Are You A Salty Saint?

In Matthew 5:13 Jesus said, “You are the salt of the earth.  But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again?”  When I served in the Hollywood Fire Rescue Department I was given the privilege of cooking for the men at my station.  Salt was an important ingredient during the preparation of the meals to enhance the flavor of the foods.  It never ceased to amaze me to watch many of the men vigorously shaking the salt shaker all over the food I had labored hours over preparing and cooking before even taking the first bite!  Yet, the primary importance of salt was not so much to add flavor but to act as a preservative.  So what is Jesus talking about in this verse?    

Jesus was telling His disciples that their lives were to be poured out in faithful service to others to hinder the corruption in their sin-stained, self-centered, and spiritually-dead world.  He is saying the same to us today.  When Jesus laid His life down for sinners, He was giving us the model of what a disciple is to look like.  Being a disciple is not about living a life of self-protection, self-absorption, and selfish ambition.  It’s about living a life marked by self-sacrifice. It is trading a life of ease for activity, consumption for contribution, materialism for the Master.   So are you a “salty” saint or have you lost a bit of your saltiness?

Oh, one final point about this “salt” Jesus is talking about.  Salt is a singular ordinary ingredient that makes an extraordinary contribution to the whole.  Every grain of salt is as important as every other grain of salt which means…YOU ARE AS IMPORTANT AS EVERY OTHER SAINT!  You have gifts, talents, and abilities that are uniquely yours, given to you by God to be used for His glory and the good of others.  Never underestimate or under value the transforming impact God is calling you to have in the lives of all people living in this hurting and broken world.  NEVER FORGET THAT…AMEN!