The Problem of Tasteless Christianity

Matthew 5:13

June 2, 2002

 

Times of war, and national and personal tragedies bring out the best and worst in people. In such times one's true colors seem to bleed through the fa�ade of life. Character surfaces and inevitably affects one's sphere of influence. The effect is transforming and purifying or deflating and destructive. Character has no neutrality. Ultimately, it cannot be hidden. What you are inwardly will manifest itself in myriad ways throughout you life.

 

The assertion that Jesus makes brings us face to face with the reality that however small we may be in number as believers in a given culture, the strength of Christian character will have a purifying, salty effect upon the whole culture. We must remember that his first audience that heard the statement, "You are the salt of the earth," was not composed of millions of elite, but a small band of fishermen and peasants heard that they were the salt of the earth. They were the ones that would have the impact of preserving civility in the face of depravity.

 

The story of Dietrich Bonhoeffer in Nazi Germany provides a case in point. While many of the ministers in Germany either put their heads in the sand while rampant abuses occurred, or even worse, joined hands with the Nazis, Bonhoeffer stood tall against bigotry, racism, cruelty, and despotism. He continued preaching until he was kicked out of his pulpit, then he kept teaching young ministers in preparation for a restored Germany. He had a chance to escape to America or England, but instead, Bonhoeffer believed that his country needed Christian influence if they were to survive the tyranny of Hitler. So he stayed. In 1937, two years before Hitler's invasion of Poland, he wrote these words, "Flight into the invisible is a denial of the call [of the Christian]. A community of Jesus which seeks to hide itself has ceased to follow" [The Cost of Discipleship, 118]. Making that declaration in a time of safety is one thing; but doing it in a time of great danger is yet another. He practiced what he preached, refusing to hide where he could lob verbal grenades at Hitler's atrocities from a safe distance. Instead, he sought to be salt and light in the midst of dark putrefaction in Nazi Germany. Himmler ordered Bonhoeffer hung a week before the Allied liberation, but the salty effects of his testimony helped to turn a broken nation around. His Cost of Discipleship continues to influence new generations of believers that know nothing of Hitler's tyranny yet still need to stand as Christians in the midst of a sinful world.

 

Character leading to action is the prominent concept in the Beatitudes. The disposition of heart that recognizes spiritual poverty, mourns over sin, bends the will in submission to Christ, and hungers for righteousness stands in sharp contrast to the world. The world does not understand such a heart! It is smitten by the effects of such Christ-transformed character so that even in its depraved condition, its decaying is slowed by the influence of believers.

 

The Christian's character has a purifying effect upon the world about him. Salty saints are true disciples of Jesus Christ. We are followers of Christ only as long as we are salt to the world. What does it mean to be salty saints?

 

I. A fitting transition

 

How do we translate the character of the Beatitudes into real life? That is what we see taking place in the verses that follow. It is nowhere more apparent than in the two figures of salt and light. Jesus has just emphasized what constitutes kingdom citizens. He describes them in the eight Beatitudes with the last one explaining that the world will react even to the point of persecuting kingdom citizens. So it almost seems that the believer asks the question, "What now Lord? If they are going to persecute me and say all kinds of evil things about me, am I to withdraw from the world? Am I to find a comfortable castle that I can hide from all of the world's discomfort and wait for heaven?"

 

But Jesus plunges the believer right into the midst of the world, not to be shaped or formed by it, but to have a radical effect upon it. In spite of the world's rejection of Christians-and for 2000 years there is a consistent pattern of the world's reaction against Christians-we are to be salt to the world. Jesus does not tell us to become salt to the earth, but he declares that as his followers, "You are the salt of the earth." What does that imply?

 

1. Decaying world

 

The chief inference regarding the world is that without Christians, something vital will be missing in the world. Salt was a valued commodity in the ancient world. Without any source of refrigeration, salt became the means of preserving meat from decaying, as the ancients rubbed down meat and fish to preserve it for regular use. It seems that the idea of preservation appears to be the focus of this statement. "You are the salt of the earth," reminds us that the earth needs to be salted due to its inherent decay.

