Salt of the Earth

Matthew 5:

13. 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.

14. Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid.

15. Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house.

16. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.

Mark 9:

49. For every one shall be salted with fire, and every sacrifice shall be salted with salt.

50. Salt is good: but if the salt have lost his saltness, wherewith will ye season it? Have salt in yourselves, and have peace one with another.

If Christians are to be “salt of the earth” this implies at least two things:

Salt is an ingredient added in small quantities to food. This implies that Christianity is to be a minority religion.
Salt has a big impact on food. A little salt goes a long way. This implies that Christians are to have a big impact on their society even though they may be small in number.

If Christians set higher standards for themselves – standards of morality and charity – then the rest of the world notices. The term Christian becomes a badge of honor in the minds of many non-Christians, and glory is given to God as Matthew 5:16 indicates. When Christians focus on “walking the walk” they gain some converts, but they also set a higher standard for non-converts.

On the other hand, when Christians focus on the evil practices of non-Christians, they earn fear and contempt for Christianity. Jesus made a huge point of condemning hypocrisy.

That said, when Christians act as salt of the earth, they don’t gain the respect of all. Some people react violently to being shamed. Instead of allowing themselves to be humbled, they lash out. Walking the walk is also an invitation to persecution – a phenomena also predicted in scripture.

The gospels promise eternal life and forgiveness from sin, but they also list the following challenges:

To do outreach
To be more righteous than the Pharisees
To suffer persecution
To take care of the poor
To forgive others
To turn the other cheek
To do all these things surrounded by people who aren’t doing these things!

And here we have a possible reason why Christianity is set up as a narrow path. If all were called, then Christians would not be subject to all these challenges. With these challenges, Christians truly learn love, responsibility and patience. It is one thing to do what is right when always surrounded by others who do likewise. It is quite another when surrounded by those who are living riotous lives. It is one thing to avoid sin because of fear of the police. It is quite another to do what is right despite threats from the police; one has to weigh the certainty of earthly punishment against faith for a grander reward.

Suppose you were going to run the world as King of kings. What qualities would you want in the kings serving under you? How about:

Willingness and ability to follow directions
Willingness and ability to be better than one’s subjects
Sympathy for one’s subjects, knowledge of what it is like to be ruled
Mercy when appropriate
External leadership ability; i.e., political ability
Internal leadership ability; i.e., management experience

Compare all these qualities with the requirements of being a Christian. Quality 2 is a reason to surround Christians with sinners. Qualities 3 and 4 are reasons to mainly call those with low social status. Missionary outreach is great exercise for Quality 5. Quality 6 is built up in those churches that divide up the leadership roles; especially those churches that call for much on the part of the members. The early churches practiced communism; this is a tremendously stressful and powerful exercise in group dynamics!

Look back at the Romans 9 quote in this context. It begins to make sense. This life is set up as an immense character-building exercise for some, to build sufficient character to be worthy and competent to help run an eternal kingdom.

1 Corinthians 6:

1. Dare any of you, having a matter against another, go to law before the unjust, and not before the saints?

2. Do ye not know that the saints shall judge the world? and if the world shall be judged by you, are ye unworthy to judge the smallest matters?

3. Know ye not that we shall judge angels? how much more things that pertain to this life?

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