Ye Are the Salt of the Earth

 I read a quote online the other day about the need for Christians to be salty instead of sweet. I disagreed with the quote, but wasn’t able to fully disentangle my limited understanding of bible salt in order to articulate why it didn’t sit well with me. So I have compulsively hyper-focused on salt in the scripture for a couple of days, and now have a whole new understanding of what it means to be the salt of the earth.

A still life art work of salt I harvested from the Dead Sea in my spare time, probably (and Trader Joe’s flowers).

———————————————————-

I’m interested to hear various perspectives of what people think when they hear “ye are the salt of the earth”, or “…grace seasoned with salt”. When I asked Aaron, his perspective was completely different from my own, but when I asked my best friend, Rachel, her understanding of it was identical to mine. I was somewhat disappointed that I had nothing new about salt to share with Aaron because he already knew it all. How annoying, haha! 

To be frank, I’ve never given “ye are the salt of the earth” much thought. I subconsciously assigned it a presupposed meaning based off a handful of remarks I’ve heard over the years and gave it no more consideration. It’s impossible to connect the dots on a topic when you aren’t even thinking of the dots in the first place.

I have always assumed it as being verbally “salty” with a more modern understanding of the word. Nowadays, when we hear someone use the term ”salty”, it’s slang for angry, upset, bitter, etc. Salt and vinegar. Sharp and sour. That’s pretty close to how I have viewed it biblically, too. I thought it was some sort of righteous anger along with a combatant, soldier of Christ nature. It’s truly such a stunted way of viewing biblical saltiness, and a lack of mature understanding. Salt in the scripture is far more rounded out than I realized.

I have clear childhood memories of being taught this perspective at various camp-meetings by southern, hacking preachers. Always a variation of, “Get out there and tell the world the salty truth, no matter who it hurts! If people turn away, it’s the fault of their own sin and stubbornness. You can’t help them then. If people are always comfortable, they’ll never change for the better. Sometimes you have to use a cattle prod to get people moving.” *hack hack* *lots of hearty amens* *Sound Doctrine sings Is Your Harp Hanging on a Willow Tree? in the background*

This quote of Ruckman’s sums it up really well:

“God called me to sit at this typewriter and pour forth vinegar, acid, vitriol, and cleaning fluid on the leading conservative and fundamental scholars of 1900 through 1990. ... God is in charge. He ... destines me to sit at this typewriter and lambaste, scald and ridicule these Bible rejecting fundamentalists who ‘believe the Bible is the Word of God,’ ... I hereby dedicate myself anew to the task of destructive criticism and negative blasting against every adversary of that Holy Book...” 

-Peter Ruckman The Bible Believers Bulletin, Dec 1985.

-Vitriol, noun: violent hate and anger expressed through severe criticism. (“Destructive criticism”, if you like. Not to be confused with constructive criticism.)

-Lambaste, verb: as in to scold

to criticize (someone) severely or angrily especially for personal failings. 

-Acid, adjective: sharp, biting, sour.

Acid, noun: causes chemical burn to skin, breaking down good tissue, and damaging cell structure. 

-Ridicule, verb: to harshly mock, belittle, attempt to make someone look stupid.

A decade ago, or even more recent than that, I would have viewed this old quote of Ruckman’s as a Christ-like perspective. I would not have liked the mindset, but I would have told myself it is Biblical salt by definition, and would have tried to adjust my emotions to like it better. I vaguely thought, if I thought about it at all, “ye are the salt of the earth” means we are to go into a corrupt world and, I don’t know, cleanse and flavor it with the fire of our zeal and ire for the advancement of the kingdom of God. Biblical salt means we get in the face of evil and rip it down with our Bible knowledge, and any verbal evisceration is allowed because we are fighting for good or something. Did not Jesus flip tables, whip the thieves out of the temple, and call the Pharisees whited sepulchers and hypocrites? Did not the craggy, old prophets and judges “tell it like it is”? That’s what it boiled down to for me, and on occasion I practiced this manner of wounding speech, and when I didn’t, I felt some guilt and alarm about my lack of good Christian confrontational skills. It’s been years now since I’ve felt that “vitriol” is Christ-like, but I did still feel there was something like it in biblical salt.

As a side-note: Jesus flipped tables for the sake of the little people, the poor and downtrodden, who were being taken advantage of by the moneychangers, and the prophets were almost always standing against evil for the sake of the oppressed people. This should be an encouragement, and warning, to us as we consider (and help) people who are less fortunate than we are.

“And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.”

Matthew 25:40

All that to say, when I decided to search out salt in the bible, I discovered so many things I’ve never noticed before.