 

"Earth" is used instead of 'world' as a metaphor for the people of the world just as "salt" is a metaphor for the character of believers. Even this first group of disciples was not to think of being salt only for Israel, but for the "earth," for every society in which they found themselves. But here is the stark reminder. Without the influence of Christians living like Christians in the world, society can do nothing but continue rotting away in depravity. It is not that Christians will give such influence that the world will not longer be in opposition to God. But even as salt arrests decay in meat or fish, the influence of Christian character can halt the downward spiral of the world. It helps to stem the natural degeneration that occurs in the world's rebellion against God. Christians have a moral influence on the world around them, affecting every part of society.

 

2. Distinctive Christians

 

Salt is not like the medium in which it is placed. You do not sit down to a large bowl of salt! Just a small portion of salt in a pot or dish will flavor the whole meal. Seafarers just a century back would salt down their fish and meat to preserve them for the long transatlantic journeys. The use of the two metaphors, "you are the salt of the earth," and "you are the light of the world," remind us that Christians are unlike the "medium" in which they are placed. The world is putrefying and dark while the inherent virtues and character of Christians as kingdom citizens stand out in their midst.

 

On Wednesday night, Pastor Paul Ndungu from Kenya, told us of a missionary couple that served for fifteen years among a particular people group in Kenya without seeing any outward response. He said they labored faithfully, serving the people, teaching the gospel, and doing all they could to set Christ before these people. But none responded until a couple of days after their departure. The missionary family's maid, two gardeners, and milkman converged upon the empty house, related how they now missed these Christians. All wept about this sense of loss, and reflected upon what they saw in them and what they had taught them. One by one they called upon the Lord, coming to faith in Christ. The church among that people group was born without a missionary but not without the salt and light influence of that Christian family that lived among these people for fifteen years, faithfully living unto the Lord. What they did not accomplish with their missiological approach they accomplished by being Christians in a decaying world.

 

Do you realize how important our distinction as Christians is in our own society? It seems that far too many Christians are more interested in appearing to be of the world instead of being "the salt of the earth." Sinclair Ferguson poignantly stated, "Cease to be different, and we cease to be Christians." That is precisely what Jesus set the groundwork for in the Beatitudes and now asserts in the statement, "You are the salt of the earth." It is only as we are different from the world in terms of the character of Christ within that we will have any influence or even a message for the world. Our gospel preaching is vain and futile without holy living. Ferguson adds, "How slow we are often to learn this lesson. At times, we fall into the trap of being blackmailed by a world that says, 'Unless I find you attractive on my own terms, I will not respond to the message of the gospel.' But if we yield at that point, we become prisoners to perpetual blackmail" [The Sermon on the Mount: Kingdom Life in a Fallen World, 61].

 

Are you really distinct from the world about you? That is where the reality of your Christianity comes into focus, and it is certain to have an impact even when we do not realize it.

 

II. A challenging assertion

 

Salt was important as a commodity of life as well as part of religious observance in the ancient world. Due to the arid climate and loss of moisture, it was vital that salt be part of the regular diet. It was part of life to the point that the exchanging of salt became a sign of friendship and relationship. It was used to preserve foods, purify wounds, and season dishes. In the religious world, we find that Levites rubbed sacrifices with salt, likely picturing the enduring and purifying effect of the sacrifices. Salt was used as a sign of covenant. And it was used to show a complete break with the past as captured lands were often salted so that they were now distinguished from the old lands under former rule.

