Wanted: “Salty” Followers of Jesus

     It’s a challenging thing to create a new society.  It does, of course, happen from time to time.  One of the world’s newest nations at the present time is South Sudan, which declared independence in 2011. For this new nation, the last few years have been years of immense challenge – and its very survival has been in jeopardy.  It is indeed a momentous thing to establish a new society.  And Jesus does precisely that in the Sermon on the Mount.  Have you ever wondered what role the citizens play in Jesus Christ’s new society?  The role is vital—and it might just surprise you.

     Jesus refers to His kingdom as the “kingdom of heaven” – it is the kingdom belonging to the God of heaven and whose subjects are citizens of heaven.  But, at the same time, it is a kingdom that is breaking into the world and that is being seen and experienced as Jesus the King proclaims the gospel.  It is a kingdom that exists both in the “now” and in the “not yet”. It is experienced now because the king has come and is creating a new people and a new community – but it is also not yet, because the kingdom will not be experienced in its fullness until the king returns.  

     The citizens of this new society have an important role.  In Matthew 5:13, Jesus declares, ‘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…’  Salt in the ancient world was used both to preserve and to flavour food. In a warm climate without refrigeration, the first function was undoubtedly the most significant.  Without proper preservation, food rots.  Similarly, citizens of God’s Kingdom are to act as a preservative in a decaying society.  And they must remain distinctive if they are to have that preserving effect.  Christians cannot lose their saltiness.  They are set apart to be distinctive and to have a positive effect on the society at large.  Where evil abounds, Christians are to live with integrity.  Where lies abound, Christians are to stand for truth.  Where hatred for others is the norm, Christians are to love their neighbours.  The bottom line is that the decay of society should be slower (though it won’t stop the decay altogether—a judgment and a new creation are coming) because Christians are present and having a preserving effect. 

     All of this begs a fundamental question:  Are you impacting the world around you?  It’s easy for us to believe that we have been saved in order to disengage from the world around us and escape it.  We might be tempted to retreat from all the mess and evil around us.  But Jesus won’t countenance that kind of outlook—He won’t allow us the easy and comfortable option of retreat.  He calls us to engage.  Notice that when salt was used to preserve meat, it had to be rubbed into the meat to have a real effect.  Are you “rubbing shoulders” with your neighbours and others in the community?  This week, challenge yourself to be rubbed into your society—not in such a way that you are compromised and thus you lose your saltiness—but in a way that sinners might taste the goodness and kindness of Christ’s Kingdom.  Remember, it is God’s kindness that leads others to repentance (Romans 2:3-4).  This week, be “salt” to a flavorless society and help those around you to taste the kindness of God.