To Encourage You

Matthew 5:13-14 “You are the salt of the earth, but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled under people’s feet.”

Here in Matthew 5 Jesus uses the metaphor of the properties of salt to demonstrate how believers in Him are to live.  Salt is used to provide savor to food. That is its most basic characteristic.  That is its nature.  In the NIV translation, the word “taste” in the ESV translation of this verse above is translated “saltiness” and I like that rendering better for it helps make the point relative to the broader context of the metaphor.  Salt, is supposed to be “salty.”  If it loses its primary characteristic, it becomes worthless, something to be thrown out and trampled underfoot. 

So how does this apply to a Christian?  Fundamentally, it means that if a person is a Christian – or claims to be one – yet doesn’t act “Christianly,” he or she is basically not worth much to the kingdom of God.  A “Christian” that hides who he or she is, who never acts in a way that a believer is described in the Bible, then they are not being true to their whole purpose for being.  They are living a wasted, fruitless life. 

So many people claim to be Christians, or to at least believe in God. Just ask them.  Yet, it seems like so few actually demonstrate that fact (if it is a fact) in their lives.  Perhaps they never talk about Christ, which is not a “Christian” way to speak, for a true believer loves Christ, and one tends to speak often about anything or anyone they truly love.  Perhaps they are living a life that is indistinguishable from a non-Christian.  They have adopted the world’s values of behavior.  They live in ways that are totally opposed to the commands of Christ, yet they claim to be Christians – i.e., Christ followers.  How can this possibly be? What good is the Christianity if it has no influence on a life or the world around it? 

Jesus’ illustration here is designed as a command to us that, if we are Christians, people that claim to follow Him, then we are to be what we are.   A hypocrite, for who knows what self-centered motive, likes to claim they are something they are not.  How odd that a true believer would hide what they truly are – kind of the opposite of a hypocrite.  And what’s the motive in that case?  Could it be cowardice?  Like Peter, as he denied Christ, are they ashamed of the One Who died for them? 

If we are Christians, may God help us to let our light truly shine, rather than hide it under a bushel. May we live lives that clearly show who we are following. Otherwise, we are living lives that are “no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled under people’s feet.”