Salt and Light
Matthew 5:13-16
April 9, 1995
by J. David Hoke
"You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt has become tasteless, how will
it be made salty again? It is good for nothing anymore, except to be thrown out and
trampled under foot by men. You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be
hidden. Nor do men light a lamp, and put it under the peck-measure, but on the lampstand;
and it gives light to all who are in the house. Let your light shine before men in such a
way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven." (Matthew
5:13-16 NASB)
A Peanuts cartoon, showed Peppermint Patty talking to Charlie Brown. She
said, "Guess what, Chuck. The first day of school, and I got sent to the principal's
office. It was your fault, Chuck." He said, "My fault? How could it be my fault?
Why do you say everything is my fault?" She said, "You're my friend, aren't you,
Chuck? You should have been a better influence on me."
While Peppermint Patty was seeking to pass the buck, she was in a very real sense
right. We should be a good influence on our friends. We certainly do have an influence,
for good or for bad.
In fact, a lot of people are watching us. I heard of a minister who was making a wooden
trellis to support a climbing vine. As he was pounding away, he noticed that a little boy
was watching him. The youngster didn't say a word, so the preacher kept on working,
thinking the lad would leave. But he didn't. Pleased at the thought that his work was
being admired, the pastor finally said, "Well, son, trying to pick up some pointers
on gardening?" "No," he replied. "I'm just waiting to hear what a
preacher says when he hits his thumb with a hammer."
People are watching you! What do they see? What they see has an influence on them. And
it should. You see, Jesus told us that we would have an influence in this world. Listen to
what He said:
"You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt has become tasteless, how will it be made salty again? It is good for nothing anymore, except to be thrown out and trampled under foot by men. You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do men light a lamp, and put it under the peck-measure, but on the lampstand; and it gives light to all who are in the house. Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven."
To what degree do you see this happening in our culture? Surely it is happening in
places as Jesus said, but the thing that disturbs me is that so many of us Christians are
no different than the world.
G. Campbell Morgan, the famous former minister of Westminster Chapel in London, in his
book How to Live, told about a conversation he had after he finished
preaching one evening. A man approached Morgan to tell him he had invited a fellow
employee, one with whom he had worked for 5 years, to attend the service. He then said,
"My suggestion came as quite a surprise to my friend. He responded to my invitation
by saying, 'Are you a Christian?' And when I answered, 'Yes, I am,' he replied, 'Well, I
am too!' Here we had worked beside each other for years, and we never knew that we were
both believers in Christ. Wasn't that funny?" To the man's surprise, Morgan retorted,
"Funny? No, it isn't funny at all! You both need to be born again." It was
inconceivable to Morgan that two men could be truly saved and work side-by-side for 5
years and not be aware of their kinship as brothers in Christ.
George Barna's research has shown that the average Christian in the average evangelical
church is almost indistinguishable from the rest of society. He is not talking about being
different in some artificial and outward way that you might see in some legalistic
churches. Rather, he is talking about the fundamental moral and ethical difference that
Christ can make in how we live. When our teens, supposedly saved, get pregnant and do
drugs at the same rate as the general teenage population - when our marriages end in
divorce at the same rate as the rest of society - when we cheat in business, or lie,
steal, and cheat on our spouses at the same statistical level as those who say they are
not Christians - something is wrong.
Perhaps that is the reason why our influence has not been felt in a way that points
people to Jesus. Think of it, over 25% of the population of America claims to be born
again. Based on the impact they are having, that cannot be true. But what if there were
over 50 million true Christians in America. In reality, you wouldn't even need that many.
Just what would happen if the ones we have would really start living like they were saved!
Does your life make a difference? What kind of difference do you make? Jesus is clear
that we are to make a difference. Let's look at the explicit implications of what Jesus is
saying and apply them to where we live.
A Preserving Influence
"You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt has become tasteless, how will
it be made salty again? It is good for nothing anymore, except to be thrown out and
trampled under foot by men."
In our contemporary society, we may miss the real value of salt. Many ancient societies
understood the value of salt far better than we. The Romans believed, for instance, that
there was nothing as valuable as salt, except for the sun. Many Roman soldiers received
their pay in salt. Some have said that it was from this practice that the phrase "not
worth his salt" originated.
Those listening to Jesus as He preached would have understood salt of the earth to
be a valuable commodity indeed. They may not have understood the fullness of what He
meant, but they would have understood clearly that to be the salt of the earth was
to be something very special and valuable.
There have been many theories offered as to the exact meaning Jesus intended to
associate with this symbol. Some have said since salt is white it represents purity. And
Christians certainly ought to be pure. Others have said that since salt adds flavor,
Christians should add flavor to the world. Certainly Christians should not be boring, as
so many of them are. Oliver Wendal Holmes is reported to have said that he might have
entered into the ministry if certain ministers he knew had not looked and acted so much
like undertakers. Still others have said that since salt stings in a wound, Christians
should prick the conscience of the world and be an irritant to ungodly behavior. Again,
some have said that since salt creates thirst, Christians should create a thirst for God
in those who do not know Him.
While all these ideas have merit, I believe that the primary idea Jesus intended to
communicate was that Christians, like salt, are to be a preserving influence on society.
