August 23 - Salt of the Earth

August 23 - You are the Salt of the Earth

You are the salt of the earth.

For as long as I have been a dad, I have prayed over my kids when they go somewhere. In fact, to this day, sometimes I will drop off my girls at their work, and I always pray over them before they get out of the car. And while I pray that they are safe, that God protects them and watches over them, gives them health and his grace. . . .the biggest part of my prayer is at the end. I always end by praying that God will use them to be a blessing to the people in their workplace. That the people they come in contact with will be blessed because my girls were at work today. I ask God to give them favor, strength, and courage to represent him well. That when their time of work is over, others will be better because of being with Ava and Alia. 

Which is just a continuation of something I’ve prayed over my kids since they were little. I have said a prayer that I’ve repeated for most of their lives that goes like this. “God will you use my kids to show their peers how real you are. That through them, their friends will know how good, loving, and just you really are.”

That’s the goal, isn’t it. 

If I am a follower of Jesus, my goal should be that people’s lives are better off because of me. And that has nothing to do with me. That’s just the fact that I know the author of Life. And He goes with me when I walk into a room. 

Well, in all actuality, he is already there when I enter the room, however, when I am an apprentice of Jesus, people see him through me! So he becomes more clear, and I become less obstructive. This is what Peter’s admonishment was in 1 Peter 2:11-12, when he said, 

Dear friends, I urge you, as foreigners and exiles, to abstain form sinful desires, which wage war against your soul. Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us.

The goal - live such a good life, that people look at us and say, “HUH. . . . there must be a better way. . .”  

This is what Jesus meant when he said, You are the salt of the earth.

You should be walking into your workplace with the mindset that you re going to see people’s lives bettered, simply because a carrier of the gospel salt is on their way in. You are going there to preserve life, to sweeten the environment, and brig hope to people. 

Your classmates should miss you when you are not at school. They should sense that something just wasn’t the same without you there.  

Your roommate should feel like they are the most blessed person because they get to live in the same place as you. And it should make them walk away wanting to be better too! 

Oh shoot. . . you ready for this one? 

If you are married, or if you have kids. . . . . . Your spouse should feel like the luckiest person alive that they get to be married to you. Not because you are so great yourself. . . . though, I am sure you are. . . But more so because when you walk in, the Spirit of the Living God walks in with you. Your kids should realize the Spiritual maturity wrapped around you as you walk with them through life. They should look at you and not only want to be like you, but want to be with you. Because they realize the presence of the living God and it makes them better as you make them better. 

Understand something. . . This is no small task we are called to. We represent the most high! That is why we are called to BE a certain type of person before we can ever Do something for God. We weren’t called to be great, we weren’t called to be some extraordinary voice, or a powerful leader, we weren’t called to DO GREAT THINGS FOR GOD. . . He’s God. He doesn’t need us to be great. He is GREAT!!!!!! 

You know what he needs us to be? 

SALT!

Walk into a place, and pull out the flavor of life by loving, caring, being generous, humble, gentle, sacrificial. .. . And as you pull out the flavor of life, preserve it! Make it last for people who haven’t seen the goodness of God before. Bring peace to the soul that has been wrestling to find wholeness with no rest. Cause people to encounter a joy that will transform their lives, maybe even to the point of giving them reason to smile. . . . 

Jesus has brought them through the beatitudes. He has shown them who he wants them to be. And now, if they get that right, the work of what they DO, is automatic. See we often want to focus on what to do, instead to who to be. The problem is, we can’t do enough to represent Christ unless we are transformed first in who we BE! But as soon as that work happens, we automatically do the work God has called us to by being who he desires us to be!

Listen to what Jesus continued to say. 

You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is not longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot.

What? 

How can salt lose its saltiness? 

IT CAN’T!!!!!

Salt is salt. It can’t lose it’s saltiness. So why would Jesus say this? What is he meaning? 

The phrase here is interesting. But if the salt loses its saltiness. . . This comes from the Greek mōrainō - or the root mōros - which yes, is where we get a English word you might have heard. . . Moron - which is a person acting foolishly, or unintelligibly. Jesus is saying that if the salt acts a fool . . . . how can it be made salty again. 

