Matthew 5:13-16

A Christian friend in Utah has often expressed frustration with missionaries who, as he puts it, blow in and blow out.  They are often seen standing on street corners near the Mormon Tabernacle telling people they are going to hell.  Is that what Jesus meant when he said these words: You are the salt of the earth … you are the light of the world?

Salt

We think of salt as good for taste or purification.  In Jesus’ day the primary use was as a preservative.  So it is to be with those who belong to Christ: they should have a preserving effect in the earth.  The way they think and live should make the community and society in which they live to be better for all.

For salt to lose it’s saltiness meant that it would lose it’s tang or ability to preserve.  When this happened the salt was then useless.  This flavorless item was often used as a kind of paving material and thus was trampled under foot.  So with believers.  If they are not a preservative in their neighborhood they have lost the very thing they are designed for and will be likewise disregarded by the world around them when they try to speak of Christ.  

Light

Light, of course, dispels darkness.  Believers are meant to have this effect on the unbelieving world around them.  It is dark in the sense of being Christ-denying, as He Himself is the Light of the world (John 8:12).  In that sense the Christian is simply a little Christ; one who reflects His image and glory (2 Cor. 3:16-18).  That reflection is ruined when it is hidden under something that keeps it from lighting the space around us.

Are

Jesus does not say we have or are becoming salt and light.  We are salt and light.  Thus it is first an issue of character.  Character includes the words we say, but it is foundational to the things we say.  What a tragedy to fail to speak the life-giving words of the gospel when given the opportunity (1 Peter 3:15).  What a greater travesty to speak those words from the platform of a life that shows no love for those to whom we speak.  To do this is to be as useless as salt without saltiness and light under a basket.

What a blessing to know in our ancestry many men and women who influenced many people for Christ by words spoken out of a life of integrity and love and humility.  A few years ago I officiated the funeral for one such man in our church.  A veteran of the Pacific theatre in WWII he had a reputation as a hard-working, fair, generous and wise businessman.  And he was notably quiet.  What a blessing, at his funeral, to hear several men acknowledge his role in their own conversion.  He had preached many gospel sermons, most of them by his life.  He was truly salt and light in his world. 

We used to have a sign in our home that asked: If you were indicted for being a Christian would there be enough evidence to convict you?