Are you worth your salt?

by Thomas Prachar

Rev. Thomas Prachar

It seems opinions are changing daily as to what foods are good for you and what can be harmful to your body. As kids, we would eat pistachio nuts and compare how red our fingers and lips would become. Now, it has been determined that red dye is cancerous. We hear warnings to stay away from caffeine, and then learn that a small daily intake may be okay. Just recently it was reported that you would be healthier if you ate foods rich in Vitamin C rather than taking vitamin supplements.

In the late 1950s, pregnant women were encouraged to take thalidomide in order to relieve symptoms of nausea and morning sickness. Later it was discovered that the drug causes birth defects. And depending on which study you read, the jury is still out on the damage cell phones can do to our brains. Some people scoff at the idea they can be harmful to us, while others say it’s too early to tell.

The debate continues as to how much salt is good for our bodies. While it brings out the flavor in our food, it leads to high blood pressure. The saying is probably true: “all things in moderation.”

Holy Scripture has many things to say about salt. Job speaks of using salt as a seasoning for food (Job 6:6). Old Testament sacrifices for burnt offerings (Ezekiel 43:24), cereal offerings (Leviticus 2:13), and incense (Exodus 30:35) were to be accompanied by salt. Newborn babies were rubbed with salt, probably because of its medicinal value (Ezekiel 16:4). God joined Himself to His people through the “salt of the covenant” (Leviticus 2:13). Since salt was used as a preservative, it reminded the Israelites that God would preserve the covenant He had established with them through Abraham. Roman soldiers were paid in salt, the origin of our word for “salary.”

Salt also had negative connotations. When Abimelech captured Shechem, “he razed the city and sowed it with salt” (Judges 9:45), so that it would be uninhabitable. In this light, salt often conveyed the picture of barrenness and sterility (Deuteronomy 29:23; Zepheniah 2:9). As God’s judgment on Lot’s wife, she was turned into a pillar of salt (Genesis 19:26).

Jesus uses the salt metaphor, applying it to Christians: “You are the salt of the earth” (Matthew 5:13). How does that work in our lives? When we add salt to food, the salt remains salt but brings out the flavor of the food. In a similar way, God sends us out into the world to become a part of it, giving it a different flavor—a different understanding of the meaning and purpose of life. We are to be in the world, but not of the world (John 15:19). As we tell others of their Saviour, we create in them a thirst for learning more about God and the salvation and eternal life He has made possible for us through His Son, Jesus. As we talk to people, we use wisdom and tact so that our Saviour’s message is well received (Colossians 4:6).

As we tell others of their Saviour, we create in them a thirst for learning more about God and the salvation and eternal life He has made possible for us through His Son, Jesus.

And if we are not the salt of the earth, then we become worthless, “no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled under people’s feet” (Matthew 5:13). Saltless salt is a contradiction in terms.

Our Lord sprinkles Christians throughout the world. Often we go about our work silently, without fanfare, doing acts of kindness and love for those we meet on a daily basis. At other times we may be more vocal by warning others about our perverse society with its moral rot and spiritual decay. On the whole, we can be positive examples by our loving service to those in need, whether they are sick, homeless, or in prison.
Lord, help us be the salt of the earth.

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Rev. Thomas Prachar is President of the Central District of Lutheran Church–Canada.

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