Once upon a time, long ago, when the earth was still green and infested with as many challenges as we have today. Many lived with a bitter taste in their mouths, life was hard. The majority, in the times of Jesus lived under oppression, exploitation, and without a voice. The Romans had an agenda, the religious leaders had an agenda, tax collectors had an agenda. Dishonesty was rampant, and injustice is what the ordinary man and woman came to expect as normal. No-one looked after their interests or fought for them.
Such was the context when Jesus lived on earth. When he talked about the Creator, a loving Father, revealed through him, he did not perpetuate what other leaders did. He wasn’t concerned about popularity, or greasing his palm, self-interest, or having everyone like him. He spoke against corruption, the evil of tax collectors, the hypocrisy of religious leaders, and the legalism that placed heavy burdens on people. Eventually his saltiness led to his death.
When the crowds heard Jesus teach it was revolutionary, because he spoke to lift them up, to bless and encourage them, to highlight their value in the eyes of God his Father. His were not empty words. When they met him individually he respected them, listened, released power to heal, challenged gently, and frequently lifted the burden from their aching shoulders, “Neither do I condemn you.” He was salt filled with flavor. He didn’t berate others until they changed. He lived and modelled life in such an attractive manner that others were changed as his saltiness touched their hearts. His life was the ultimate “Show and Tell”.
As Jesus prepared his disciples to go out into the world to do the same he appropriated simple metaphors such as light and salt. In other words, be the change you want to see in others. Stop judging, arguing, and politicizing everything to justify yourself. We don’t know everything as Paul said, “We see through a glass darkly.” Life is filled with mystery, contradiction, and vast unknowns.
So the question in our day is, where is the salt? There are many people who talk about God, have Christian bumper stickers, and slogans on their t-shirts. Endorsing political leaders because they have one Christian value in their campaign platform is not making a difference. Building a church that spiritualizes life without application is escapism. Salt with no flavor is meaningless and without impact. Living in a context where all my contacts think as I do is akin to salt staying inside the salt-shaker. Salt is only of value when it mixes in situations where there is none.
No-one else can be salt on my behalf; no group. no church, no institution, no political movement, no amount of status or education, no wealth, or cultural pedigree. Nothing else. Flavor cannot be faked, hijacked, bought, or earned. Flavor is a hallmark of God’s Spirit living inside a child who knows him as Father – firsthand. Flavor is the most authentic and reliable test of Christian integrity – where people get to taste and see through us – whether God is good – or not.
Yesterday’s salt provides no flavor for today. God serves it fresh every morning, pressed down in abundance to overflowing.
One of my favorite sayings is from the martyred Ugandan Bishop, Festo Kivengere:
“Salty Christians make other people thirsty.”
Perhaps we should take a salt test and ask others how they experience us.
S – Serve with humility and kindness; self-aware humility
A – Allow for freedom of thinking and differences, even when we disagree
L – Love expressed in action, generously, and unconditionally, whether we feel like it, or not
T – Take time to listen, walk alongside, be a friend without an agenda
Y – Yield and be willing to learn, rather than banging drums and always having to be right
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