Salt of the earth?
Photograph by Monicore via Pexels
Dr. D. Larry Gregg
Christians enthusiastically embrace Jesus’s observation, “Ye are the salt of the earth . . .” (Mt. 5:13 KJV). For most everyone it suggests the intrinsic spiritual and social value of the followers of Jesus in a complex, challenging world.
The ancients discovered that salt was useful in several important ways. The discovery of the preservative quality of salt made it possible to retard the decomposition of the meat ancient hunter/gatherers slaughtered, resulting in their ability to move beyond a “feast or famine” cycle to one where protein was regularly and predictably available.
Ancient peoples also discovered medicinal and ceremonial applications for salt. Ancient Egyptians used salt in the mummification of the bodies of the deceased. For the living, salt and salt water were used as disinfectants and antiseptics for treating wounds and relieving sore throats. Modern medicine emphasizes the importance of salt in preventing iodine deficiency, the regulation of electrolyte levels, cardiovascular health, the management of diabetes, and the use of IV saline solutions to maintain proper hydration levels in persons with serious injuries or burns.
Leviticus 2:13 refers to the inclusion of salt in ceremonial meat offerings to God. The same verse speaks of the “salt of the covenant.” This appears to reference a mutual agreement (covenant) between people of equal status. When partners to the covenant exchanged pinches of salt, through this symbolic act they pledged that the covenant would endure until the mingled grains of salt could be separated.
Anyone listening as Jesus announced “ye are the salt of the earth” would almost immediately be reminded of these preserving, flavoring, curative qualities of salt and would have been grateful to Jesus for declaring that such ordinary persons were so highly valued by him. Most Christians today are content to leave the matter with the conclusion that every believer is deeply valued by God, and Christians contribute to the moral fabric of society simply through their faithful presence.
Such a conclusion is satisfying and even contains a significant amount of truth. Much evidence over time validates the positive influence of Christianity upon personal morality, national policy, charitable endeavors, and ministry to the impoverished, the sick, the imprisoned, and the marginalized. One needs only to note the the Salvation Army, the influence of Christian theologians upon Roosevelt’s New Deal, and the work of Habitat for Humanity to illustrate this fact. However, much evidence over time may also be produced to illustrate the negative influence of Christianity when it marries itself to an economic system, practices religious triumphalism, is used to prop up and sustain racial prejudice, misogyny, nationalistic imperialism disguised as religion, and the elevation of cult personalities who demand absolute submission and loyalty from their followers.
We would do well to allow Jesus to continue to speak. “If the salt have lost his savour, wherewith shall it be salted? It is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of men” (Mt. 5:13 KJV).
It is deeply concerning when the redemptive message of Jesus Christ is hindered by spiritual rigidity; when hearts grow unyielding and minds become closed to transformation. Inflexible ideas, doctrinal beliefs, socially conditioned prejudices, and religious institutions often evidence the calcification of the tissue of the body of Christ in the world.
Often, we are caught using only as much Scripture as we need to suit our purposes. Sometimes we do so to justify certain behaviors, or to prove we are right and the other is wrong, or to impose our own personal will upon others. In these instances, it is important to recall that NaCl has other qualities that are negative rather than positive. While it is true that salt preserves, it is also true that salt calcifies. Salty accumulations contribute to coronary disease, kidney and gall stones, bone spurs, dementia, etc. In each case a hardened, insoluble mass may cause intense pain, functional impairment, and even death.
The classic biblical story regarding calcification is that of Lot’s wife’s refusal to heed the warning of God to not look back at the destruction of Sodom (Gen. 19:26). Jesus used the cryptic phrase, “Remember Lot’s wife” (Lk. 17:32) to warn those, past and present, who stubbornly pursue their own interests oblivious to the divine accountability closing in upon them.
It is deeply concerning when the redemptive message of Jesus Christ is hindered by spiritual rigidity; when hearts grow unyielding and minds become closed to transformation. Inflexible ideas, doctrinal beliefs, socially conditioned prejudices, and religious institutions often evidence the calcification of the tissue of the body of Christ in the world. Such calcification was witnessed in the submission of German Christians to National Socialism in the 1930s and 1940s. The reluctance of millions of American Christians to embrace the Gospel implications for racial equity, women in church leadership roles, economic and social justice for all, etc. are evidence of the intellectual and spiritual calcification of many hearts and minds today.
A second negative characteristic of salt is its capacity to contaminate. Persons living near the seashore or river estuaries have long experienced the contamination caused by the incursion of seawater. When underground aquifers become salt contaminated, the water held in them is no longer useful for human consumption, agricultural irrigation, or use in food processing and manufacturing. The remarkable growth of the bottled water industry in recent decades graphically illustrates the widespread concern over the contamination of the water supply by chemical salts and other substances.
Sometimes persons who consciously identify themselves with Jesus’s appellation “salt of the earth” lose or abandon the positive qualities of salt that should be reflected in their being, saying, and doing. They have “lost their savour” and are counterproductive in the body of Christ. Because of the calcification of their spiritual personhood and the witness-destroying attitudes and behaviors they have permitted to infiltrate their lives, they alienate rather than attract others, and they become worthless in bearing witness to the cause of Christ.
Finally, it is possible for salt to kill. Increased salinization of freshwater environments leads to the death of freshwater species. The repeated ingestion of seawater over time by the shipwrecked person who consumes it to slake thirst will eventuate in death. Earth sown with salt loses its ability to nurture agriculture. And persons who misuse their spiritual and social identity as “the salt of the earth” kill fellowship in the Body of Christ, kill positive witness to a needy world, and kill opportunities to provide preserving, flavoring, and curing qualities in communities, nations, and the world.
Jesus said, “Ye are the salt of the earth, but…” indicating a contingent quality to this reality. Being “the salt of the earth” requires positive decisions on the part of every believer. Christians can never take for granted that by our sheer existence we automatically exhibit the positive qualities implicit in Jesus’s commendation. Instead, in our daily being, saying, and doing it is imperative that we actively embody the positive qualities of salt.
Dr. D. Larry Gregg is a retired university and divinity school professor who has also served for more than fifty years as a Baptist local church minister. In retirement he is currently pursuing a third career as a writer of fiction and nonfiction. He also works as a consultant to churches in transition.
The views expressed are those of the author and not necessarily those of American Baptist Home Mission Societies.
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