Today, we are going to look at a passage out of Matthew and how Jesus calls us to flavor the world.
Matthew 5:13 says, “You are the salt of the earth, but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled under people’s feet.”
I’m sure you would agree with me that salt makes everything taste better. When you have a meal and it needs just that extra bit of flavor, salt can make a big difference. Salt was also used in biblical times to preserve food from rotting. Are you adding flavor to the lives of those around you? Do you carry around a rotten attitude to decompose like that of the world? When people see you, do they see Jesus? The concept is so simple friends and if we fail in showing Jesus we have failed our task. Have you ever thought about what you want to be remembered for? If someone who does not know you asked someone who did, “What is (insert your name) passionate about?” What would the response be? I sure hope mine would be, “Jesus.” It is incredibly easy for us to get off track and fall into the traps of the world and suddenly without noticing it ourselves, we become just like the world. When there is no distinction between us and those of the world, others will not see Jesus Christ.
Let’s look again at Matthew 5:13. Jesus at this point in scripture is speaking to His disciples. He charges them with this statement, “You are the salt of the earth.” Jesus did not say, “you could be,” “you might be,” “you kind of are.” He cuts to the heart of the matter and with righteous authority states, “You are.” As a believer, we are the ones sprinkled across the globe packed with the same righteous conviction Jesus gave in His command. Do you believe that? Jesus gave His disciples and all those who believe affirmations with His words. As He speaks to them on the mountainside here in Matthew, He speaks with authority. Anytime Jesus speaks with this conviction, we ought to receive it as affirmation and empowerment to our souls. Jesus calls us “salt of the earth,” therefore we are.
The second part of that first affirmation is followed by a question Jesus poses, “but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored?” I will use an example to help illustrate this point. I love the ocean. Love would even be an understatement. Pristine waters, lush aquatic life and salty. Now suppose I plan a trip to the beach and when I arrive, jump in with my snorkel, mask and fins, and I notice the water is not salty. At first I am not bothered by this because if it gets in my eyes it will not burn or if it gets in my mouth I will not gag, but then I notice all the dead fish. The creatures in the ocean need the salt to survive. Without the salt, they all perish. The salt preserves their way of life, just as it symbolically preserves ours. If suddenly all the salt was removed from the world’s oceans, which makes up 96.5% of all water found on earth, how could it possibly be salty again? It would be absolutely impossible. If you or I become a believer and suddenly we lose our saltiness, we would be completely rendered useless in sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ. If you accept the call of Christ to change your life and you do not follow Him, share Him and live for Him in a way that is visible by others, you are salt-less. When this happens, you communicate to God you do not desire to be like Him or serve Him as His child. He cannot restore one who does not desire to flavor anymore.
Jesus makes clear in the last section of the text, the purpose for those without saltiness. They are, “no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled under people’s feet.” Jesus created you and I for a purpose. Just as salt has a function and a purpose, so do our lives. The hand of Creator God put within you a purpose to be so vibrantly righteous in your lifestyle that when others look at you they see Jesus. If the world looks at you and does not see Jesus, you have not given the Creator credit and do not trust Him to do amazing things with your path. You are no good without Jesus Christ and if you continue to live a life apart from Him, you not only miss out on the tremendous blessings of being a Child of God, but you are no different than those around you. Our world needs hope through Jesus Christ. Be that hope and provide Jesus by the way you serve Him.