In one of His most poignant teachings, Jesus declared that we are the salt of the earth and the light of the world. I occasionally hear believers assure me that since they are not gifted evangelists, they are not required to give a verbal witness. Instead, they suggest that their witness is silent, given by virtue of their character (I call these people “virtual” witnesses in order to distinguish them from “verbal” ones). One might automatically assume that since we are salt and light, that we will have an inevitable effect on people. But is this true?
Jesus made it clear that salt is not always potent, and light is not always visible. We each have a responsibility to ensure that we are effective among people who are far from God.
The meaning of Jesus’ analogies can easily get watered down because our modern ways are different that those of His time. The changes in the way we produce and use light are quite evident. In ancient times, light was produced almost exclusively by fire–an open flame that burned perpetually for warmth, cooking, and protection, but also to light torches and lamps. Jesus said to “let your light shine,” which means that we should not let it be concealed or extinguished.
Understanding what Jesus said about salt is more challenging. Scholars and scientists have long debated about how salt could possibly “lose its saltiness.” Chemically salt is always salt, and unlike many substances, it has a limitless shelf life and will never become less potent. My geology professor at Messiah College, Mark Wolgemuth, gave the first-century explanation to this puzzle. Salt was not mined to produce the clean product that we have today. Instead, people living in salt-laden areas would gather a handful of sand containing salt crystals and place them in a small bag. When cooking, they would dip the bag into the broth which allowed some of the salt to leach out. Over time the salt would be spent, leaving only sand in the bag; the sand would be discarded, just as Jesus says in His analogy.
Today, we handle salt and light quite differently–and unfortunately our witness has changed accordingly. We purchase pure salt in packages and place it in a container such as a salt shaker. The salt is sealed off and has no effect until the shaker is inverted, allowing some salt to come out. Believers today seem to need to be turned upside down and shaken before they will open their mouths and share the good news! This is a dramatically different picture to the bag of salty sand being fully immersed into hot broth.
Light sources have changed as well, developing from open fires, to flames confined behind glass (lanterns), to no flames at all (electric lights). No longer does a fire burn perpetually, but the light can be turned on and off with a switch. And so it follows with our witness: we turn it on and off at will—and unfortunately, it is usually off.
We are indeed salt and light, but as Jesus commands, we must not allow ourselves to lose our potency. Instead, we must boldly share the good news in a world so desperately needing to hear it.
What will you do this week to be salt and light in your neighborhood?
