“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.
Matthew 5:13 NKJV
Jesus tells us that we, the believers, are the “salt” of the earth. In our key verse, I want you to notice that Jesus is clearly talking to those who were following Him at the time and all of those who would later follow Him. Our key verse is part of a passage of scripture in a chapter that is more recognized for the beatitudes (Matthew 5:3-11). The beatitudes were a list of blessings that Jesus preached about those who would follow Him and be blessed. Many of us dream of being special and being unique. Some of us want our name to shine in the lights, and that we become larger than life; nobody wants to be a loser. I want to point out to you that you’re already special in the eyes of the Lord – Jesus tells us this plainly. Do you realize you’re in the world to bring some seasoning and flavor to it?
Jesus says (Matthew 5:13), in our key verse, “you are the salt of the earth” that is Y-O-U. Mark (Mark 9:50) records Jesus saying, “have salt in yourselves, and have peace with one another.” These scriptures stuck out to me as I was going through scripture this week and then they stuck with me. I was fascinated, not because I had not ever seen or read this scripture before, but mostly due to the fact of how we think of “being salty” nowadays. Have you ever been called salty? Has anybody ever asked you, “why you being so salty?” I have definitely been called “salty” a time or two!
We say someone is “being salty” when they are being a “hater”, being jealous, upset, bitter, and grumpy. When we say someone has a lot of “salt” in their veins, we’re not saying anything good about them. However, when Jesus says that we are the “salt of the earth”, and that we should have salt in ourselves, His characteristic of salt doesn’t seem to line up with our characteristic of being salty. We need to know what exactly Jesus is saying of us. Let’s break down Jesus’ characteristic so that we can have an understanding of what He is saying in this scripture.
When I first began to think about salt, the first thought that shot across my mind is how it seemingly doesn’t have an expiration date. For example, when we go to the store, we’re always checking for the expiration date on the things we buy. When we get milk, the first thing all of us do is check to see when the milk is going to expire. Yet, when it comes to salt, we don’t much consider salt’s expiration date. We figure, so long as we store salt properly, it’ll last us. Be honest here, when’s the last time you checked for the expiration date on your salt? You’ve probably poured all your salt into a salt shaker and never thought about whether or not the salt has expired when you picked it up to use it – don’t worry, most people do this.
So, I decided to have some fun and go check whether or not salt actually has an expiration date or not. I went to the cabinet, picked up the box of Morton’s kosher salt, and read the box over – searching hard for an expiration date – and there was no date on the box! I searched online and had myself a good laugh at the fact that there’s no expiration date on boxes for salt! My suspicions, if you can even call it that, were confirmed and my research was done. Salt, when properly stored, doesn’t really have a shelf life – that is until you’ve actually used it up. You see, salt (sodium) has been around, nearly as long as the earth – salt is essentially a product of our planet.
Mankind has been gathering salt forever and we know that there are several good purposes for salt. Some of us use salt to season and flavor our food. We realize, right away, that we have to be very careful with how we season our food with salt. As small as a grain of salt is, it’s also very strong and powerful. Too much salt on your food and your food becomes too salty because a lot of salt can overpower your food. Yet, the right amount of salt, and we find that it helps to bring out the flavor of some of our favorite food – meat, french fries, etc.
Salt is not only used for the flavoring of food, but it is also used as a preservative. Salt is capable of preserving and extending the life of food. Salt is within us and helping to maintain the fluid balance inside of our bodies. Not only can salt preserve food, but salt is also used to preserve decomposing bodies. The human body, after death, decomposes rather quickly and so funeral homes use a mix that includes salt to help preserve the decomposing body. We can go on and on about the useful purposes of salt, but I don’t want that to be my entire sermon, we have a point that we need to reach and something we need to learn! Though, I must say, that I find it fascinating how Jesus points to something else that is tiny in size to make a point. Remember when Jesus referenced the mustard seed?
Salt has a purpose, an impact, and plays a large role in all of our lives. When Jesus says we are the salt of the earth, we should understand that we have a rather large purpose in this world. The salt within us, the believer, is meant to add flavor to the world. Now, don’t go taking that last statement to mean the literal salt that is in us – I’m talking about a spiritual salt now. What are we to flavor the world with is the question.
