Salt-Free Christians

Bill Brown ... Xiamen University
"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 by men." Jesus (Matt. 5:13)

Duke Ye asked about good governance. Confucius replied, "Those near are happy, those far away are attracted." 叶公问政。子曰：“近者说，远者来。” (Analects 13:16)

Jesus was very specific when he told his disciples they were the "salt of the earth." He said, very specifically, you are the salt. And he did not say "a" salt but "the" salt. But most importantly, he said they are salt, rather than becoming salt.

Being, not Becoming In his book, "Matthew," Frederick Dale Bruner wrote: "The Christian ethic is an ethic of "become what you are" rather than the Greek or Confucian ethic of "become what you should be."

I'm thankful that, on my own, I don't have to try to become something, because even great Sages like Confucius lamented that they failed to live up to even their most basic rules of conduct (and Confucius certainly did not measure up to his 3,300 codes).

I feel badly about breaking annual New Year resolutions, but the apostle Paul said that he "died daily" and started over again daily. Paul confessed, "What I want to do, I do not do, and what I don't want to do, that I do!" [Rom. 7:15]. No matter how "good" we are, our actions and deeds will not make us become salt, but fortunately our saltiness does not depend on what we do but Whose we are. Right actions do not make us salt--though if we are salt, it should lead to right actions. As Jesus said, "You shall know them by their fruit." [Matthew 7:20]

The disciples were not salt because of who they were or what they did but because of Who they served--and how. Morris wrote that the main thing about salt is that it is "different" from that around it. He wrote, "[Christians'] power in the world lies in their difference from it." But if Christians cease serving Christ, and cease being different from those around them, they have "lost their saltiness", and as Christ said, are worthless.

Salt-Free Christians I've heard many complain that about people who are anti-Christian, but does this mean they are against Christ as well? It is interesting that Jesus was rejected only by the religious leaders of his day, but warmly welcomed by the rabble--the drunkards, tax collectors, prostitutes. I suspect that today's common folk would also embrace him if they met him face to face. If Christ is rejected today, it may be because people do not see him in us. They are rejecting not Christ but salt-free Christians who have lost their saltiness because they are no longer different from those around them.

People need salt in their lives as much as in their food. Don't give them vinegar, or MSG. Walk in Christ, be different, and be salt. And then perhaps those around us will be like those of whom Confucius said, "Those near rejoice, those far away are attracted."
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