"Ye are the salt of the earth: but if the salt have lost his savor, where-with shall it be salted? it is thence-forth good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot or men."
Jesus was saying this to His church - His followers. He was speaking to them about the type of life they ought to live and the kind of people they ought to be.
In ancient times people connected salt with purity. It is a fact that salt comes from the two purest things...the sun and the sea. The Jews salted their sacrifices before offering them to God. If the church - God's people are going to be the salt of the earth they must be pure. In His Sermon on the Mount, in Matthew 5:8, Jesus said, "Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God." The people of God must be pure. Pure in deed - pure in word and pure in thought. We cannot help clean up the world and make an impact unless we are ourselves clean. "Ye are the salt of the earth" is not only a description of the church, but it is a description by implication of the world. The world is corrupt, impure and unclean. Without the salt - the church - God's people, the world would completely rot away.
The people in Jesus day were quick to learn that salt had great power to preserve from corruption. Did you know that salt is the oldest preservative in the world? If we are to be the salt of the earth we must be a preservative. We must preserve the truth; everything good and wholesome. We must have high ideals, morals and Christ-like principles. God's people must take our stand against evil and its influences in our current day. We must take a stand against all that is damnable to the souls of men, wrong doing in every level of government - County, State and Federal. We must be pure and use our power to preserve purity.
Another thing the people of Jesus day knew about salt was that it was useful. Of course, we know that to be true in our day as well. If the church - God's people are to be the salt of the earth it must be useful. Former President John F. Kennedy was famous for saying, "Ask not what can my country do for me but what can you do for my country." The church of God has two types of members. One who thinks in terms of what can the church do for me. (If every member felt this way we'd be in a bad way.) The other type of member thinks in terms of what can I do for my church and if there is a job to be done this member is always right on the job. We need more members like that! We need members of the body that help make the world see their need for Christ.
Salt gives flavor to things. Food cooked without salt is dull, flat and tasteless. There are many people who feel that Christianity take the flavor out of life. They say we can't do this and we can't do that. But, the reality is that the Christian is the life, the flavor and soul of society. Our lives should radiate with the joy of the Lord and the peace of the Lord. We should radiate faith and encouragement.
Love should be overflowing within our existence and add such a flavor that the world would hunger and thirst after what we have.
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