 

But more than any of these, when Jesus asserted, "You are the salt of the earth," he was indicating that Christians alone-not government, not educational institutions, not organizations-Christians alone can have the effect of purifying and preserving societies from the downward of spiral of depravity. History is a good help to us in this. The First Great Awakening changed the whole moral climate of England during a time that Europe was embroiled in revolt. While France lacked that same salty influence of godly believers, heads rolled as it fell in revolution. Even secular historians admit that the influence of the Wesleys, Whitefield, John Newton, Howell Harris and others spared Britain the same fate. The same was true of our American colonies. Sometimes we get the idea that the founding fathers were meeting for Sunday School along with all the colonists. But that was not the case. Godlessness of every shape abounded. But in God's gracious providence, the Great Awakening with salty saints impacted the moral climate of the colonies and preserved them from continuing to spiral downward in destruction.

 

1. Reality to cherish

 

We need to feel the jarring effect of these words: "You are the salt of the earth." The "you" is emphatic: 'you, and you alone are the salt of the earth.' Jesus was not offering a perception but stating a reality. Christians are the salt of the earth. This means that the only hope of our own society being preserved from the degeneracy in which it is heading is for Christians to live like Christians in the workplace, in the home, in the school, on the college campus, in the political arena, on the sports teams, in the community. "You are" expresses a constant condition. It is not just when you gather to worship on Sundays or Wednesdays that you are "salt of the earth," but it is a constant reality that you are to cherish every moment of the day. You are to feel the sense of divine accountability in these words. He does not say, thankfully, 'you were the salt of the earth,' as though Christianity is part of a by-gone era, something pre-postmodernity that no longer exists. If that were the case, then Christianity would be over. But the fact that Jesus Christ asserted, "You are the salt of the earth," offers the hope that in Christ we have the influence to stymie some of the effects of depravity in our society. Obviously, simply being around Christians does not save the world, but the decay is slowed, attention is given to Christ and the gospel, people's eyes are opened to see the distinction of kingdom citizens compared to the kingdom of this world.

 

Gresham Machen, in the last century, exhorts us, "Let us stop soothing ourselves with columns of statistics and face the spiritual facts; let us recall this paper currency and get back to a standard of gold" [God Transcendent, 114]. Though written half a century ago, Machen spoke like a prophet to our present day that values the showy, glitzy statistics of how many nickels and noses we have in our churches, but gives precious little attention to holiness in character and walk. Have we forgotten that it was a Rome that claimed grand statistics as a "Christian empire" that fell to the barbarians? While the show and numbers meant so much to the church in that day, the saltiness in society was lost so that the barbarians easily conquered them. Professing Christians failed to live like Christians, and their whole society crumbled. "You are the salt of the earth" is a truth to cherish, a reality to live in day after day, and a necessity for a civil, peaceable society.

 

2. Responsibility to assume

 

It is also a responsibility to assume. We are to be conscious that we are "the salt of the earth." There is to be a sense of accountability, to know that we bear responsibility for influencing society by living like Christians, talking like Christians, using our money like Christians, using our time like Christians, conducting our family lives like Christians, using leisure time like Christians. Jesus does not give us an option at this point; it is a central responsibility to be salt to the world about us.

 

The fact that the world continues to degenerate tells us as much about the quality of modern Christianity as it does the evil of the world. Please don't misunderstand. I'm not at all saying that the world will get better and better as though aiming for a Utopia. But I am insisting that the presence of godly believers in the workplace, in the school, on the campus, in the neighborhood will have an effect like salt of slowing the natural, inherent decay. "The world is passing away," as John stated, but its wickedness is slowed when a Daniel stands faithful or a Joseph or an Esther or a Whitefield or a Wesley or an Edwards. We seem to have such little effect upon the world. It is only because we are so little true Christians in our daily lives. If we would see the decay slowed and civility preserved, let us seize the reality and responsibility that Jesus set forth and be the "salt of the earth" that he declares us to be. The answer is not found in our protests or campaigns but in Christians being salt. Salt will do its work. It may be small or even insignificant in comparison to the element in which it is placed, but it will do its work.

