Saltiness

It’s been a couple years since the two of us sat talking in the old warehouse that we call a church home that day. It is not an attractive or visually appealing place, but it is my style. If you know him, it’s his too. We talk just about every week, but this particular time was one of those conversations that just stuck with me. I still remember it clearly...like it was yesterday. He has a way with words, always knows how to say the right thing at the right time. I wish I was more like that. 

I think, most likely, the reason his words stuck with me so clearly is because he lives them. They aren’t just words to him. Jesus talked about people who hear His words and put them into practice. He says those people are wise. I think that is a good word. My friend is definitely wise. 

We sat there talking in that old warehouse converted to a church building, when he said to me, “The Lord really gave me a perspective a few years ago that my work is ministry. The people that I work with and that work for my company, that is a ministry of mine. God gave me that to use as an opportunity for ministry. It belongs to Him and He gave it to me to manage.”

And he’s absolutely right. And I watch him do ministry with the way he lives out his entire life every day. He doesn’t have to be leading worship, speaking at church, or leading a prayer group to do ministry. He does all those things and does them well, but he ministers with his life even better. And I love that. I want to be more like that. 

I’m not one that thinks God needs anything from me. Honestly, I recognize He doesn’t need any of us. He desires us, but He doesn’t need us for anything. But there is a world out there that does need us. There is a world out there that does need ministered to. There is an entire circle of people that you influence. And for most of us, those circles are different in all the different places in our lives. And those circles are bigger than we realize. The different people in our lives need different things and at different times. Wisdom from the Spirit tells us what to give and when to give it. 

The point is, the world needs you to fulfill your ministry...at church, at work, at home, and at every other place that you go and in every other relationship that you have. There’s a lot of ministers out there. Many of them will be in an office all week, preparing a sermon to deliver to the crowd that’s already bought in. Hopefully it will inspire and encourage them to keep on. The church needs that. But the world needs something different. The world needs contractors, educators, doctors, store managers, cashiers, waitresses, pizza delivery guys and whatever other occupation you can think of, that do ministry through their work every single day. The world needs neighbors, moms and dads, friends, and strangers doing ministry with all their heart. 

Jesus called it salt. We were put here to flavor and preserve life for others. That’s your ministry. What would the world look like if all the people that claimed the name of Jesus actually approached every arena of life with a mentality of flavoring and preserving life for everyone else around them? Even the people that didn’t look like them, act like them, or think like them. I want to live in that world. I want to do that kind of ministry. You are the salt of the earth...all of you, every part of you, everywhere you go. 

"You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot.” Matthew 5:13