Be Salty

Recently my table salt ran out so I had to buy a new salt mill. It was strange how the salt seemed to have a fresh, tangy taste. They say salt shouldn’t go off, but it does seem to lose something of its edge over time.

This reminds me of two passages in the Bible in particular.

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.
You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven. Matthew 5:13-16 ESV

Walk in wisdom toward outsiders, making the best use of the time. Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer each person. Colossians 4:5-6

Jesus tells His disciples, “You are the salt of the earth.” This is often used of people who have lived long in their communities and are looked up to as productive, reliable and worthy. I often think that about older folk I look back on in our churches. Often they came to know Jesus as their Saviour when young, and had a lot of experience of Christian living. Yet too often you just got the feeling that something had come adrift somewhere. It wasn’t that they had turned their backs on Jesus or were becoming gross sinners. It might show in one of two opposite ways. Either the older person would speak his or her mind, regardless of who was going to be hurt, or else everything seemed to wash over them. They weren’t prepared to be critical about things that were wrong in their community or in the church.

You feel that older, experienced Christians should be the first to notice when a church or a leader was slipping into apostasy - being a bully, perhaps, or neglecting truth. Sadly, when you hoped they would be the first to voice concern, they would frequently wave the issue away with “Oh, well, that’s the way things are nowadays; you’ve got to make allowances”. No, we shouldn’t, if something is against God’s word in the Bible.

“To grow old is to change often, because we live in a changing world,” one very elderly preacher commented as he gave his “swan song” at the local preachers’ meeting. His younger colleagues drank in his every word. It sounded like wisdom based on maturity, and perhaps it was, up to a point. But we are not to change with every fashion. That way we become insipid and lose our tang.

I am a Christian now because a perceptive minister did not go with the flow. Most people around me were thinking to themselves, “We must humour Timothy; he is a promising young leader.” The older man challenged me straight out. “Your thinking is just like that of a run-of-the-mill Western philosopher. You do not think the way the Bible does.” That night I knew I was in the wrong and gave my life over to Christ.

If Jesus is more important to you than the world is, be salty. Be prepared, humbly and prayerfully, to speak out when appropriate. Above all, make sure to keep your keen edge. Jesus did. It may just help somebody.