by Kevin Kim
“You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot. “You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.” – Matthew 5:13-16
(The Sermon on the Mount is arguably the greatest sermon ever given in history… so many messages have come from it including this blog post! So much depth in God’s word…)
“You are the salt of the earth.” I’m sure by now everyone has been called salty at one point, but not in the way Jesus called us… so what does it mean to be salt?
Salt is a seasoning – this is my favorite aspect of salt. A common way that salt is used is to add flavor to something, but another thing salt does is bring out the flavor of something. One of the weirdest encounters I’ve had with salt was when my friends told me that putting salt in chocolate milk would actually make it sweeter. I didn’t believe them so I never tried it, but that statement would haunt me from time to time. I finally decided to do some research… Through my thorough research (on Google) this is what I found: Salt actually diminishes your perception of the acidity allowing you to taste the sweetness better. Salt doesn’t have to add any sweetness but it just decreases the perception of acidity to bring out the sweetness that’s already in the food. I believe that every single human being is created in God’s image and has a sweetness to them that just needs to be brought out. When we are called to be salt, we don’t just add flavor, but we are called to literally draw out the flavors first in ourselves and then in the people around us. I just want to be a person that allows people to be who God truly made them to be. Of course, I could add flavor to someone’s life, but what excites me more is to bring out the flavor that was already there.
I just want to be a person that allows people to be who God truly made them to be. Click To Tweet“You are the light of the WORLD…” Wow. What a great privilege and responsibility it is to be called the light of the world. Light simply gets rid of darkness and exposes whatever was in the dark. However, there is another aspect of light I didn’t initially realize that this passage is talking about. One of the most revolutionary and confusing things I learned in middle school science class was how colors work. Colors only exist when there is light present. The light bounces off and reveals the true colors of the subject. Again, in the same context as salt, we are called to draw out and bring forth what was already there within a person! As light, we have a responsibility to shine and engage with the people around us so that they will reflect their God-given “colors” to glorify our Father in heaven.
The way salt and light is described is so clear in the Message version, “Let me tell you why you are here. You’re here to be salt-seasoning that brings out the God-flavors of this earth. If you lose your saltiness, how will people taste godliness? You’ve lost your usefulness and will end up in the garbage. Here’s another way to put it: You’re here to be light, bringing out the God-colors in the world. God is not a secret to be kept. We’re going public with this, as public as a city on a hill. If I make you light-bearers, you don’t think I’m going to hide you under a bucket, do you? I’m putting you on a light stand. Now that I’ve put you there on a hilltop, on a light stand—shine! Keep open house; be generous with your lives. By opening up to others, you’ll prompt people to open up with God, this generous Father in heaven.”
The calling of being salt and light applies to every single person. Click To TweetWe often hear that the world is evil… dark… hopeless… etc. but this passage reveals to us that there are God-flavors and God-colors in the earth! We are called to draw these God-aspects out of the world. Let’s be salt and light of the world and bring out the flavors and colors that are already there. We may be called to different places but the calling of being salt and light applies to every single person who hears it. Let’s engage with the world and be who God calls us to be and be people that bring out the flavor and color wherever we go.