New Thoughts (03/03/09-03/07/09)
Much as the last parable was heavily couched in the language of religious lawyers, this one is in the language of culturally informed symbolism. Unless we reach an understanding of the symbols, particularly of salt and earth, which reflects that of those gathered around Jesus to hear this at the first, we shall not have a hope of truly grasping His point. I suspect it shall also prove beneficial (if not absolutely necessary) to allow the three settings the Gospels provide for this proverb to blend together that we might avail ourselves of the joint commentary to be had by this means.
To begin with, though, let me lay out some of the things about salt that would have been understood inherently by His audience but might be rather lost on the modern man. As the encyclopedias have shown, the term salt encompassed more than what we would think of as ordinary table salt, or even sea salt, for the organically inclined among us. It is closer, in some ways, to the more scientific application of the term, which can take in a number of compounds. In particular, for the land of Israel, salt divided neatly into two categories, that obtained by evaporating the waters of the Mediterranean, and that gathered from the naturally evaporated mineral deposits of the Dead Sea region. Historically, the latter form had been much easier for the Jews to come by, given the Canaanite possession of the shoreline. Economically, I suppose it was probably a cheaper source even when the shores were under Jewish possession, for it could pretty well just be picked up off the ground, whereas the purer salt of the shore required processing to obtain.
Of importance in this naturalist’s perspective on salt is the simple fact that the impurities inherent to the Dead Sea salts made it entirely possible that the saltiness of that seasoning might very well be lost. Indeed, as the true salt was but a portion of the organic material, it became a possibility that all which was true salt might be leeched out, leaving only the impurities. This natural property of the most common salt (or, we might say, the salt of the commoners) is important to even beginning to grasp the import of Jesus’ words. If all we can think of is the pure chemical compound of NaCl, then the whole thing becomes meaningless because of the impossibility of NaCl being anything other than salt. So, bear this in mind as we proceed.
Far more important for our purposes, though, is to recognize the symbolic aspects inherent in the salt, and in the earth of which Jesus makes us the salt. This is of particular application to the reading we have from Matthew, where Jesus notes that we are the salt of the earth. When we come to grips with the significance of this declaration, we shall see the terrible impact which would come of the salt of our faith being removed. I confess that on the surface, that statement seems a little odd, almost nonsensical, for we do not generally associate salt and earth in any meaningful way. If anything, we may think about how too much salt prevents plant growth. Knowing the proximity of the Dead Sea to those Jesus is addressing, this might even seem the more natural connection to be drawn, were it not at odds with the point being made.
The point is that we just don’t really think of salt as anything much to do with agriculture. But, such was not the case for these folks. Certainly, it was a matter of common understanding that to salt an area was often a thing undertaken as insurance that nothing would become of that area again, rather akin to the feared results of a dirty bomb in our own day. But, it was also common practice to use a lesser amount of salt to act as a fertilizer. This seems to capture the flavor of what Jesus is relaying. It comes particularly clear in Matthew’s version, where the conclusion is that saltless salt is only worth using for that purpose of keeping vegetation down, so throw it on the footpath. Let men trample it into the soil, and that path will remain clear. At least some use will have come of that worthless salt.
Reading the passages again this morning, I was more captured by Luke’s account, though, with its added noting of the manure pile. What, one asks, does salt have to do with a manure pile? Again, it seems to be a matter of cultural understanding. We might associate salt with preservation, as we know that meat, for instance, tends to be salted in order to keep it from going bad when refrigeration is not an option. But, why would one want to preserve the manure? Well, the fact is that salt was used to speed up the decomposition process in that case. Doesn’t that seem totally at odds with the purpose of preservation? How can it be that salt in one case keeps the meat from going bad, and in the other helps what is already bad get more quickly to its concluding state?
