Hm, I want to be salty

OK, so the post title comes from a skit we (interns) did at Thrive, but it seemed fitting.

The other day, I was preparing for the Missions Institute Bible study and read Matthew 5:13-16, which says:

“You are the salt of the earth.  But what good is salt if it has lost its flavor?  Can you make it salty again?  It will be thrown out and trampled underfoot as worthless.
“You are the light of the world–like a city on a hilltop that cannot be hidden.  No one lights a lamp and then puts it under a basket.  Instead a lamp is placed on a stand, where it gives light to everyone in the house.  In the same way, let your good deeds shine out for all to see, so that everyone will praise your heavenly Father.”

As I went over this, one of the questions caught my attention–when does salt lose its flavor?  I know, you’ve probably heard this a bunch of times in church, but I my mind didn’t wander into metaphorical realms.  I ventured into literal realms and did a little reading about salt.

I discovered that table salt is made up of sodium and chlorine and that it is a rather stable substance.  Adding salt to water creates a mixture and there is no chemical change.  The elements are just given more room to move around and the salty taste is diluted as more water is added.  Some forms of sea-salt and rock-salt can lose their saline properties, though, when exposed to air for a prolonged period.

Some of the readings speculated that it was the latter to which Jesus referred, but it is not certain.  Nevertheless, I was struck with the fact that it takes an increased amount of an outside factor–diluted by a lot of water or flavor lost by a lot of air–for salt to lose to its flavor.  So now comes the application of this information to the Scripture.

If we as Christians are “the salt of the earth,” then how do we lose our saltiness?  Well, it makes sense that it takes us being exposed to an excess amount of an outside factor which is, in this case, the world or sin.  I thought of it this way:  We go out into the world each day and we are given this freedom to move around, rather than just being stuck in the little area of our room or house.  However, if we stay out in this wide open area for too long and don’t return to our small, little area, then it is easier to lose sight of God (Kind of like being in a big crowd and losing site of your friend, because there are so many people there).  If we want to keep our flavor, we need to continue to get out of the big crowd regularly and find a small room in which to sit down and talk with God.

I thought of how I’ve been caught up into staying in that big crowd of people for far too long before and not returning to that small room to visit God.  Not all the things that enticed me to stay in that big crowd were bad.  Spending time with friends isn’t bad; working overtime because someone is sick isn’t bad.  But those small things add up.  They keep me from spending time with God and I start forgetting what it is He likes and dislikes and what He expects of me as a friend and follower.  It’s like any other relationship.

For example, over the past year, I got to know Katy.  Even though we are miles away now, we still take time to talk online or by phone.  If I didn’t talk to Katy for several weeks, I’d probably forget what things she likes and what things she dislikes and I would eventually lose sight of what she expects of me as a friend.  So, just like that relationship, if I desire to keep my relationship with God strong or “flavorful,” then I must regularly spend time with Him.

These are just the thoughts I had as I went through that question.  I’d love to hear what you all think, so feel free to leave comments.

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