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6th April 2010 by Casey O'Brien

I was going to write about being salt and light in the secular world. But then I realised I didn't really know what 'salt' meant.

Sure, I have all the preconceptions that I've picked up from years of listening (and sometimes half-listening) to sermons on the passage, but I've never really sat down and looked at it from my own perspective.

“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,” (Matthew 5:13-16).

Let's have a look at what this means for our lives.

Salt adds flavour

We add flavour to the world by being counter-cultural. As Christians, we're designed to be something different or out of the ordinary. Living counter-culturally means not valuing the things that the rest of the world values, and in doing that, we're adding flavour – we're spicing things up a bit!

• Our lifestyles won't always be the same as everyone else's
• You may behave differently to your friends at a party
• You might post different kinds of Facebook status' to your friends
• Maybe you make different career choices
• The choices you make reflect God's plan for your life; this may not align with the choices the rest of the world would make for you

Salt preserves food

We 'preserve' life by showing people what it is to live life 'to the full'. We're showing people a life that is eternal, a life that is never ending! You can't be more of a preservative than that!

While your friends may be looking to make the most of their lives at this very moment, we're looking at life on a much bigger scale.

• When you start looking eternally, your priorities change, your choices change, and your lifestyle changes
• When we think about eternity, we're going to want our friends there with us. Therefore, our relationships become more about building good things into their lives than about having fun and going along with the crowd
• Thinking eternally makes the small things in life seem smaller

Salt is a disinfectant

I realise that being a disinfectant doesn't sound very desirable. However we really are called to be the cleansing matter in the world. In living life with Christ we are sanctified – made clean – which is often going to mean that we live differently to others.

The world we live in has been marred and dirtied by Satan, and we're called to be the 'disinfectant' in that world. That means, as I said before, that our lifestyles and our choices are going to look different to those around us. It's amazing how God uses cleanliness to rub off on others.

People notice when you're different. People notice when your choices are different to their choices

And while our fear might be that they'll think 'wow, that's weird', they often think 'wow, that's weird, I want to know more'. Being clean makes an impact, so get out there and start disinfecting.

Salt as currency: part a

Salt was used in the marketplace as a form of currency, or a unit of exchange, and was often used to seal deals.

• Salt was valuable and useful, and we're called to be the same
• We've been given gifts and talents, and we need to use those gifts
• We are valuable and useful in the eyes of God; we need to fulfil that view

Salt as currency: part b

Currency is something that is used every day. We're meant to be a part of people's everyday lives. In order to have an impact on people's lives, we need to be in relationship with them; we need to know them; we need to love them.

Being 'salt' in the world is all about being relational. It's very difficult to be 'salt', in any of these purposes, to someone you don't really know, or have just met. Relationships are the very basis of being the salt in people's lives. Let's work at being 'salty' together.

Casey O'Brien has recently finished her degree in Criminology, and is about to start her Masters degree. She is Youth Group Leader at Sydney Congress Hall, and thinks that it would be impossible for anyone to find a better bunch of young people than them.

Casey is passionate about social justice, loves watching The West Wing and 30 Rock, and reading crime fiction. She loves chocolate (fair trade, of course), Coke and cookie dough.

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1. 

   cam

   April 07, 2010 at 2:09pm

   wow! i had this general idea going around in my head - that we are suposed to add flavour to the world - kinda idea but pulling the scripture apart like this and now i understand it in much more detail!
   Thanks!

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