However that may be, it at least provides a framework for understanding what is being alluded to in this proverb. So, now look at Luke 14:35. Two typical uses are being ruled out: fertilizing the soil and speeding up the decomposition of the manure pile. Great. But, now that we have this exceedingly earthy imagery before us, we really need to turn our eyes heavenward and seek understanding. What struck me this morning is this: In the first case, we who believe on the Christ are equated with fertilizer upon the ‘earth’ of humanity at large. I am getting slightly ahead of myself here, but so be it. That earth of humanity is commonly held to symbolize what is empty, weak and sinful in man. The salt, thus applied brings real growth, healthy and vigorous growth, out of that weak and empty stock, corrupted by sin.
In the case of the manure pile, the believer acts to speed the process of corruption, but understand this: it is with an eye to ending the corruption! As I pursue this further, we must have that clearly in mind: In both of these applications, the purpose of the Christian remains for the good, and the good remains defined by God. So, then, what to make of this? Were I to proceed with a typical straight line, I might say, “There are two kinds of people in the world: soil and manure.” We might see these as representing those who qualify as lost sheep, in the case of the soil, and those who are at best wolves in sheep’s clothing in the case of the manure.
In both cases, the Christian is intended to be applicable, useful. In the former case, he is there to instigate, facilitate, and promote growth of the germ of faith. They may be but dirt, even as we, but it is the presence of the Christian bearing witness to the Gospel of the Kingdom that turns barren earth into arable and productive gardens. In the latter case, the manifest witness of the Christian before the face of the reprobate seems to have this tendency for amplifying the sins of that man. Confronted by such goodness as may be found in the believer, the unbeliever is constrained to face his own condition, and will tend to do all that is in his power to avoid doing so. He will lash out. He will commit himself with greater energy to the pursuit of his sins, even to pursuit of greater sins. That may seem like a rather poor use of the Christian’s testimony, but it continues to advance God’s purposes. We must bear in mind that, as much as we rightly prefer His mercy, His justice is every bit as Good and Necessary.
That said, one other thought occurs to me in playing through this picture: manure is also a well known fertilizer. Manure is also useful for adding to the soil to promote growth. What shall I make of that? Well, first and foremost, while we may understand that our presence in the midst of hardened unbelief is more likely to promote a furthering of corruption and sin in the service of Justice, is still done with an eye towards the potential reclamation of that manure, that the manure might itself be transformed into arable soil. Were we not, after all, once upon that manure pile ourselves? Indeed, as we understand the organic process today, we might recognize that by and large, all arable dirt was manure at some point.
In sum, then, in either application, the Christian serves to promote the growth of faith. When the Christian has lost his salt, the implication is that he no longer promotes the growth of faith. He is just there. He has become like the excessive salt that kills the land. He can still be made to serve a purpose in that limited sense, but it is no longer the purpose for which he was formed and fit.
Returning to the symbolism inherent in these products of salt and earth, the immediately applicable image is one of great contrast, as I noted above. Earth: empty, weak, sinful; lacking wisdom and power. Salt: prudent good sense; health and vigor of soul. My! But, how this reflects our own entrance into the life of the kingdom! Indeed, how it reflects the whole flow of history from Creation onward! Man began as well-salted soil, and the love of God grew well in him. Come the fall, all the salt was washed out of man. You can almost hear it in the curse that came upon him. From now on, the soil will produce only with great effort. It’s not about farming, folks! It’s about spiritual growth. From now on, the earth of mankind will find it painfully difficult to attain to true spiritual growth. The fertilizer of faith has been washed out, and apart from that, the earth is much nearer to desert land.
But, God has not utterly condemned that earth! He retains His witness among mankind. He continues to fertilize the earth according to His schedule, and in places faith arises. But, yes, it is a struggle for faith to survive! It requires an attentive Gardener. Of course, we have just such an attentive Gardener in our God and Father. If we survey the Old Testament record, we find that these pockets of productive faith arise generally where God has directly intervened, and the immediate product of His intervention promotes further growth of faith in those round about. So, we see an Elijah arise and his faithfulness being a witness to the region, we see it play out just as the proverb seems to indicate: to the soil, his faith promotes growing faith. So we see an Elisha arise. So we see an Israel rejecting the Baals for a season. To the manure, his faith promotes a greater corruption, a speeding of the process. So we see the prophets of Baal destroyed, Ahab and Jezebel brought down. But, even their ruin comes to good purpose, promoting in its way greater growth in the soil fertilized by the evident hand God has had in their downfall. He still cares! He still acts! He has not abandoned His children here. Faith arises.
