Staying salty

Read Matthew 5:13

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In the ancient world, salt was a valuable commodity because it was used to preserve food which otherwise would quickly have gone bad. Christians should have the same effect in regard to preventing rot and decay in society. By living out the qualities of God’s kingdom as described in the Beatitudes, we bring God’s good influence into the world around us.

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Once again it’s clear that God’s people are different from people of the world. Or at least they are meant to be. We must not lose our saltiness, otherwise we are good for nothing. We need to have “salt in ourselves” (Mk.9:50) – the same verse adds “and be at peace with each other”, an indicator of what our saltiness looks like in practice. Similarly, “let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt” (Col.4:6). Salty Christians are gracious people.

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But graciousness cannot be separated from truth (Jesus was full of both Jn.1:14) and if we shrink from speaking God’s truth into the world we fail to be salt to it, even if that truth stings and is unwelcome. Yet such truth must always be spoken in love if it is to faithfully represent God’s kingdom. To retain our saltiness we must retain our Christlikeness.