"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. "You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven. Matthew 5:13-16
Jesus said that His disciples are “are the salt…” and we “are the light…” These are not things we are to aspire to be or to become, they are who we are! The question for us to ask ourselves upon self-examination is “How salty are we, and how brightly are we shining?”
Regarding our “saltiness,” Jesus warned that when salt looses its saltiness, it is “good for nothing but to be thrown out and trampled under foot.” What does that mean?
First, it means that salt can loose it’s saltiness. Spiritually, when the salt loses its spiritual and moral preserving properties, it is because the Church is not inhibiting the putrefaction of the world, but is either doing nothing, or worse, is being putrefied along with the world. Not only can this happen but, sadly, Church history is marked by recurring seasons in which this happens. We are living such a season.
Second, when the salt loses its saltiness, it “good for nothing.” In other words, if our influence is not standing against the spiritual and moral putrefaction of the world, it doesn’t much matter what else we are doing!
Third, when the salt looses its preserving influence, the world stomps the Church under its feet—disregarding. mocking, and even persecuting the Church. Do we not see this happening in our world today?
But consider this: because Christians are salt—and because there is always at least a remnant of Christians who are retaining their saltiness—we are a problem for the world. Consider the moral insanity of our day. People march in the streets for the “right” to murder babies in the womb. People loudly promote the lie that gender either (a) doesn’t matter, or (b) can be changed because a mentally ill person does not “feel” they are the gender into which they were born (this lie is being taught to children in government schools, no less!). Who is standing against this spiritual and moral insanity? Not the government. Not the fields of science and medicine. The biblical Church is the last bastion that says, “No!” I say biblical Church because there are many who claim to be Christian, but are not, who have joined the insanity parade.
Biblical Christianity is not only the minority in the world but, sadly, biblical Christianity may well be in the minority among those who claim to be Christian.
This is a major reason the world hates us! Nevertheless, we must graciously, but resolutely say, “No!” to the spiritual and moral putrefaction of the world in which we live—even if we who stand are small in number. We do not want to become “good for nothing,” do we?