Down through the ages, then, we see God constantly salting the earth with the testimony of true believers in the midst of the vast desert of unbelief. He is ever sending encouragement to the struggling crop of faith that grows in that forbidding land. I cannot help but note that such a crop is also ever dependent on Him for survival, which is only as it should be. With that picture and application in mind, then, hear what Jesus is saying to us: If you, as My disciple, are neither promoting the growth of your fellow disciples nor confronting the corruption of those who oppose Me, what are you good for? Absolutely nothing! Don’t expect Me to maintain you in that case. The Tender of the vineyard doesn’t tend just for the good of His plants. He expects fruit of those plants, and where fruit does not appear in due season, He recognizes the need for a bit of pruning, maybe even replacement with a plant that will bring better return.
Does that sound mercenary? It isn’t. It’s simple good sense. You do the same with lawn, with shrubs, with trees. When the tree is clearly dead or dying, you cut it down lest its corruption cause it to fall in such a way as to damage your good and healthy house. If the grass in your yard is so overcome by grubs, weeds and street salts that no amount of fertilizer seems likely to ever bring it back, you rip it out and bring in new sod that will grow, lest your lands be eroded away around you. It is nothing more or less than removing the unhealthy that the healthy may grow more readily. It is nothing more than preventive medicine, ensuring that the disease does not spread and bring greater loss of health.
The idea of salt’s preservative action remains the more powerful image, though. Consider that it is in salt’s power to render the perishable imperishable. Isn’t this exactly what we find transpiring in God’s covenant with man? Through His covenant promise, we the perishable are rendered imperishable. We who were born into a state of living death are transformed so thoroughly that now, even in death we live. We bear in our very souls the promise that we shall be transformed in body even as we are now being transformed in spirit. We are a people who hold to the steadfast hope that in that day when we see our Lord in His fullness, we shall be made wholly like Him, fit for an eternity of fellowship with Him.
Is it any wonder, then, that salt should play such an important part in the covenant process? This was not just a God thing. It was a cultural thing. Whether that cultural aspect continues to this day I couldn’t say. Perhaps I ought to ask my pastor, as he is from the region. But, the idea that a man who has shared your salt is a man you shall from that day forward preserve alive and well so far as it lies in your means is a powerful idea, and one that clearly plays into the application found in Mark’s record.
This whole aspect of things should begin to transition our thinking just a bit as to how the whole parable is to be applied in our own case. Yes, there is that undertone – or even overtone - of, “Be useful or be removed.” But, this is no exhortation to earn one’s way to heaven. It is a warning shot at the Pharisees, certainly, and those like them who prove to be saltless salt, neither fertilizing nor preserving, neither promoting goodness nor condemning corruption. But, this is not the whole of the message. The correction is there, but it is the encouragement that we should hear even more loudly.
Listen, for instance, to the introduction from Matthew’s account, “You are the salt of the earth.” That is not an insult. Neither is it the obscure reference that it seems to our ears. No, and it’s not suggesting that they are the impure salt such as is pulled from the earth in places like the Dead Sea region, as opposed to the pure salt obtained by evaporating the waters of the sea. Not at all. The reference is to that fertilizing, preserving power of salt.