———————————————————-

1)God formed a covenant of salt with the Israelites. Salt is a preservative, and the salt covenant between God and the Israelites is symbolic of purity, holiness, and a “preserved” promise. God does not change or alter his promise, it is steadfast and enduring.

And every oblation of thy meat offering shalt thou season with salt; neither shalt thou suffer the salt of the covenant of thy God to be lacking from thy meat offering: with all thine offerings thou shalt offer salt.

Leviticus 2:13

All the heave offerings of the holy things, which the children of Israel offer unto the Lord, have I given thee, and thy sons and thy daughters with thee, by a statute for ever: it is a covenant of salt for ever before the Lord unto thee and to thy seed with thee.

Numbers 19:19

Ought ye not to know that the Lord God of Israel gave the kingdom over Israel to David for ever, even to him and to his sons by a covenant of salt?

2 Chronicles 13:5

Reading the history of salt covenants is so intriguing. A salt covenant was common practice in the ancient middle east, and was considered an unbreakable promise! Cool, right?! Eating salt together (for example, baked into bread) was an ancient custom that symbolized a deep bond of friendship, loyalty, and hospitality. Think of how often Jesus sat the table with sinners and publicans to break bread- forming this bond of friendship! (The last supper with the disciples! It’s amazing to mull that over while layering on breaking bread + salt covenants.)

I found this information in an article (link here):

"To eat salt with any one was to partake of his fare, to share his hospitality and hence, by implication, to enjoy his favor, or to be in his confidence. Hence, also, salt became an emblem of fidelity and of intimate friendship. At the present hour, the Arabs regard as their friend him who has eaten salt with them --that is, has partaken of their hospitality in the same way as in Greece, those (who shared salt) regarded each other as friends even to distant generations." (Bible Cyclopedia of Scriptures", Vol. 3, p.738. Published in Edinburgh, 1876.)

I loved reading about this fascinating custom from the same article:

"When the Arabs make a covenant, they put salt on the blade of a sword. Their oath is sacred and incomprehensible. Brother Henniker was a partaker in such a solemn oath for his protection and he said:  "The oldest had a sword. He put salt on the blade, then stuck that something (the blade) into his mouth, telling me to do the same. (To put salt on the same blade and put the blade in my mouth.) From that oath, he joined my life with his with these words: 'Son of my own home, thy head is upon mine shoulder'. By the salt and the naked sword, we became blood relatives (servants to each other) and were to remain so even to the threat of death." ("Geography in Relation to Nature and the History of Mankind", Book 8, p. 960. Published in Berlin, 1848.) [Title and Text translated from original German].

2)Salt represents purification. 

Newborn babies were rubbed with salt to purify them and prevent infection. (don’t try this at home lol)

And as for thy nativity, in the day thou wast born thy navel was not cut, neither wast thou washed in water to supple thee; thou wast not salted at all, nor swaddled at all.

Ezekiel 16:4

Elisha salted bitter waters and purified them.

And he said, Bring me a new cruse, and put salt therein. And they brought it to him.

And he went forth unto the spring of the waters, and cast the salt in there, and said, Thus saith the Lord, I have healed these waters; there shall not be from thence any more death or barren land.

So the waters were healed unto this day, according to the saying of Elisha which he spake.

2 Kings 2:20-22

3)It was common to use salt for fertilizer in ancient days.

Ye are the salt of the earth: but if the salt have lost his savour, wherewith shall it be salted? it is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of men.

Matthew 5:13 

Salt is good: but if the salt have lost his savour, wherewith shall it be seasoned?

It is neither fit for the land, nor yet for the dunghill; but men cast it out. He that hath ears to hear, let him hear.

Luke 14:34-35

Salt is good: but if the salt have lost his saltness, wherewith will ye season it? Have salt in yourselves, and have peace one with another.

Mark 9:50

 I loved this article on the salt of the earth as fertilizer: What Does Salt of the Earth Mean? 

So informative!

I’m including three excerpts that I love:

“In the ancient world, salt could be mined, gathered from evaporated seawater or harvested from marshes. None of this salt would be like our modern-day table salt, which is nearly pure sodium chloride. These ancient sources of salt would contain sodium chloride, giving it its distinct flavor, but they would also contain a number of impurities and other compounds.

‘“It is, of course, impossible for salt (sodium chloride) to lose its taste, but the salt in use in first-century Palestine was far from pure. It was quite possible for the sodium chloride to be leached out of the impure salt in common use so that what was left lacked the taste of salt. It was literally useless. It could not fertilize the land or even decompose usefully on the manure heap” (Leon Morris, Luke: An Introduction and Commentary, Tyndale New Testament Commentaries, Vol. 3, p. 254).