You see, the issue was the saltiness of salt. When salt losses its saltiness, or its
potency, it is good for nothing anymore.
Christians are to be a preserving influence to retard moral and spiritual spoilage in
the world. In the book of Revelation, we see that when the Christians are taken out of the
world, all Hell literally breaks loose. The presence of Christians serves to retard and
restrain evil. Like salt had a preserving effect on meat, so Christians have a
preserving effect in this world.
When Christians get right with God and begin to express their Christianity through
their lifestyle, the society cannot help but be changed. Martyn Lloyd-Jones writes,
"Most competent historians are agreed in saying that what undoubtedly saved [England]
from a revolution such as that experienced in France at the end of the eighteenth century
was nothing but the Evangelical Revival. This was not because anything was done directly,
but because masses of individuals had become Christians and were living this better life
and had this higher outlook. The whole political situation was affected, and the great
Acts of Parliament which were passed in the last century were mostly due to the fact that
there were such large numbers of Christians found in the land."
Contrary to popular opinion, the world is not evolving into a higher moral level. While
we have certainly made many technological advances to make the routine of life more
interesting and less burdensome, we are still beset by the same moral decay that has
characterized humanity since the Fall of Adam and Eve. Watching a documentary of the
Jewish holocaust the other night, I was reminded that this happened just a few short years
ago, in the 1940's. It has always been this way.
Yet God has brought revival and renewal to humankind in order to preserve this world
until He comes. He will continue to do so until the Day of Christ. He desires to bring it
to you so that you can be the salt of the earth. What difference do you make? Have
you lost your saltiness?
A Visible Influence
"You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do
men light a lamp, and put it under the peck-measure, but on the lampstand; and it gives
light to all who are in the house. Let your light shine before men in such a way that they
may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven."
Salt is a hidden but powerful influence. Light is a visible and revealing
influence. Jesus tells us that we are not only to be the salt of the earth but also
the light of the world. We are called to make a visible impact on the world around
us.
How do we do that? Well, Jesus said that we needed to make the light visible to as many
as possible by refusing to allow it to be hidden but rather positioning it so it shines on
everyone around.
There are some who claim that a person's religion is to be a personal thing. I agree
that it is a personal thing in that each person must make a personal decision whether they
are going to believe in Jesus. But this is not generally what those making this statement
mean. They usually mean that it should be kept to oneself - not openly shared. And they
usually make the statement in order to avoid sharing what they believe or do not believe.
But Jesus teaches that a person's faith is to be openly shared and lived before the
watching world. It is to shine forth for all to see, not so we can proclaim how good a
person we are, but so that others can know there is a God who loves them and will act on
their behalf. We are to influence others for God.
President Woodrow Wilson told the story of one such encounter. He said: "I was in
a very common place, I was sitting in a barber chair, when I became aware that a powerful
personality had entered the room. A man had come quietly in upon the same errand as myself
to have his hair cut and sat in the chair next to me. Every word the man uttered, though
it was not in the least didactic, showed a personal interest in the man who was serving
him. And before I got through with what was being done to me, I was aware that I had
attended an evangelistic service, because Mr. D.L. Moody was in that chair. I purposely
lingered in the room after he had left and noted the singular effect that his visit had
brought upon the barber shop. They talked in undertones. They didn't know his name but
they knew something had elevated their thoughts, and I felt that I left that place as I
should have left a place of worship."
Our lives should be lives that reflect something more than the world has, because we
have more than they have, we have Jesus. He has saved us, forgiven us, changed our hearts,
given us hope, put His love in us, given us joy, set our feet on the rock which cannot be
shaken. If He does not make a difference in your life, then you either need to be born
again or you need to repent of sin and allow Him to rekindle the fire of your first love.
Jesus said that we are to let our lights shine before men in such a way that they
may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven. In other words,
there must be an intentionality to letting our lights shine. We must determine to be
deliberately evangelistic through good deeds and acts of kindness. When people see that we
are people who care because we are people who know Him, they will see more clearly. The
light will shine on them.
A young boy about nine years old went with his parents to Europe one summer. Part of
their tour was visiting the great old cathedrals of the past. As he would visit cathedral
after cathedral, he saw the massive stained glass portraits of the disciples and of other
saints. He was so impressed as he stood in these great empty halls looking through the
beautiful stained glass windows. Upon their return, he was asked by his Sunday School
teacher what about the great churches of Europe he liked the most. He thought for a moment
and said, "I loved the sense of awesomeness and the hugeness of who God must
be." His Sunday School teacher then asked what was his definition of a saint. As his
mind went back to those massive beautiful stained glass windows, he said, "A saint is
a person the light shines through." Indeed!
Is the light of Christ shining through you? Are you allowing His light to be made
visible in your life? Or has the light gone out? Has the passion for God become religious
ritual and routine? Don't hide the light under a pot. Take it out and hold it high. We
were not created to be secret disciples or to have quiet discussions on religious topics.
We were created in the new creation to be firebrands for God - torches which are held high
to burn for Him.
Does your life make a difference? It should. Jesus said we are to be salt and light.
Does your life make a difference? It can. If you surrender to Christ. Does your life make
a difference? If you life for Him, it will!
Copyright (C) 1995 J. David Hoke. This data file is the sole property of
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