To make the matter clearer to our modern sensibilities, think of it in terms of our more typical usage of salt. Why do we salt our food? More precisely, when are we most insistent on salting our food? It is when that food would otherwise be unpalatable. Science would tell us that it’s a way of disguising a bitter taste by more or less fooling our taste buds with the tang of the salt. Keep it simple, though. Salt is what makes the unpleasant taste good. I think of those foods that I am most inclined to salt: things like Brussels sprouts and beets. Particularly in the former case, those sprouts were nothing I wanted in my mouth as a kid. They felt funny. They tasted funny. They looked like little boiled heads, and I was supposed to eat them? But, the salt changed the flavor, made that otherwise unwanted bit of food taste acceptable, even (shudder) good! As an adult, I still continue to salt my sprouts, but it’s no longer to hide the underlying taste, so much as it’s just habit.
The point here is that salt, as well as promoting good growth in the soil, is the thing that makes what is otherwise undesirable in food taste good. Salt was that necessary ingredient in the offerings given to the Lord, by which what was made unpalatable by our sinful nature was rendered a sweet and pleasing aroma to Him. “You are the salt of the earth.” You are that which preserves the rest. You are that which promotes healthy growth in the land. You are that which makes the whole of life on earth a pleasing aroma to God.
Look back at Abraham’s pleading for Sodom on Lot’s behalf. For the presence of so few as ten good men in that city, the wrath of God would be held back. The salt that preserves. Remove that salt, and what remains is no longer of interest, no longer of use, no longer worth salvaging. Sadly, but worth our remembering, there comes a time when the salt will be removed, when God’s wrath will no longer be turned back. But, He does not destroy the salt, He extracts it and relocates it. What, we might wonder, of that one who, though counted salt, is unwilling to be moved? Perhaps we might view Lot’s wife as the answer. Salt she remained and moved, willing or not, but not preserved and not preserving.
I will return to the covenantal aspect of the salt, because that is, I believe, the most critical part of this whole thing to understand and carry with us. But, there are some other aspects I should like to consider before going there. First, let me answer one question that I had when I first started contemplating this proverb. That question is: are we supposed to see the idea of saltless salt as an impossibility? Were that the case, then it would be easy to look at that “if the salt loses its flavor” as a merely rhetorical device, an absurdist proposal meant to be understood as not truly possible, but what if? However, after reading a bit on the sources and uses of salt in the region, the answer is clearly, no. The belief in that time and place was certainly that salt could lose its saltness, and with good reason. The more usual salt to be found in households of that time and place was that from the Dead Sea region, salt mixed with other minerals. If the salt leeches out, what remains may look like salt, but it is no longer salt as we would recognize it by taste. The saltness is gone, and the mineral deposits left behind, worthless for typical salt applications.
So, we cannot read this passage with an ear tuned to messages of salvation’s permanence. But, neither ought it to be taken as a proof text opposing that message. In spite of the thinly veiled threats regarding the end result that saltless salt can expect, there is one thing we would do well to bear in mind: There are two kinds of salt: the pure, genuine salt such as was derived through evaporation, and that adulterated salt of the Dead Sea. As regards the genuine salt, as the footnote in the NET says, “genuine salt can never lose its flavor.” Yes, that lesser stuff, that part-salt, part-dirt stuff, might well lose whatever claim to salt it ever had, but real salt? No way! Salt it is and salt it shall remain. So, as applied to this parable, the warnings are surely for the pseudo-salt which is already all but rinsed clean of every trace of real salt. But, the encouragement and instruction? That’s for the real salt. Indeed, that’s a preservative for the real salt, warning it away from taking upon itself the dirt of that lesser salt. “Beware the leaven.”
We began with the statement, “You are the salt of the earth.” But, before we follow Matthew and proceed to the question posed, remind yourselves of the amplification provided by the other Evangelists. In this regard, let me provide the phrasing that Wuest gives in translating Luke 14:34a: “Salt is excellent in its nature and characteristics, and therefore well adapted to the purpose for which it is in existence.” Whichever setting you consider for this proverb’s delivery, that is a worthy thing to bear in mind. Salt is, by its nature, perfectly fitted for its purpose. Salt, of course, represents the man of God, whether considered as the true believer in the nascent form of the disciples, or in the religious order of Israel, which is being exposed as saltless salt, no longer of any use, no longer fit to fulfill its intended role.
