In Matthew 5:13, Jesus said, “You (referring to Christ-followers) 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 by men.”
According to this passage of scripture, there are two important facts to remember if salt is going to be effective as a preservative. First, the salt has to be potent in order to be effective. This means that Christ followers should be full of God’s word, and must be willing to share it with others. Second, in order for salt to be effective, it has to have close proximity. In other words, it must be touching the substance it is preserving to make its impact. Christ followers should be close to those who need to hear God’s word and His truth.
When Christ followers fail to be “salt” in our society, truth is lost and morality is ambiguous. The outrage concerning Michael Vick and his dog fighting practices is a recent example of this fact.
Don’t get me wrong, dog fighting is a heinous form of entertainment. For this crime, Vick has been sentenced to federal prison. However, do you know that in America today, Vick could get one hundred girls pregnant, counsel them to get abortions, and still be the starting quarterback for the Atlanta Falcons.
I wonder how many abortions have been performed due to the sexual habits of many people in our society. Where is the outrage for all these murders? Are dogs more valuable and important than human babies? If Michael Vick should go to prison for killing dogs, shouldn’t people go to prison for killing babies? Proverbs 6:16 says, “There are six things the Lord hates, seven that are detestable to Him.” One of the things it mentions that the Lord hates is the shedding of innocent blood (Proverbs 6:17b). Nothing is more innocent than the blood of a baby.
In the days of Isaiah the prophet, the people of his time had also lost their sense of truth and righteousness. Isaiah 59:14- says, “Justice is driven back, and righteousness stands at a distance; truth has stumbled in the streets, honesty cannot enter. (15) Truth is nowhere to be found, and whoever shuns evil becomes a prey.”
The people had stopped following God’s way and began to do what was right in their own eyes. Read how God responded to this dilemma. Isaiah 59: 15b-16 says, “The Lord looked and was displeased that there was no justice. (16) He saw that there was no one, He was appalled that there was no one to intervene; so His arm worked salvation for Him.” Wow! There was no one to be “salt” and speak truth during this time in history. Therefore, God had to eventually send His Son Jesus in person to remind us of His truth and die for our sins.
Unlike the days of Isaiah, I pray God would find Christ followers being “salt” in our society today by living and speaking his truth. If Christ followers will do their part, truth will be rediscovered in America and something way more precious than dogs will be saved from death.
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