I know, I know, that title has been used to death. The Good, the Bad and the Ugly. What a great movie. Okay, it’s my turn. But this time, the subject is salt. My doctor told me that I had to cut back on salt. I told him, “Okay,” but frankly, it isn’t easy. That’s because I love that salty taste. When I was a kid and we’d visit someone who had cows with those salt blocks in the field I couldn’t resist taking a big lick on that huge hunk of salt. I know, I hear someone saying, “Ewwwww.” It probably wasn’t the most sanitary thing to do, but as I said, I just couldn’t resist!
In truth, our bodies need some salt. We can’t stop altogether. There is a balance. I haven’t quite learned where that line is yet, but I’m working on it.
So, I know when using a title like this most take it in order, beginning with the good, then progressing to the bad, and end with the ugly. I’d like to take the backward approach to this. But first, the scripture. Jesus spent a couple of chapters in Matthew’s gospel with the sermon on the mount. He spoke many truths in that message and this is a part of it. In Matthew 5:13 we read, “You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt loses its flavor, how shall it be seasoned? It is then good for nothing but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot by men.”
Here’s the ugly of that. Jesus, speaking of His believers, said that we are the salt of the earth. That’s us. The one’s who are supposed to bring flavor to things. But if we lose our salty taste, then we are worthless and are good for nothing but to be cast out and trampled under the feet of men. That’s the ugly. Think about it; laying there on the ground, already beaten because we’ve lost our ability to be seasoning, and then to be stepped all over by others. Now that’s an ugly thought!
As Christians, our number one job is to be witnesses for Christ. We do that by first loving one another. Jesus said that those who don’t know Jesus have our Christian relationship with each other as the main proof that we believe in Him. He said, “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.” (John 13:34-35). When people see that we love our brothers and sisters in Christ, that becomes a witness that the love of Christ works. We are their living proof. But when we are at odds with our fellow Christians how can we tell them how much Jesus loves them, and that He will bring love in their lives when we are fighting with those we are supposed to care for the most?
What’s worse, when we sit next to someone in our assemblies but can’t remember their last name, how can we truthfully say that we love them? As I said, pretty ugly, right? Our witness gets trampled all over. Sometimes by others but more often by our own selves! Then there is the bad. We mentioned that already. We lose our spiritually seasoning ability! How can we do that? That can happen when we lose our joy, or grow bitter over something that has happened. Maybe we’ve lost a loved one and we blame God for it. Perhaps a brother or sister has said something, whether on purpose or oblivious to our feelings, and we get mad and fume in unforgiveness. Oh, or maybe we become judgmental towards something we think to be wrong, but isn’t wrong with another Christian. Any one of these or a great number of other things can cause us to lose our saltiness – our seasoning of life. That also describes our witness. Our lives, and our relationships with others reflects our relationship with Jesus. There’s nothing more unbelievable than a negative Christian who is trying to tell others how Jesus can change their lives. We’re fighting and scrapping with our fellow believers and then tell those who need Christ in their lives. “Things will be different if you accept Jesus, but wait a minute, I’ve got to go tell off my brother in Christ first.” Who wants anything to do with that?
Finally, the good. Jesus said that we are the salt of the earth. We are the seasoning that witnesses of the reality and presence of Christ. Listen, we’re all human. We therefore are far from perfect. Until our Lord and Savior returns to set up His literal kingdom we are going to occasionally make mistakes. If you’re like me those occasions come much more frequently than I’d like. We aren’t perfect and won’t be until the Lord gives us our new, glorified bodies in Heaven. But until then, we can still show our love for our brothers and sisters in Christ by asking forgiveness, really and truly exercising that forgiveness by not holding grudges and be transparent enough to let those who don’t know Jesus see that He really does make a difference in us.
Salt, even though in excess might be bad for us, has so many good qualities. It makes things taste better. It preserves meat. Enough of it will cause things that would normally sink to float. It melts ice. It can be used to create energy. Salt does have a lot of good uses. And so it is with us, the salt of the earth! We can bring hope to the hopeless. We can bring health to the unhealthy. We can teach people how that, with Jesus in our lives, we can take those bitter and hopeless situations and make our lives float above the negativity. We can melt the ice of sin by testifying of Jesus, not only with our words but more importantly with our lives. We can be instrumental in the hands of God to bring life flowing energy to others. But we have to be aware. We have to keep the mind of Christ in us. We need to constantly ask ourselves, “What would Jesus do?” Yes, that is a very good and important question. We may not always do it but we should always try.
We, as believers in Jesus, are indeed the salt of the earth. Let’s not lose our saltiness but instead do what we need to do to keep it. After all, who wants French fries without salt?
— Jerry D. Ousley is the author of “Soul Challenge”, “Soul Journey”, “Ordeal”, “The Spirit Bread Daily Devotional” and his first novel “The Shoe Tree.” Newer books include “Finality” and “Dividing God’s Church.” Visit our website at spiritbread.com to download these.