With that point clear, we can then contemplate the shades of meaning that are presented in each Evangelist’s account, beginning with Matthew. Here, I listen with the ears of the New Covenant and bear in mind the setting given, where the true believer is blessed for his persecutions suffered, for in this way the believer is accorded a certain equality with the prophets. In other words, that persecution by the poseurs in power is fit proof of the real quality of the believer’s faith. So, I hear, “Rejoice and be glad of your heavenly reward, for you are the salt, and these saltless persecutors are beyond redemption. They shall be trampled under foot.” This is, after all, an encouragement to the true salt as well as a warning to the adulterated ‘official’ salt of Israel. This latter group is put on notice: Whatever real salt you had is rapidly draining away, and when it is all gone, so is your purpose. Having made yourself useless to the kingdom of God, you will be thrown out of that kingdom.
Turning to Luke, where the setting is more to do with the informed decision God in Christ seeks from those who would claim His lordship, I hear things a bit differently. The warning nature of the proverb is now aimed at the decision process at the start of belief. You are making a claim to faith. If it is true, genuine faith, then it is well. It will stand by you, for genuine salt cannot become other than salt. But, if you’re only coming for appearance’ sake, if you’re just trying to boost your social acceptance by following Me, then the appearance you are putting on like a mask will eventually be washed away. If you’re not with Me for real, you will be exposed. In other words, Jesus has no time for blind faith. He doesn’t ask for it, and He doesn’t approve of it. He seeks those who have counted the cost, who are wholly committed to the plan and the purpose of God, whatever consequences there may be in terms of personal comfort. So, the proverb becomes something like, “Don’t come to Me with half-hearted faith. If this is what you bring, it will just be washed away, so don’t even bother.”
Really, anybody that has truly pursued the life Jesus prescribes must have long since recognized that it’s not about making life easy. If anything, it’s the opposite. It is a moment to moment challenge to live a life of righteousness in an environment that is steeped in sin. It is a difficult and exposed position to stand up as the light when everything around is dark. If you can’t stand the heat, never mind getting out of the kitchen. Don’t even go near it.
Finally, let’s look at Mark’s presentation, which returns us to the context that we’ve been following through so much of the recent series of studies. We’re back to Jesus addressing primarily the Twelve, primarily in reaction to their evident misunderstanding of place. They have been arguing about primacy amongst themselves. They have proudly confessed to jealous defense of their own privileged position. And this has rightly brought upon them a ringing, if tender, rebuke from the Master. He has not called them idiots. He has not banished them from His school for their foolishness. He is a Teacher! He is teaching them. He is changing their perspective to a better vantage point, and this is His closing point in the lengthy lesson.
It begins with that same clause that we found in Luke. Salt is good, but what use is it when the salt is gone? Now, though, we have another question added. Can you make it salty again? My, my, my! Do I hear an echo of Job’s encounter with the Creator in this? You twelve, so full of yourselves, so impressed with what you’ve accomplished for God. You are all but convinced that He needs you, and not the reverse. But, you’ve seen the salt. You’ve seen what happens when that Dead Sea salt is exposed for too long. It’s not salt anymore, is it? Sure, you call it that, but the flavor’s gone and so is the usefulness. And you, you proud ones who think you should be seated at My right and My left, are you, then, able to restore it to useful saltiness? Where were you when the pillars of the earth were founded? Can you tame Leviathan? Come, let us reason together…
Rebuke finished, He can now turn to the positive instruction, and it is upon this final aspect that I find we really need to focus most fully and fitly. “Have salt in yourselves, and be at peace with each other.” While this is the general formula followed by most of the more literal translations, I must note that in and with are translating the same word, en. Further, it seems pretty clear that this closing comment is spoken in the way of parallelism so common to proverbial statements. In other words, the two halves of the sentence are intended to reflect the same point.
