The Salt of the Earth

Ye are the salt of the earth: but if the salt have lost his savour, wherewith shall it be salted? it is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of men.

Jesus once looked toward His disciples and said to them, “You are the salt of the earth”. This is found in Matthew 5 : 13 and is a very interesting expression. Today, when we think of salt, the first source that comes to our mind is the ocean. Water from the ocean is collected and evaporated using the sun’s heat or boiling to leave behind a residue of salt and other minerals which is purified and then employed for various uses. The second source that some may think of is salt that is mined, mined from natural sources. An example of this is pink salt or Himalayan salt. In Israel, there is a different source available to mine salt. Yes, they too could use salt obtained from ocean water but there was a simpler source nearby.

Fun fact: Himalayan salt is not really from the Himalayas.

Israel’s geography shows a place just south of the Dead Sea that is a source for almost pure salt. This is the Mount Sodom range. A natural geological salt deposit. All one has to do is scrape it off for use in different aspects of life. This is perhaps why Jesus said, “salt of the earth”.

One of the many uses for salt blocks salvaged in this manner is for cattle consumption. Israel is a dry region and drinking water is essential to maintain good health. This is true for man and beast here. Men can be asked to drink sufficiently and taught the need to do so but animals cannot. So what did people do for the sake of their livestock? They would place blocks of this salt where the animals were and the livestock would instinctively lick the salt. In turn, this both boosted the health of the animals, improved fodder consumption and generated a great thirst for water. So salt licks were a common part of rearing livestock, especially so that animals drank plenty of water to hydrate themselves and survive the dry conditions of the region.

Jesus calls his disciples the salt of the earth. Why? Because they are called to do exactly what this salt lick does. They are called to live in this world as followers of Christ that God places as beacons before this world. A beacon of light draws people out from the darkness toward itself and so ought to be our life and word. Now when the people of this world are drawn to the life of a child of God, it ought to generate in them a deep longing, an unexplainable desire for something found in those who are called Christians. This is a thirst for something greater than what they themselves have, something more lasting than what they know of. A peace and joy that is unhinged from a person's circumstances, a confidence and hope that is not based on the situation. An unrecognized thirst for salvation. We are meant to be the salt licks to this world, not to preserve it, not to enhance its flavour, but to draw the attention of those blinded in darkness to the light of salvation.

Now salt in itself is not the end goal but the water found right near it. While the salt generates thirst, it is satisfied only by fresh, cool water found near it. The role of the disciple is not to save but to present salvation in one’s own life and words thus creating a deep thirst for it in the lives of those whom the disciple touches. This thirst is and can be finally quenched in the one right next to the disciple, Jesus the Christ, the Son of the living God. He is the living water that alone can satisfy this thirst of the human heart. He is the living water that can grant life abundantly, eternally. He is the living water that can quench once and forever. Our role is simply to present to this world its need for Christ, as salt licks do for water.

Now the problem with salt like this is that if it ever comes in contact with water in any form it simply dissolves leaving behind a residue of minerals that have no similar purpose or value.The block of salt has lost its saltiness. This is what Christ was warning about immediately after. If salt loses its saltiness, it is not worth anything but to be trampled under foot. That is exactly what happens to these blocks once they lose their saltiness. It would be discarded and thrown out to be trampled down and eventually mix it into the earth and leave no trace. They are of no use at all.

When we, Christ’s disciples, lose our saltiness, the flavour of Christ, from our lives; when we lack Christelikeness; the people we come into contact with are not impressioned by a desire for Christ and His offer of salvation. Our lives leave no Christian impact on others. We fail to point this world to the true light, the lamb of God from heaven. We fail in pointing people to Christ. When this happens, we are of no use. We are of no use as ambassadors in this world, of God’s kingdom. We fail in our duty as disciples to imitate our Master. We end up losing our identity as ‘Christians’ or more clearly, ‘‘little Christs’ and we end up of no use to God and His purpose of drawing this world to Him and His Son. What happens then? We are no different from the world and end up just like that block trampled into the ground. No different from the dirt. No different from those who continue to walk in darkness.

This is the greatest danger a Christian may face in his Christian journey. To be conformed to this world. The book of Romans warns us against this danger. In fact, Paul begs to the contrary in Romans 12:1 and 2. He pleads that we do not conform to this world. Complacency might start small but this is its end result. Stop permitting this world to wash away your saltiness little by little. But how?

Peter turns our attention to God’s command which is to be holy just as He is holy. Yes. This is the best answer that the Bible provides. Holiness. To be set apart. We are called to be set apart from this world. To not let worldliness touch us. To set our eyes on the things of heaven. How? Look at Jesus who walked in a sinful world, among sinful beings and yet He was found blameless until the end. Is such a life possible? Yes and so Paul provides clear instructions in Romans 12 by stating we are to present our bodies as a living sacrifice which is holy and acceptable to God. He goes on to ask that we be transformed by the renewal of our mind so that we may prove God’s will which is good, acceptable and perfect.

This is what Jesus meant when He called His disciples, ‘the salt of the earth’. Remember, if we are disciples of Christ, then you and I don’t have to ‘become’ the salt of the earth. Nor do we have to ‘become’ the light of the world. No. We already are, the very moment we are born again. It is Christ through the Holy Spirit who deems us to be the salt and the light. Just like livestock are instinctively drawn to the salt licks and a moth is drawn to a flame, even so does God place your life as a means to draw people to Himself. If you believe in Christ Jesus, then you do not get a choice to not be. You already are the salt of the earth.

The question that remains now is just this:

Does my life, does your life, continue to display the flavour of Christ in and through me or have I lost my saltiness?