We are told to be "salt to the earth" by Jesus in Matthew 5:13. What does being salt to the earth mean? It means that we should be to the earth what salt was to their culture. To better understand that we need to look at the culture Jesus was speaking to.
Let's see what that says about Christians and how we are to impact the earth around us. First off, we need to be "in the world, but not of it." Salt and Christians are not effective unless there is contact.
Second, it means that we should help make the unpalatable things in life palatable. We should be fun to be around and not walk around with a long face or bad attitude.Salt is used to preserve foods. Our presence in the earth preserves the community we live in. Look at how Lot's presence in Sodom and Gomorrah kept god's judgement at bay. God did not judge it until Lot was out of those towns. When we live in a community, praying for it, God holds back his judgement on it. Also being involved in our community can make a difference. for people will see our good works and some may even do some themselves, which would make it a more pleasant place to live (Mat. 5:13; Mark 9:50; II Cor. 9:27).
Salt is used to make things clean. It was used to clean their homes much like we use household cleaners today. Our presence in society should do the same. We do this through evangelizing in our community (I Thess. 1:8). If those around us accept Jesus as their Savior they will be clean spiritually.
Salt was used as an antiseptic. It was put on wounds, used as mouthwash, and even rubbed on babies to "strengthen them" (Ez. 16:4). We live in a society full of physically, mentality, and spiritually wounded people. Part of our job is to help them heal with God's help.
Salt was so important to society that it was woven into their culture. Ways we see this is how it symbolized hospitality (Ezra 4:14), durability , fidelity, perpetuity, incorruption (Numbers 18L19). These are ways we, too, can make a God honored impact on our communities.
But what happens when we are not involved as Christians in our community in the way God wants us to be? let us look at the end of that verse I started out with"...But if the salt looses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again?" This means that salt isn't doing its job. What happens when we Christians are not doing our jobs?
Our communities with out Christian involvement will leave it open to all kinds of evil. A good example of this is seen in the movie, "It's A Wonderful Life." In it we see a man named George who doesn't think that he made a difference in his community and wishes that he had never been born. He gets his wish. In the end, he sees that he has made a real impact in his community for the good.
Then there's the worse case scenario of how our community can treat us if we are not the salt we are called to be. We see this spoken of at the end of the verse where it does say,"It is thereforth good for nothing, bu to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of men." This is what they did with salt in those days that was deemed useless. I have seen this happen to people who say that they are Christians, but do not act like it. Causing people to say," If that is a Christian, i don't want to be one." It has those who are not a Christian so upset that they poke fun at the Christian that they poke fun at the Christian and sometimes even beat them up. Why? Because they really want Christians being salt in their society today.
So there's the challenge. Are we going to be salt that makes a positive impact on our society, or are we going to do nothing and be useless to God and our society?
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