With that in mind, go back to the subject of salt’s significance to the culture. Recall that there was a point made about the great significance placed on sharing salt with another. Even if that one had been your enemy moments before, now that he has shared your salt, you will do all in your power to preserve him. Under the circumstances, particularly with the contextual setting of that disciples’ competition, it makes far more sense to hear Jesus speaking in an allusion to this well known behavior. Imagine! Telling these righteous Jews to behave like the Arabs! Isn’t that somehow like our Teacher, though, to show us that those we are most inclined to look down upon are more than able to demonstrate to us how we might better represent our Lord? One could find a trace of ‘despise not’ in the salt of this teaching, and that would again be most fitting with the general flow of Jesus’ words.
The Message, trying to wrestle with this somewhat obscure closer, comes up with, “Be preservatives yourselves. Preserve the peace.” OK. As a way of tuning the message to our own cultural milieu, that’s not bad. In fact, it’s a reasonable point to take to heart. This is what we are supposed to do. We are called to be the peacemakers, and in doing so, we demonstrate our own position among the blessed of the Lord by Jesus’ own teaching (Mt 5:9). Indeed, this is the mark, He says, of the sons of God! So, it’s no surprise to find the Apostolic message to the Church bearing this point along and reinforcing it.
Consider that foundational letter of Romans. I say foundational not so much in the sense that this was where things started, but rather in the sense that so much of what the Church has become and maintained is based solidly on the clear and carefully reasoned presentation of doctrine that Paul has given us in this letter. Ever careful to balance the apologetic with the applied, he has first laid out a detailed defense or proof of the doctrine of the Gospel, and then turned his attention to what that means in daily life for the believer. In the course of pursuing this latter purpose, we hear from his writings: “Let us pursue those things that promote peace, that build up each other’s faith. Don’t you dare to tear down God’s work over things that don’t matter! Listen up! All things are, in absolute truth, clean. What makes an evil of them is your insistence upon using them even when that use offends another’s conscience. For, to that one, making the same use of this thing as you would be a sin, having gone against his own conscience, and thereby, your use serves as an enticement to sin in him” (Ro 14:19-20).
Yes, I’ve folded a bit of the surrounding teaching back in there, but the point is made: Focus on promoting peace and building up faith. Blessed is the peacemaker. Indeed, if it is at all possible, in any degree to which it depends on you, be at peace with all men (Ro 12:18)! Even outside the Church. You are the salt! Season the strife with peace, that it may be a more palatable world! But, most importantly, in the household of God, the Prince of Peace, all His children should abide in peace. Cultivate that! Live it! Rejoice in it! Be completed, comforted and of like mind with each other (and isn’t that a most peaceful condition!). Live in peace (2Co 13:11). That’s not a recommendation. It’s not a suggestion. It’s a command, and that command comes followed by a promise. “And the God of love an peace shall be with you.”
You know, the translation I favor lists these states of being and then places a semicolon between that list of how we should be and the promise of how God shall be with us. Now, in large part, it would prove impossible for us to satisfy the commands of being as ordered here if He were not with us. Indeed, even when we do have Him abiding in us, it proves mighty difficult, doesn’t it? I wonder, would it prove a greater concern to us to abide these commands, though, if we saw something of covenantal language in this statement? If you act as a people completes, comforted, like-minded and at peace amongst yourselves, then will the God of love and peace be with you.
It is somehow both, don’t you see? If we are thus in our family of God, then truly He is with us, and in the obverse, if He is truly with us, then this is how our family of God shall be. That is the evidence. They shall know us by our love. How shall they know of our love? By our constant vocalizations of the same? No. I don’t think so. Think of the children in a family. How do they measure their parents’ love for each other and for their children? Is it by the number of times somebody or other says, “I love you”? That may help, but it will never suffice. No, the quickest, most certain assurance of love being present is peace between the lovers. The quickest way to promote a child’s doubts of his elders’ love is for that child to be witness (particularly, a constant and repeated witness) to seemingly endless strife and argument amongst the elders.