He is referring back to the list of beatitudes. 

If a person fails to BE the type of person that brings this hopeful joy into the world through the  way they act, how will they ever be justified? Can they be made salty again? They become worthless to the cause of lifting the name of Jesus. 

Let me put this out there, God is looking for people who represent his name! He is looking for people who will honor him no matter what they are walking through. He is looking for salt, not morons. . . 

I know, that is a little blunt. But I think it would do us as God’s people to stop and question how we are acting. 

Yesterday morning I was on the 55 headed into Newport, and he freeway ends and hits a light right at 19th street. It’s such a weird section of the road, because it goes from pretty flowing traffic of 70MPH to 45 within feet. I was enjoying my morning, being very intentional to drive calmly. See I was headed to the DMV to take the CLD test in order to start driving a school bus in order to bring in secondary income. So I have been keenly aware that if I don’t drive properly in my personal vehicle, it could cost me the only job I’ve been able to find that might actually work well with church planting. So I remember holding my steering wheel in the proper positions. I slowed down plenty early. I was alert, and in a good mood. 

Until I looked in the mirror and saw this little white Mercedes flying up to me. Within seconds, I knew I was about to get rear ended, and it was going to hit hard!!!!! Sure enough, at about 55-60 MPH, the car behind me slammed into my completely stopped vehicle. 

As soon as my car settled from the impact, I turned off the engine, removed my seatbelt, popped open the door, and jumped out of the car. And I caught my self being so frustrated that I said aloud, “What a moron!” 

But as soon as the words left my mouth, I was ashamed. I knew I was being wrong, and all the words I’ve spoken over her last couple of weeks on the beatitudes were now coming back to haunt me. I had an instant change of heart. And as I was walking back to the car, I began praying for whoever was in it. 

I got to the door of the other car to find an 89 year old man completely disoriented. He was struggling to get out from behind the airbags, and was confused. My heart broke for him. He was so disoriented and scared. I grabbed his arm and helped him stand to his feet because smoke was starting to pour out of the hood of the car. I asked if he knew what happened and if he could walk. He was ok to do this, so I helped him over to the wall next to the road. 

Fast forward, I eventually got a rental car, went to the DMV, took my tests and made it home. But the entire time, I couldn’t stop thinking about Earnest. I felt so bad for him. So I found he police report where his cell phone number was. I called him and let him know I was praying for him. And he said, “Now I feel really bad that I did this to a nice man.” To which I said, “oh no, I’m just grateful you are ok, and you get to keep going from this!”

Why am I telling you this? 

Because it’s not that hard to be salt in the middle of this dark and crazy world. In fact, tomorrow we will talk about being the light of the world. But both of these are the same. As we preserve the goodness around us, it becomes even more evident and longed for. You can have a huge impact, with out a little effort. All you have to do is BE!!!! BE the type of person who represents Christ. 

So Here is what I want you to wrestle with. 

You are called to be salt, and it’s in a specific area that only you can make a difference in. There is someone in your life who needs extra grace. There is someone you either pass on the road every day, or run into in the dorms, sit by at breakfast, wherever, whoever, it might be. They just need an extra portion of salt, because the world has drained all the flavor from around them. You have the chance to be an inspiration and joy to them. Not so that they walk away liking you more, but for them to walk away and like, well, themselves more, and others more, and in the process begin to see who God is. That’s the point. When you do this properly people see the one who created you to be this way - not you! 

So who is it that needs you to be salt. 

Because the alternative is for you to be a moron. 

You can either show them the love of the living God, or ruin your chance to make a difference in their life and in the world. The choice is yours. 

But know this, we all get it wrong at times! We all lose the salt of life and become flavorless. But the grace of God gives us another chance every day! So find that person you can love. Show them what God is like, by being the person he called you to be. 

And know this! 

I love you! 

And as you flavor the world and persevere it, may you know more of what you believe and why you believe it to be true. . . and may God bless you!