I found a bible verse that is so incredibly scary. More than one actually, but I’ll start with one. Matthew 5:13, “You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt loses its flavour, how shall it be seasoned? It is then good for nothing but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot by men.”
This is what The Message says, “Let me tell you why you are here. You’re here to be salt-seasoning that brings out the God-flavours of this earth. If you lose your saltiness, how will people taste godliness? You’ve lost your usefulness and will end up in the garbage.”
Jesus says that believers are the salt of the earth. Salt can be used to season food or to preserve foods. Just think biltong. It also adds flavour by make (something) piquant or more interesting. The meaning of ‘salt of the earth’ is given in the dictionary as, ‘make (something) piquant or more interesting.’ If we are to be salt then first of all we have to live up to the name. We have to be the seasoning that brings out flavour. We have to make things much more interesting as well as preserving them. Now I ask, what must I be making more interesting and what must I be preserving?
I should be making life in general more interesting. I cannot be boring because I’m a Christian, can I? Christians are often seen as boring and unimaginative, dutifully going to church on Sundays and staying out of trouble.
I think many Christians are misled into believing that they should be people pleasers and because of references in the Bible about not judging, they are happy to tolerate almost anything. If I look at the apostle Paul, he was anything but boring. We are introduced to him in Acts 7:58 as the young man named Saul at whose feet the witnesses who stoned Stephen, laid their coats. Paul was well educated and well-travelled. He took many journeys by land and by sea, planted churches, made many converts and preached the Gospel. He wrote many letters to the different churches, which makes up most of the New Testament. He got warned about danger in visions. He even survived being bitten by a poisonous snake. He was shipwrecked and he was beaten and thrown into prison more than once.
Acts17:5-9 tells how Jason and his household were dragged before rulers of the city. The Jews thought that Paul was at his house in Thessalonica and they described Paul and his followers as, “These who have turned the world upside down.” So Paul turned the world upside down with his teachings and actions. Can we say that of Christians today? How many believers are turning the world upside down by following Jesus and Paul’s example?
And what must we preserve? We must preserve the truth. We cannot do what the world does and bend the truth and water down the truth so that it doesn’t mean what it used to mean. How many things which were totally unacceptable 50 years ago are now the norm, and not only the norm, but are tolerated and propogated as being good.
The second part of Matthew 5:13 says that if salt loses its flavour it is only good to be spread on a road. When are we in danger of losing our flavour? We are in danger of losing our flavour when we start compromising our fundamental beliefs and start looking and sounding like the world.
Hebrews 13:8, Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.
Malachi 3:6, “For I am the Lord, I do not change; Therefore you are not consumed, O sons of Jacob.”
Isaiah 40:8, The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God stands forever.
If God never changes, and Jesus never changes and God’s Word never changes, why do we think that we should change and compromise our principles and beliefs when the world is putting pressure on us? As soon as we start to compromise our beliefs we are starting to lose our flavour, our saltiness. Our ability to make things more piquant and interesting has been lost and we are of no use to the Kingdom. The danger we have to be aware of is that Jesus says once we have lost our flavour we cannot regain it.
Let us stick to what we believe and not compromise our values. Let us turn the world upside down for Christ.
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