Be at peace with one another! Make peace. Cultivate peace. Live peace. That doesn’t mean you compromise your doctrine or principles to get along. But, combine this with some of what I looked at recently regarding Paul’s concern for taking in-house disagreements public, into the civil court. What are you thinking? In particular, the face of God’s people that the outside world sees ought to reflect the God we represent, not the petty quarrels still too easily taken up by us in our yet to be perfected state. That’s not hypocrisy, not necessarily. It is the way of the ambassador. It is representing the reality of heaven’s order as best we can, even when it is not yet fully our own order. It is striving for the ideal, even while we know we are yet less than ideal. It is running the race to win, even though we can see clearly enough that another ahead of us shall take the wreath. It is doing our best even when it seems obvious that our best will never be enough. It is refusing to quit trying. And it is all of a piece, this business of being at peace.
I am not done, however, with this matter of salt and peace in relationship. You see, there’s more to it yet. Remember that salt was a necessary ingredient in the sacrificial offerings of the Old Covenant. I tell you, that hasn’t changed, and the key to it lies in this proverb Jesus has set forth. Let me lay it out clearly. For the sacrifice of old to be acceptable before God required salt. The salt, we have just seen equated to peace. The sacrifices of that old covenant might best be equated to our prayers in the new. In the same way, then, that salt was required to make the sacrifice acceptable, the salt of peace is necessary to make our prayers acceptable.
Angry prayers, while a right an needful way to express ourselves honestly with God, are not the ones that get things done. It is the prayer founded on peace, seeking real peace, soaked first in the love of God for us and then in its overflowing love for others, that are found to be a sweet aroma in God’s nostrils. These are the prayers that He is most desirous of answering, for these are the prayers that are in accord with His own heart. These are the prayers that have an effect on the world around us, and behind them lies the sound Christian character that likewise has an effect on the world around us.
The impact of that character and prayer life may be that of preservation or purification. It may be such as causes tender shoots of faith to grow, or such as causes the encroaching weeds of sin to wither. Either way, it promotes the purposes of the kingdom of God. Either way, it demonstrates a child of God which is good, fully equipped and perfectly suited for his purpose. Either way, the alternative is to demonstrate oneself tasteless. Now, let me restore some of the definition to that word, for, while ‘tasteless’ renders it well in reference to salt and saltiness, in application, there are other understandings that will serve us better. Insipid is one. Translate that as dull, flat, lacking in interesting, stimulating or challenging qualities. Or, let us be more focused on the moral state: stupid, downright moronic, in matters of morality, a blockhead.
In other words, the saltless salt of humanity, while it may look like salt and may even taste like salt for a time, is not salt at all. It lacks every worthwhile quality. It has the moral judgment of quicksand. It is utterly worthless. It is not fit for its proper use, and in fact, it is not fit for any use. This is the convicting, condemning message to the false salt. But, the true salt remains.
As important to grasp as I believe all this has been, there remains one point more, and that point is, I believe, the most critical. You see, part of the reason salt has this association with peace is that it has an association with covenant. Remember, the sacrificial system was in large part nothing but a reminder of covenant. Even today, as we share in communion, it is in remembrance not so much of the sorrows our Christ went through to save us, but of the covenant He established in His own blood.
It strikes me, then, that part of what Jesus is making His followers aware of here is that the covenant is not just between God and man, not just between a man and God. That covenant is just as binding between God’s children. Have salt amongst yourselves! You are in covenant relationship one with another, who are children of God’s household! Bind yourselves, therefore, one to another. This is foundational! If we struggle to be at peace with our fellow believers, is it not in part because our stubborn, independent streak is inclined to see it more as, “me and Thee, God!” than as, “You in us and we in You”? In God we trust, but in our brother we’re not so sure. But, don’t you see? Your brother is bound to the same God by the same covenant. He is being renewed in the same way, if not at the same speed or on the same specific front!
