Salt

She doesn’t really think she does much. In fact, she struggles with feeling like she has little value sometimes. That’s just a glimpse into her mind. It’s funny how Satan always knows what he can make us believe. It’s what he is best at. 

The truth is, she is one of those rare people that changes every environment she is in just by her presence and her posture. She can walk into any place and instantly create positive change. I’ve watched her do it multiple times and multiple places. Difficult places. Places with lots of obstacles. And I don’t know that she understands the value of what she brings. But she is a life-changer and a chain-breaker for sure.

When I was teaching Bible, I would tell my students...I can’t imagine Jesus going into a place and it not being a better place when He leaves. It doesn’t matter where it is, what kind of place it is, how long it’s been there. It doesn’t even matter what the culture is like. The presence of evil, negativity, diversity...there are no barriers that He won’t begin to destroy. 

And I think that is what He meant when He said, “You are the salt of the earth.” So my point  is that if that statement is true about me and you, we should never leave any place without making it better...changing the climate, the culture, the atmosphere. When you leave a place...you make it better because you challenge the status quo, you treat the least with the same love and respect you treat the great, and you work with every fiber of your being to lift the poor in spirit...any way you can. And your influence will be like salt...it will bring flavor, bring preservation, give water to the places that are dry, and just promote healthy life. You are the salt of the earth. 

She will be the first to tell you that she isn’t a Bible scholar. In fact she hates reading. And sometimes I bore her with my recent discoveries. She doesn’t much enjoy listening to a thirty minute sermon or praise and worship. In fact, sometimes she feels like she isn’t even a “good Christian” because of these things. 

But...having watched her over the last several years...I think “salt” fits her well. She’s a champion for the broken-hearted, a worker for the disadvantaged, and a friend to everyone who calls her name. She makes people better wherever she goes. Her life mission statement is “to leave people better than I found them.” And she lives it. Every day. 

I know that salt may not carry the same weight in our culture as awell it did when Jesus spoke those words. But to me, I think “leaving people better than I found them” is exactly what He meant. And if every time I leave somewhere people can say, “This place is better because he was here,” I think He would smile on my work. He would simply say, “You are the salt of the earth.” Could there be any greater compliment?

So if you are one of those who doesn’t really like to sing, or read, or listen to the sermon...maybe people and places can just be better because you were there. Maybe you can live every day, every interaction, every relationship like Jesus would. Maybe you can be a champion for the poor and the disadvantaged. Maybe you can embrace the broken-hearted. Because Jesus also says the wise man is the one who hears and does, not the hearer only. 

You are the salt of the earth.