Be Salty

I hope I’m not saying this too prematurely, but spring has sprung! The warm temperatures are here to stay—hopefully. With these warmer days, it seems like everyone is taking every opportunity to be outside and enjoy the sunshine.

Just this week, I played golf for the first time in over two years. It was hot, and by the end of the round, I was completely worn out. Later that evening, I relaxed with a friendly game of ultimate frisbee with some of our members (yes, that’s sarcasm). I didn’t realize just how out of shape I was until I tried to keep up with everyone. By the end of the night, I was completely exhausted.

At one point, I noticed that I had stopped sweating. I hadn’t realized I hadn’t drunk enough water throughout the day. When you sweat a lot but don’t rehydrate properly, your body loses more water than salt, causing salt to crystallize on your skin as the sweat evaporates. I pointed this out to everyone, and one person wittily remarked, “Well, we are called to be the salt of the earth.”

That got my brain going. I started wondering: Am I this salty in my spiritual life?

I was reminded of what Jesus said in His Sermon on the Mount:

“You are the salt of the earth, but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled under people’s feet” (Matthew 5:13).

Jesus is telling us that salt is noticeable. It enhances flavor. It preserves. But if salt no longer does what it’s supposed to do, it becomes useless—fit only to be discarded.

This idea becomes even more powerful when we consider the context of the passage:

“You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven” (Matthew 5:14-16).

Here, Jesus introduces another powerful metaphor: light. Just like salt, light is noticeable. It stands out. It shines. And if it stops doing what it was made to do, it becomes useless.

Jesus brings the message to its main point in verse 16: Our faith should be visible. We are called to stand out, to enhance the world around us, and to point people to God.

So, how salty is your walk with God? Is your faith noticeable? My encouragement to you is simple: Be salty! Grow your faith on the inside so that it overflows on the outside.

— Matt Jones