Jesus continued His Sermon on the Mount by describing His disciples as the salt of the earth. Matthew 5:13 “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.”
Salt has many uses. It can preserve meat. It was used to mummify bodies. In cold climates where there is snow on the roads, spreading salt on the roads can make them safer for travel. Salt is used for purification. Salt can preserve meat. But perhaps the most common use for salt is to enhance the flavor of food. Many like salt on meat, potatoes, rice, French fries, tomatoes and even watermelons. Historically, salt has been the cause of wars because people wanted salt on their food. The word ‘salary’ derives from the Latin salarium, (sal is the Latin word for salt). There is some debate over the origin of the word salarium, but most scholars accept that it was the money allowed to Roman soldiers for the purchase of salt.
You and I, as followers of Jesus, are the salt of the earth. We give flavor to this distasteful world. In a world filled with wickedness, selfishness, and hatred, it should be refreshing to see Christians who make a difference by being righteous, living in love, and doing God’s work. But I also believe that we don’t just flavor the earth for our neighbors, but we give flavor to the earth for God. Let us look at some of the Biblical examples where there wasn’t enough salt or flavor.
Consider the flood. Genesis 6:5-8 “Then the Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. And the Lord was sorry that He had made man on the earth, and He was grieved in His heart. So the Lord said, ‘I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth, both man and beast, creeping thing and birds of the air, for I am sorry that I have made them.’ But Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord.” God saved Noah and his family, but He destroyed the rest of mankind because there were such widespread wickedness and violence. Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord, but there weren’t enough righteous individuals to provide salt or flavor to keep the Lord from destroying the rest of the world.
Consider the ancient cities of Sodom and Gomorrah. Genesis 18:20-21 “And the LORD said, ‘Because the outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is great, and because their sin is very grave, I will go down now and see whether they have done altogether according to the outcry against it that has come to Me; and if not, I will know.’” The Lord sent two angels to visit Lot in Sodom and Lot welcomed them into his house. But the men of the city surrounded the house and requested that Lot bring them out so that they could have homosexual relations with them. The men of the city became violent so the angels pulled Lot into the house, shut the door, and struck the men of the city with blindness. But before that, the Lord had spoken to Abraham and told him that he was considering destroying Sodom. Genesis 18:23-26 “And Abraham came near and said, ‘Would You also destroy the righteous with the wicked? Suppose there were fifty righteous within the city; would You also destroy the place and not spare it for the fifty righteous that were in it? Far be it from You to do such a thing as this, to slay the righteous with the wicked, so that the righteous should be as the wicked; far be it from You! Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?’ So the LORD said, ‘If I find in Sodom fifty righteous within the city, then I will spare all the place for their sakes.’” Then Abraham tried to bargain with the Lord. What if there were only 45 righteous? What if there were only 40, 30, 20 or even 10 righteous? The Lord finally agreed not to destroy the city if there were just 10 righteous in the city. But there weren’t 10 righteous in the city. So the Lord destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah. There wasn’t enough salt or flavor in Sodom – not enough righteous individuals.
Consider the nation of Israel and later the nation of Judah as recorded in the biblical books of Judges, 1 Kings, and 2 Kings. Time and again the Israelites turned away from the Lord and worshiped the Gods of the surrounding peoples. When they did that, the Lord gave them over to their enemies. Eventually the nation of Israel was taken into captivity by the Assyrians and never returned. Later the nation of Judah was taken into captivity by the Babylonians. These things happened to the Israelites because there wasn’t enough salt or flavor among God’s people – not enough righteous individuals.
What about today in your country? There is evilness everywhere. Violence is on the increase. Abortion is common. Homosexuality is open and condoned. There is an increase in witchcraft, Satan worship, and the occult. Greediness is prevalent. Illegal drug use and addiction is a plague. The internet is filled with falsehood and deception. Who can you trust? The world needs “salt”.
What about you? Are you known for always telling the truth? Are you busy doing good and helping others? Do you take a stand against wrong and defend what is right? Do you make it known that you believe in God and that Jesus Christ is your Lord and Savior? Do you demonstrate love to your neighbor? Do you demonstrate integrity? Would others consider your actions righteous? Are you flavoring the world for God? Are you the salt of the earth?
Jesus said “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.” When salt no longer has the capability to enhance the flavor of food, it is worthless and can be thrown away. You might as well throw it on the ground and walk on it. What does this say about you and me? If we do not provide a good influence in the world, what good are we to God? If we no longer flavor the world, what benefit are we? We must be different from the world in a good way to give it flavor to God.
I encourage you to be the salt of the earth. I encourage you to flavor the world with righteousness. I encourage you to be the seasoning of the world for God. You and I have an important role to play on this earth.