The end result in such a case would be, in essence, unsalty salt—totally useless and good for nothing “but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot by men.”

“From this perspective, a Christian’s job as “salt of the earth” or “salt for the soil” is to promote and stimulate the growth of good things. That’s certainly a biblical concept.

John the Baptist warned, “Every tree which does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire” (Luke 3:9).

Jesus explained, “I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing. If anyone does not abide in Me, he is cast out as a branch and is withered; and they gather them and throw them into the fire, and they are burned . . . By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit; so you will be My disciples” (John 15:5-6, 8).

Christians who aren’t staying connected to God and growing are like salt without flavor. A Christian without God’s presence and guidance in his or her life is just as absurd as unsalty salt—and just as useless.”

“In Mark’s account, Jesus equates having “salt among yourselves” to having “peace with one another” (Mark 9:50). Paul told the Colossians, “Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer each person” (Colossians 4:6, English Standard Version, emphasis added).

In these examples, salt is a metaphor for the peace, graciousness and wisdom that allows us to interact with others in a godly way.

Jesus asked, “When the Son of Man comes [returns to the earth], will He really find faith on the earth?” (Luke 18:8). As the salt of the earth, we should be committed to following in Christ’s footsteps. In the process, our Christian lifestyle will have an impact on the world the way salt has an impact on food. 

When Christ returns to the earth, He should find His people doing their part to keep the world around them well-seasoned.”

I also loved this essay on salt as fertilizer: You are the Manure of the Earth

Here is a great excerpt: 

“Christians are not here to merely season or preserve the world from decay. The followers of Jesus Christ are sent on a mission to stimulate growth in the parts of the world that are barren, and to be mixed into the manure piles of the world so that God can use that fertilizer to bring new, virtuous life. But if those same followers are not committed to the radically countercultural message of Jesus Christ, they lose their “saltiness,” which is the unique witness to the power of the gospel that brings the kingdom of God to the messes of the world, stimulating life and growth. If we lose our “saltiness,” we are “no longer good for anything” and cannot be the agents of change that Jesus intended for his followers to be (Matt. 5:13).”

4)Salt can destroy and cause barrenness. Consider Lot’s wife, turned to a pillar of salt after her disregard for God’s warning. Land sowed with too much salt became unusable- this was sometimes something kings did to conquered cities. 

But his wife looked back from behind him, and she became a pillar of salt.

Genesis 19:26

And Abimelech fought against the city all that day; and he took the city, and slew the people that was therein, and beat down the city, and sowed it with salt.

Judges 9:45

Here is a link to a Nat Geo show that I really enjoyed. It sort of blew my mind. It isn’t Christian, but is respectful and gives a lot of information on the location that is popularly considered, by some, to be the ruins of Sodom and Gomorrah. The land is not farmable due to salt content. 

Salt requires the right amount of usage. A delicate measurement. Discretion and balance.

A just weight and balance are the Lord's: all the weights of the bag are his work.

Proverbs 16:11

Years ago, working at The Highlands Golf Course, my co-worker and I accidentally put too much fertilizer on every single plant on the entire golf course. All of the smaller plants died, burnt to a crisp. Thousands of dollars worth of plants gone overnight. The larger, established plants survived unscathed (I feel like there is an allegory in that!).

My sister in law bought me a teeny, adorable Bonsai tree for Christmas one year. I loved it. And then I killed it with too much fertilizer one day. Every leaf fell off overnight.

Salt of the earth, used with a heavy hand, will burn the land and lay it to waste. It has lost its savor.

———————————————————-

Aaron used to love duck hunting, as a teenager, and he told me how effective a salt bath (brining) can be for tough wild game. He said they would soak the meat overnight, and the salt bath would tenderize it. With time, and the right amount of salt, useless meat becomes edible, well seasoned nutrition. 

We talked about how our human nature makes it so difficult to admit when we are wrong, and how defensive we become in confrontation. No matter how mature we are, every single one of us flinches and mentally braces for battle in these moments. When we approach people in a forceful, confrontational way, we cannot be heard or taken seriously by the person we speak with. But! Good news, “thy gentleness hath made me great”, and if we can curb our aggressive force, and apply gentleness with it, the truth in love, others can tenderize and hear us when we give them time to think on the things they need to change. Haven’t we all done this?! We get mad at first, when someone tells us a thing we don’t like to hear, but after we’ve had time to think on it, we come around and make a change. We need time to marinate and tenderize.

