Dr. Mike Murphy
Salt. Most will recognize it quickly the moment its’ flavor hits your taste buds. But history shows us that salt is so much more valuable than just for flavor. Salt was not only used to enhance our food, salt was used to preserve our food. Up until refrigeration came into being, salt was used to keep food, and by rubbing, packing, or placing food on salt, food was able to be keep for longer periods of time. But salt was so much more in ancient days. Salt was a valuable commodity in many cultures. The word “salary” actually comes from the word salt, as it once meant “salt-money”. At one time, Roman soldiers were actually given an allowance so they could buy salt. And even to this day, we often say that a valuable employee is “worth his salt”!
In days past, salt was used for so much more. Salt was once used to confirm a friendship. The Greek saw salt as a form of divinity. The Romans saw it as pure and would sing, “there is nothing more useful than sun and salt”. The Jewish people grew to include it as part of their sacrifice. In much of the Arab world, even to this day, when two men partake in salt together, they form a bond, swearing to protect the other against all enemies. And in much of the ancient world, if two parties were witnessed eating salt together, they entered into a legal contract that could not be broken. In the Bible, King Abijah talked about one of these salt covenants(2 Chronicles 13:5), “Ought you not to know that the Lord God of Israel gave the kingship over Israel forever to David and his sons by a covenant of salt?”
With all that salt was used for, it should come as no surprise that Christ would described those who had accepted and followed Him, as the salt of this earth. When He spoke the words we call the Sermon on the Mount, Christ said, “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.”(Matthew 5:13).
When many read these words, they can see where Jesus called those who follow Him to be the preservative of this world. Preserving the truth that God has given us, and slowing the moral and spiritual decay we see in a fallen world. Many others read these words and believe Christ was calling His followers to bring “flavor” to a tasteless world. To enhance and help nourish this world, by bring the goodness to this world that we see in Him. A goodness that stands out in the work we are called to, and in the hope we are given, that brings a needed flavor, different from any taste this world could ever offer us.
As I look at this verse, I see both. And as I look at it closer, I even see so much more. We are to be the preservative this world needs. A famous Greek biographer, Plutarch, once said when describing the preservation value of salt, “meat is a dead body and part of a dead body, and will, if left to itself, go bad; but salt preserves it and keeps it fresh, and is therefore like a new soul inserted into a dead body.” Salt preserved against the corruption that would come to the meat. And as a Christian, we do the same as Plutarch once said. We help Christ bring “a new soul to a dead body”, bring life and hope, where this world no longer can see either. As a Christian, we also bring flavor to a bland world. We leave this world with a taste that leaves them longing for more. Not feasting on decayed meat, but nourishment that brings them pleasure and fulfillment with each bite. Nourishing not only their body, but also their spirit. And as a Christian, we hold the promise of God’s “salt covenant”. The promise that tomorrow can only bring through His Son, and the promise that He will always be there for us, standing up for us in every situation. A binding promise that He has told us could never be broken.
But as we read the words of why Christ called us to be salt, we must also read His next words that warned us of what could happen to salt. “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.”(Matthew 5:13). The value of salt was held in the effect the salt had, and Christ knew this as He was speaking those words. In Christ’ day, and all around the area of Nazareth where Christ grew up, it was well known what salt was often like when it was collected from the Dead Sea. Salt was created in the Dead Sea by evaporation. What they pulled out of the sea often looked like salt, but it had none of the values of salt. Unable to offer flavor and to serve as a preservative. Christ also knew, that salt was often found in rock, and people would lay their meat on the rocks to preserve it. But over time, the salt would leak from the rocks, and the rocks would become useless. Good for nothing than to crush up and fill the roads, trampled under foot each and every day. And Christ also know how bakers would use blocks of salt in their ovens, bringing seasoning to the foods as they would cook. But eventually, the heat would take its’ toll on the salt blocks, causing them to melt away.
As I read the warning of Christ, I am reminded of a favorite saying that was often heard in Christ’ day. A rhetorical question they would ask, “Can salt lose its’ saltiness?”. Salt will always be salt, nothing more or nothing less. Sodium chloride will always be nothing but sodium chloride. Many have tried to recreate it with different minerals and chemicals. But at the end of the day, they are nothing but imposters, having none of the values of salt. Preserving nothing, adding no flavor, and unusable for binding any covenant. Good for nothing more than to be crumbled with the rock, thrown in the road and trampled under foot.
When I look at the Church today, the rhetorical question of Christ’ day comes to my mind, “Can salt lose its’ saltiness?”. As we look at the Church today, do we see those who try to mimic salt, so called “churches” who are led by imposters who try to serve as nothing more than salt substitutes? And in these “salt substitutes”, the words of Paul quickly come to mind. “Having a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with such people.”(2 Timothy 3:5). And Paul’s final words from that verse tells us exactly what we should do with these “salt substitutes”, throw them out! They serve no purpose, this world can never be preserved by them and they bring absolutely no flavor to it. They are nothing more than the salt of the Dead Sea, nothing more than evaporation, that has no value, burning away quickly from the heat of this world. They have no place in God’s kitchen, and you will not find them sitting on His shelves.
And look at where this “salt substitute’ has led us. Over the past years, we have watched the numbers of the Church in this country diminish, and it should be of no surprise to us that it has. We see many of our churches who have bought into these “salt substitute”, trying to serve this world nothing more than dead and decaying meat. Nourishment this world is not drawn to because it has no flavor. And with one bite, they soon determine they have no desire for a second bite. As what these churches are offering gives them nothing different from what the world is already serving them.
It is time this Church rolled up our sleeves, picked up our pickaxe, and got busy working the salt mines again. Producing salt, true salt, that will never lose its’ value and flavor. Removing the “salt substitutes” from our shelves, getting them out of our kitchen, and tossing them in the trash where they belong. This world yearns for the real nourishment of what only Christ can offer them, and what He has called on us to serve them.
Praying each of you are salty!