 

Society cannot salt itself. It can only decay. As John Stott points out, "And when society does go bad, we Christians tend to throw up our hands in pious horror and reproach the non-Christian world; but should we not rather reproach ourselves? One can hardly blame unsalted meat for going bad. It cannot do anything else. The real question to ask is: where is the salt?" [Christian Counter-Culture, 65].

 

It shows up in the workplace. I recall one of our men telling me about one of our fellow believers going to work in an office that seemed to be filled with complaint and vain chatter. With his quiet manner, the whole complexion of the office changed. He did his work faithfully, without complaining, and just lived like a Christian. His life impacted those about him. Is this being reduplicated in your sphere of influence? Does the language change when you are around because your friends at school know that you do not speak with profanity or engage in dirty talk? Does the attitude of your workplace improve because you do your work without complaining, you show up on time, you treat everyone with kindness, you refuse to enter into gossip? Is your dormitory floor any different because of the way you talk and live? "You are the salt of the earth."

 

III. A sobering resolution

 

The balance of this verse has provided plenty of debate among scholars. Salt does not typically decompose in its normal strength. But quite likely the type of salt that Jesus referred to was that which was found around the Dead Sea. It was not pure salt, but a combination of other minerals so that it could lose its savoring properties when dissolved. It was a cheap substitute for quality salt that the poor people could collect in ample portions. But it could lose its saltiness.

 

It was this picture that Jesus used to give us a sobering resolution to guard our saltiness as Christians. Without saltiness, salt is worthless. Without Christian character and conversation, Christians are worthless to the society in which God has placed them.

 

1. Tasteless is worthless

 

The insipid condition of salt that has lost its flavor makes it worthless for any good. "You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt has become tasteless, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled under foot by men." There was no re-salting process for insipid salt. It was used to cover the potholes in the road so that it was constantly trampled by men.

 

It is enlightening that the word used for "tasteless" carries the idea of 'to play the fool' or 'to become foolish'. Is that not the case when Christians lose their saltiness by playing the fool for the world or ignoring Christian disciplines or giving in to lusts or disregarding warnings about sin? The danger of losing our moral, preserving influence in our society ever stands before us. And it is not due to an insufficient work of Christ that diminishes influence but due to our calling ourselves Christians but not acting like Christians. When we neglect the salt and light declarations in favor of parlaying with the world, we have become "tasteless" and therefore "no longer good for anything" in terms of impacting our society.

 

Just this week I've heard of two men, one a theologian and another a pastor that was arrested in two different parts of the country for perverted, immoral behavior. That is the extreme, I grant you, yet it is not something that we can take lightly or think we are immune to in our own lives. Our propensity for sin is great; so we must constantly be anchored in the cross of Christ and His gospel. They have lost their saltiness in the world. But many more do that without ever being arrested for a crime. Complaining Christians are tasteless Christians. Those that are lazy, undisciplined, arrogant, prideful, critical, mean-spirited have lost their pungent influence upon the world about them.

 

How about your pungency? Are you salty where God has put you? Or have you so given in to the world that you are in danger of becoming tasteless to a world that desperately needs your saltiness in Christ?

 

2. Salty is saintly

 

I know that it sounds almost too trite. But it is certainly true. Salty is saintly. Or to put it another way, salty Christians are holy people living in an unholy world, and having a preserving influence on those about them.

 

We must not forget our context. Jesus explains saltiness in light of the kingdom characteristics that he set forth in the Beatitudes. He fully intends for his followers to feel the impact of his statement, "You are the salt of the earth." You are the only ones that can arrest the decaying process of the world about you. It is you, living like a Christian, talking like a Christian, having the attitude of a Christian, living with hope and expectancy as a Christian that will affect pockets of the community for good.

 

Conclusion

 

Are you salty as a Christian? What are you to do in response to this message? If you are a Christian, then live like it. Are there sins you need to deal with? Are you seeking to grow in Christ, to nurture your faith? Let us be salty saints in this decaying world, and let us never be tasteless Christians.

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