One of the essays I shared already mentions that salt is sometimes a metaphor for wisdom, and salt losing its flavor is a metaphor for foolishness. This makes sense to me. Look at Proverbs! It’s saturated with references to wisdom and foolishness.

The tongue of the wise useth knowledge aright: but the mouth of fools poureth out foolishness.

Proverbs 15:2 

In the mouth of the foolish is a rod of pride: but the lips of the wise shall preserve them.

Proverbs 14:3

(PRESERVE!!! Like salt! Eeek! Everything is connected and woven!)

 

I read an essay that mentioned this about water in the Bible:

Water is life. A wellspring of water, a flowing river, a well in the desert. Naaman dipping himself seven times in the Jordan. We see life giving and healing waters throughout the Bible.

We also see water destroying everything in its path. The sea drowning Pharaoh’s army. Noah’s flood. Bitter, poison, gall waters.

It’s a lot like salt which can be life giving fertilizer, or it can lay waste when it’s applied with foolishness versus wisdom and discretion.

————————————————— 

I want to be the salt of the earth, and I have to consider how salt is framed framed in a few verses.

Salt is good: but if the salt have lost his saltness, wherewith will ye season it? Have salt in yourselves, and have peace one with another.

Mark 9:50

If you notice the phrasing there, he says to have salt in yourselves. We need the salt ourselves. And have peace with others. Jesus speaks of salt losing its savor in every Gospel. We can lose our savor, and when we do, we can’t have peace with others. This is so different from how I’ve always viewed it! The moment I decide to salt the earth in the modern sense, laying it waste with vitriol, acid, and a bad attitude, I have lost my savor and peace with one another has ended. I have lost all opportunity to influence anyone for good. Influence should matter to us!

 Let your speech be always with grace, seasoned with salt, that ye may know how ye ought to answer every man.

Colossians 4:6

Here Paul tells us to share a bit of that salt. A bit of that wisdom goes a long way. Using discretion. Seasoning is not dumping out a box of salt to destroy. Seasoning adds flavor and goodness. Things are bland without it. But, as Jesus said, we had to have it in ourselves first. And in order to share it with others, it seems we need to establish peace first.

But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ.

Ephesians 4:15

There is, of course, always a need for honesty and truth to be spoken. But in love. Balance. That is salt. This is wise. This is good health, and fertilizer for good growth. 

Jesus called the Pharisees whited sepulchers and hypocrites. They obviously felt that was contentious, and were offended and hated him for it. But it wasn’t, was it?! It was assertive, honest, and needed to be said. One time my therapist told me,”Assertive is not wrong or unkind”, and I was STUNNED. I had never separated assertive honesty from unkindness. I have a deeply ingrained streak of politeness and deviating from that has always filled me with regret and guilt. 

Galatians 4:16 says,”Am I therefore become your enemy, because I tell you the truth?” There is a time and place to say a difficult truth that may not be well accepted at first. “Faithful are the wounds of a friend”. At times, my friends have come to me, said something that needed to be said, and it hurt so much at first. But in the end, it helped me. I needed to make a change. But I must also stress that the faithful wounds of a friend are given in love and compassion, never in malice, defensive wrath, or bitterness.

With all lowliness and meekness, with longsuffering, forbearing one another in love;

Endeavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.

Ephesians 4:2-3 

Peace with one another!

Be ye angry, and sin not: let not the sun go down upon your wrath:

Neither give place to the devil. (losing that savor like Jesus warned against)

Let him that stole steal no more: but rather let him labour, working with his hands the thing which is good, that he may have to give to him that needeth.

Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers.(grace seasoned with salt!)

And grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption.

Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice:

And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you.

Ephesians 4:26-32

Pleasant words are as an honeycomb, sweet to the soul, and health to the bones.

Proverbs 16:24 

Pleasant words are still truthful words.

A soft answer turneth away wrath: but grievous words stir up anger.

Proverbs 15:1 

A soft answer is still an honest answer.

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith,

Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.

Galatians 5:22-23  

Fruit is sweet! And can grow with the right amount of fertilizer, and back when this verse was written that fertilizer was manure and salt.

The Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and plenteous in mercy.

Psalm 103:8

You want to know something funny and ironic? Contrary to how I have formerly viewed biblical salt as it applies to our influence in the world (firey, *self* righteously angry, and combative for… something? For Jesus’s sake?), when I say,”They’re salt of the earth people,” I mean people who are good, honest, kind, trustworthy, and wise! Which is a far more biblical take as I’ve learned in the past few days.