Has "The Salt" Lost Its Flavor?
Wednesday, 03 September 2008 15:49 Jonathan L. Perz
In the great Sermon on the Mount, Jesus taught His disciples saying, “You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt loses its flavor, how shall it be seasoned? It is then good for nothing but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot by men” (Matthew 5:13). The intent of these words was to promote the need for faithful living and good examples from those following Christ. Unfortunately, many making a profession of Christianity today have lost sight of the Lord’s teaching. As the salt of the earth, Christians are to be distinct—set apart—not only by their proclamation of faith in Jesus Christ, but by the faithful lives they live. Just as salt, they are to have a distinct flavor and to be a preservative against the evils and woes of society. When they lose that distinct flavor—the soul preserving power of Christ—they are good for nothing.
To make the application more specific, simply look around at the world. Morality is in short measure these days. Things like immodest apparel, sexual immorality and lasciviousness are the “in thing.” Sins of all sorts are declared good and acceptable. Homosexuality is embraced as an alternate lifestyle. Abortion has made wholesale murder legal and acceptable. Lying is commonplace and, in some places, expected. “Anything goes” is the standard for most. The unlimited vices that Hollywood and television alone have brought into the home are enough to vex any righteous soul who falls prey to their temptation. These are just the prominent sins of the world, the list of sins is endless! While conditions such as these have existed for centuries, and will continue to exist, the Lord expects better from His disciples. He says, “you are the salt of the earth.”
We have lost our flavor when we are unfruitful in the Lord. When we stop growing by study and meditation of God’s word, we are unfruitful (2 Timothy 2:15; 1 Timothy 4:12-16). When we are not rich in good works, we are unfruitful (1 Timothy 6:17-19). When we stop manifesting our love for our brethren and our neighbors, we are unfruitful (2 Pet. 1:5-8). When we grow weary in well doing, we are unfruitful (Galatians 6:9). Such Christians are “good for nothing.”
We have lost our flavor if we no longer cry out and fight against the evils of this world and those who seek to justify such evils. Things such as abortion, homosexuality, sex outside of marriage, and the vices of Hollywood need to be fought, resisted, spoken against, and denounced for what they are—sin—condemnable in the sight of God (Ephesians 5:11; 2 Corinthians 5:9-11). Does this mean we must make every battle a big one? No. We simply need to use every opportunity afforded us to teach God’s word and be a good example (James 5:19-20; Matthew 5:16). If Christians fail to do this, they become “good for nothing.”
We have lost our flavor when we turn a blind eye to wrongs being perpetrated in this world. I can’t help but think of how easy it would have been for John the Baptist to simply turn his back and ignore the sin of adultery between Herod and Herodias (Matthew 14:3 ff). Yet, John understood the leaven of evil, spoke against it and lost his head for his faith. The safe and easy choice was silence, yet John the Baptist was “the salt of the earth.”
We have lost our flavor when we defend error. So many professing faith in Christ would never practice homosexuality or consider having an abortion, yet they want to defend the right of others to choose such an option. In the sight of God, the consequences of such thinking are one and the same as having become a homosexual or having an abortion. Consider the teaching of Romans 1:26-32. Yet, the more subtle the error, the easier it is to defend. Even those who I would call brethren have come to the defense of those who teach that divorce and remarriage for any cause is acceptable in the sight of God (Matt. 19:1-9). Friends, we implicate ourselves by so doing (2 John 9-11) and should be “thrown out and trampled underfoot,” that we might be saved in the end (1 Cor. 5). What grave damage this little bit of leaven can do!
Finally, we have lost our flavor when we become the sinner ourselves. Such is often the case. The damage done to the cause of Christ by those who teach error, commit iniquity, live immorally, drink, gamble, lie, and manifest every conceivable wickedness in the eyes of a lost and sinful world have caused many to esteem Christianity as nothing more than a hypocrite’s religion. These ungodly examples, when left unchecked and undisciplined by the church, can virtually render a church useless in a community. Friends, such is despicable and will not go unpunished.