How would you describe the taste of salt, if you could not say “salty”? Salt, while it looks like sugar, is definitely not sweet like sugar. While salt is not sweet, I would not say that salt is sour or bitter; which makes the slang definition seem silly now. The only way I can describe salt’s flavor is to say that it has a sort of “tang” – it adds a bit of tang to our food and brings out the best of our foods. Let’s apply this taste of salt to our spiritual salt and say that we ought to add some tang to this world and help to bring out the best of this world.
The tang of a believer should never expire; we should always have flavor! Which would you rather eat, meat that has been seasoned or meat that’s unseasoned? I don’t know about you, but I like a little seasoning on my meat! The world, I tell you, has lost its taste. Something has gone terribly wrong in our world today because the world just isn’t right. Where has all of the good taste gone? I want you to catch what Jesus says in our key verse, and then I am going to apply it to our world today. Jesus says, “if the salt loses its flavor, how shall it (the salt) be seasoned”. Salt, while it may not have an expiration date, can “go bad” or lose its flavor. Once salt loses its flavor, there’s no way to restore the flavor.
If salt has no flavor and is put on a piece of meat or anything else, what good will it do? Whatever the salt is being added too will have no flavor. Salt can be “watered down” and when it gets watered down, the salt can lose its tang. I said that it seems that the earth is losing its taste so let me get to another point and make this point perfectly clear. Too many “churchgoers” are letting what’s inside of them, their salt, become watered down. When I say “churchgoers”, know that I am not talking about the genuine true believer of Christ. You see, the genuine and true believer of Christ can never lose their flavor – their tang. However, the “churchgoer” can easily be conformed, corrupted, and become watered down and lose their tang. Understand what I am saying: a salty, tangy Christian is a good thing but when someone becomes watered down and loses their tang – they can do no good or serve a purpose for Christ. We ought not ever become watered down believers, but there are many people who claim to be believers, but they’re nothing but a watered down believer. Your faith in Christ ought to burn hot, but water can put out a flame – in this case, water can kill salt’s tang.
When we let what’s inside of us, that spiritual salt, become watered down, we simply begin to conform to our surroundings – that soul eventually decomposes. Moisture and salt do not mix; moisture is not a good thing for salt. Moisture can cause salt to harden and clump together. We can’t use this salt, we can only toss it aside – Jesus tells us that this is what happens. He says, “It is then good for nothing but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot by men.” Not only are there too many watered down churchgoers, but there are too many watered down churchgoers who are being trampled upon by the world. Not only does the world trample upon them, but the devil begins to trample upon them and have his way with them.
Message for today and forever: don’t become a watered down believer! Do not be conformed to this world (Romans 12:2)! Do not lose your saltiness, my brothers, and sisters in Christ! Do not lose the salt, that is to say, “the good work” that the Lord is working in you! I believe the work that the Lord is working in you is for a specific and unique purpose that only you are fit for and can add to this world. We should not ever feel like we don’t have a purpose in this world. I was watching a movie the other day called “Unbreakable” with Bruce Willis and Samuel L. Jackson. Samuel L. Jackson was playing a character that the children when he was a little boy, called “glass”. As an adult, he said to Bruce Willis’ character that the scariest thing in life is not knowing one’s purpose – I believe this is true. I have preached sermons on this topic. There are too many of us that feel we have no purpose and because we have no purpose, there’s nothing “unique” or “special” about us. However, I tell you again, that in God’s eyes, we’re all special and unique, and that all of us share a purpose.
I’m a salty Christian and I am proud of it – my tang is going nowhere! I have much-needed salt to pour out into this world and share. I hope that you today realize that you too are a salty Christian and that you will season those who are around you so that they can then season all of those that are around them. We are the salt of the world! We can add flavor (taste) to this place and we can also help to preserve (save) a soul – this is the purpose of those who believe in Christ. Stay salty, my brothers and sisters in Christ.