Matthew 5:13 "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 by men. 14 "You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. 15 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. 16 In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.As Luke gets older, my burden gets heavier on how to parent him in a way that pleases God. Am I representing Christ to him accurately, do I know enough to teach him enough, do I live rightly, does "my light" shine in our household? Being in the savory industry, I needed to look deeper at the meaning of the verses above.
At
IFF, we use salt as a main measurement to determine if the blend is complete- salt is a main component to most formulations because it draws out the other flavors present and it preserves the flavor over time keeping microbiological levels low, which maintains freshness longer. If the salt is too low or too high, we must blend the formulation together longer to make sure it is distributed evenly throughout the end product. This passage is interesting to me because salt does not loose it’s saltiness- it is a very shelf stable product that we can use in the industry longer than any other ingredient. Some interpretations as to why Matthew choose salt:
Exodus, Ezekiel, and Kings present salt as a
purifying agentLeviticus, Numbers, and Chronicles present it as
a sign of God's covenant.
The most important use of salt was as a preservative and hence the most common interpretation of the metaphor is as asserting the duty to
preserve the purity of the world.In the Rabbinic literature of the period salt was a metaphor for
wisdom.
Salt was a minor but essential ingredient in fertilizer and so a few scholars such as
Gundry believe that earth should be translated as soil (i.e. salt of the soil), and hence the metaphor asserts that the audience should
help the world grow and prosper.
One interpretation of salt of the earth is that
it orders the audience to take part in the world rather than withdraw from it To be the salt of the earth, to me, means we are the key to the formulation. We must mix evenly with the world, but maintain our saltiness- our beliefs, convictions and morals without the world taking our saltiness away and corrupting the formulation, making us useless. The person I am includes the Holy Spirit and that is a savory formulation that people buy by the bucketful when they taste it! When I loose sight of why I am here, to be the light of the world, sin entangles me and the salty appeal is lost on unbelievers. I must stay salty by being poor in spirit, hungry for Truth, meek, show mercy, be pure in heart, and continually be a peacemaker. When others insult me and the salt that is within me, I rejoice because they don’t see me, they see Him and then confirm I have not lost my saltiness. Oh how I hope to be salty, to be understood without using words at all- to be a
usable light to a dark world, and especially to my family. To God be the glory.
