• Home
  • About This Blog
  • Contact Me
  • Subscribe
  • Comment Policy

Attempts at Honesty

Reflections on the interplay of the Bible and Culture

  • Westminster Shorter Catechism Series
  • Sermon on the Mount Series
Home Bible Reflection Salt or Dirt, Make a Choice

Salt or Dirt, Make a Choice

Posted on June 28, 2011 Written by Mark McIntyre Leave a Comment


Salt PileIn Matthew 5:13, Jesus tells us that we are the “salt of the earth.” In Luke 14:34-35, the theme of salt is picked up again

“Salt is good, but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored? It is of no use either for the soil or for the manure pile. It is thrown away. He who has ears to hear, let him hear.”

Jesus is saying that if you remove the flavor from salt, it becomes dirt. Therefore every believer wants to be salty and maintain flavor.

The problem comes in when I try to be salty on my own. My experience is that when I try to generate saltiness, I end up peddling repackaged dirt. I do not have the ability to generate saltiness on my own. Salt in food enhances the flavor. On the other hand, dirt in food is just annoying. I want to be salt and not dirt.

One of the downsides to growing up in a Christian environment is that I can get very good at playing the game and making things look better than they really are. I can become phony by appearing more holy than I really am.

“How are you?” “Fine.” “You?” “I’m good too.” The kids could be on drugs, the IRS could be knocking at the door, the mortgage company could be about to take the house away, but still things are “fine.” If you have been in the church for more than a few weeks, you have probably witnessed a thousand variations on this same theme of fake “fine.”

We as the body of Christ have to get past all this phony nonsense and do a better job of being real. Like the Velveteen Rabbit, we should be on a quest to become real to the world around us. If we do, the warts, struggles, shortcomings, rebellion and pride will show through at times and we I need to learn to be OK with that knowing that Jesus loves us enough to get us past it into something better.

The only way I can become not-phony is to understand my helplessness and to rely on the Holy Spirit to make me salty again. Galatians 5:22-23 gives us a list of the characteristics of one who is yielded to the Spirit. This is the salt that the world needs. Against this there is no law.

Lord, make us salty to a world that needs the flavor and preservation that only you can provide.


Filed Under: Bible Reflection Tagged With: Church, honesty, Salt

About Mark McIntyre

A follower of Jesus Christ who shares observations about how Scripture should impact the church and the world. Mark is the original author and editor of Attempts at Honesty.

Follow Attempts at Honesty

Honesty in your Inbox

Humility wins the day – The humble will be exalted

Luke 18 records the story of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector. Only one of them left the Temple forgiven, the one who expressed humility

Forgetting what lies behind

So while we may not totally forget the failures of the past, we can live knowing that we are not stuck and those failures don’t define us.

Waterless Clouds

Waterless clouds

In a drought, clouds forming on the horizon bring hope of much needed rain. If those clouds pass overhead without producing rain, the hope they engendered is dashed. Therefore waterless clouds are useless to those in need of rain.

Listen to your friend

On being Job’s friend

One of the lessons to be learned from reading the book of Job is that we should be very careful when counseling someone who is going through a difficulty. Job’s friends felt compelled to give advice to Job which ended up being not very helpful.

I don’t have the chutzpah to pick up the first stone

I have heard it said that chutzpah is illustrated by the man who kills his mother and father and then pleads to the judge to let him off because he is an orphan. In other words, chutzpa is that behavior that knows no self limitation. This evening a friend sent me a link to a […]

Post Series

  • Westminster Shorter Catechism Series
  • Sermon on the Mount Series

Categories

Archives

Blogger Grid
Follow me on Blogarama

Copyright © 2022 · Focus Pro Theme on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in