How Can Christians Be a Preservative Agent in the World?

Day 18 Matthew 5:13

¹³ “You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot.

While we hear this verse a lot, what does it really mean? In our society, too much salt is not necessarily a good thing.  Too much salt gives us high blood pressure. But Jesus uses it in a different way based on its meaning in his own culture.  Jesus tells his followers that they are the “salt of the earth.” In his day, salt was in high demand due to a lack of refrigeration.  Salt preserved rotting meat, and Jesus uses this metaphor to teach his disciples to be salt in a “rotting world”. On the flip side, Jesus acknowledges that salt can lose its saltiness.  Meaning Christians can lose their influence in the world. They can just blend in, and not flavor anything.  Jesus tells us to be, “In the world, but not of the world”. Today, more than ever, Jesus calls us to have a distinctive flavor in the world we live in.  If we are not the salt in the world, where will it come from?

Jesus, you have set us apart to be the salt in the earth. Though we live in the world, may we not lose our saltiness as your preservative agent in the world.  Amen.