We are taught that is impossible that we could love a God invisible, whom we cannot see if we cannot even manage to love our brother next to us. True enough, although we also know that without God’s love in us, we cannot love our brother. But, I think we can take that as a prerequisite for the teaching. I.e. God first loves us, and love’s first expression is towards our brothers. We think it’s back to God, but really, if it hasn’t first found that expression in fellowship with the body of believers, then it’s never found it’s way back to God.
Here, I see the same lesson applied to covenant relationship. How can you even pretend to be in covenant with God if you cannot manage to live in covenant with your brother? If you will not uphold your side of the covenant relationship with him, whom you see and meet so often, what possible basis is there to suppose you’ll keep your side of the covenant with God? Every covenant has its if clause. If you then I’ll. The relationships we are blessed with, within the house, within the church, these are training grounds for the relationship we are developing with our Brother and Lord, with our God and Father. Just as the Law was the training ground for the Gospel, so the daily life of the Church family is the training ground for an eternity as family in heaven.
Do you need an incentive to try harder? Consider this: The relationships you share right now – are these of the sort you would want to spend an eternity in? Are they the sort of relationship you want to deal with day in, day out forever more? Let me ask it more bluntly: Have you ever found yourself longing for the day when that relationship is no more? The problem, amigo, is probably not with the other half, certainly not entirely so. The problem is you. The problem is me. We are still such lousy peacemakers, such adulterated salts. Here, though, is the promise I find inherent in Christ: While it is true in nature that what leeches out of the adulterated salts is the true salt, leaving nothing but the additives, in Christ, the promise is that the process shall be reversed. We are not left exposed in the fields, we are placed in a crucible. It’s a far more painful process we go through, but the end result is far superior! We are not left to lose every last trace of purity within us, but rather, we are being processed until only the purity remains.
Alright, I know I said this was the last point to be made, but there is one other aspect of the pure salt that has been bouncing around in the back of my head which I think is also worth noting. I have noted already that real salt never loses its saltiness, and this is true. Yet, real salt does, as it were, disappear, doesn’t it? At least, insomuch as remaining a solid form, it does. No, let me turn that picture around a bit. When the salt leeches out of the adulterated material, that material loses its saltiness, but then, it was never really salt in the first place, it was just mixed with salt.
But, what has happened to that salt that leeched out? Likely, it was dissolved in water, and that water carried it off. Perhaps that water has now soaked into the soil, depositing traceries of salt throughout. Isn’t that the way the fertilizing action works? And perhaps, someday, that soil will have condensed and become mineral deposits that can be mined to once again provide an adulterated form of salt. Or, maybe that water ran down to the sea, and the salt it bore went with it. But, take of that sea-water and evaporate it, and what have you got? That same, original salt!
My point is this: God uses the salt of His people in a similar fashion. He may leech it out of one place, and deposit in another. He may cause the dilution of His people at times to be so thorough as to seemingly disappear entirely. But, in all this, He is spreading the goodness of His salt, His people, through places of need. As the salt passes through the soil, the soil is improved. But, the salt remains salt. As the salt passes through the waters of the ocean, it maintains ocean life. But, the salt remains salt. It is, if you will, the gift that keeps on giving. No matter how much life around that salt makes use of the salt’s presence, it can still keep giving, and yet remain salt. At the end of the day, when the final refinement comes, when all the remaining dregs of sinfulness in the world are finally washed away, the salt will remain. It will not have been diminished in any way. That, my friends, is the certainty of the promise of God in us! That is the end result of the Upholder of Covenant, Who in that first covenant with Abraham, took upon Himself the upholding of both sides of the bargain, sworn upon Himself as an extra bit if insurance for us, as if such insurance were necessary.
So, let us learn to demonstrate the qualities of salt, to possess the qualities of salt. Let us, as our Lord has commanded, be peacemakers, particularly amongst ourselves, but also with the society we infiltrate. Let us be eminently useful for those purposes for which God created us. Let us beware of so perverting and polluting the pure Gospel imparted to us that we are found to have been no salt at all, but only the worthless additives, the moral idiots with no real sense of right and no interest in pursuing it.
