our sick and dying world needs. Although, as Christians, we might be good at melting icy hearts.
So, what provides the ‘saltiness,’ we must possess that Jesus references? It’s the LOVE of others, agape love, that we need so we can be the difference-makers Jesus wants us to be. How can we help others come to the same saving grace we have received if we aren’t willing to express that same love to others? If we do not “Love our neighbors as ourselves,” what is our hope of guiding them into Jesus’ loving arms? The sacrificial love Jesus showed us is exactly what our world needs to see from us. If not us, then who? If not now, when?
Being the Salt of the Earth is only possible if you’re filled with the love of Jesus. However, if you don’t have the love of Jesus, what are you good for?
Prayer
Father God, I appreciate Your everlasting love. Without it, I was good for nothing. You have blessed me with all I need for life and godliness and Your love has made all the difference. I couldn’t have gotten this far without You. Thank You! I choose to go deeper with You as You help me clean up my messes. Please show me how I can be more efficient with the time, talent, and treasure You have given me. I want to know You more and more, so please grant me the opportunities to remain in Your presence so I can be continually transformed by the renewing of my mind. Help me to be so lovingly salty that others can’t help but know Your love through me. Let me be an endless conduit of Your grace and mercy as You lead me. Please allow me the honor and privilege of carrying Your love to all people everywhere You send me. In Jesus’ name I pray, amen.
Banner photo credit: Uday Tadphale from Unsplash