Salt of the Earth
“You are the salt of the earth; but if salt has lost its taste, how can its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything, but is thrown out and trampled underfoot.”
Matthew 5:13
When I was a child, I used to play on a golf course that was behind my house. Besides offering an expansive space on which to play, the course also had something that always intrigued me: salt tablet dispensers. Golfers of a certain age will remember this. According to the prevailing medical advice of the day, salt helped prevent against dehydration. So many golf courses offered salt tablet dispensers next to the tee boxes. However, over time, these began to disappear as new research suggested that too much salt might actually be unhealthy.
Yet, salt has gotten a bit of a bad rap. The reality is that without salt, our bodies would not function properly. Salt, in moderation, has a number of health benefits. It helps optimize pH levels, aids the nervous system and regulates blood pressure. In ancient times, salt was used as a preservative, enabling food to be stored unspoiled for long periods.
It is this latter use—salt as a preserver—that Jesus has in mind when He says that Christians “are the salt of the earth.” How do Christians act as a preserving salt? They do so by preserving all that is good in the culture and warding off all that is bad. As agents of New Creation, empowered by the Spirit, Christians achieve this by loving their neighbors, seeking justice, caring for the environment and preaching the Good News. Historically, the church has fulfilled this role by shaping the culture for the common good, having led the way in establishing hospitals and universities, championed literacy, and advanced human rights.
As you begin your day today, how might you be agent of good? Ask yourself, what is true and beautiful that we should preserve? What should we ward off? Remember that, as a follower of Jesus, “you are the salt of the earth,” and God intends to use you to better His world.
