Matthew 5:2, 13 (ESV)
[2] And he opened his mouth and taught them, saying:
[13] “You are the salt of the earth, but if salt has lost its
taste, how shall its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything
except to be thrown out and trampled under people’s feet.
Between these two verses is the passage we call
the Beatitudes. They are a list of character qualities associated with being
blessed, happy, or fortunate. What does it mean to lose one’s saltiness? It
occurs to me that the answer to that question is the exact opposite of each of
the beatitudes. Rather than being poor in spirit the proud and arrogant are the
ones who are no longer salty. Those who find their joy in their circumstances never
know God’s comfort. The independent and self-sufficient ones fail to gain the
blessing of the meek. Those who see themselves as having achieved righteousness
will never know true righteousness. Those who fail to show mercy because they
have never felt the need for mercy will in fact never experience the blessing
of receiving mercy. Those who believe that they are pure because of their
external religion will never see or understand God. Those who divide from and
persecute others who have not achieved their elevated spiritual status will in
fact never be acknowledged as children of God nor know his reward.
This passage is not about how to earn salvation. It is directed toward the
self-righteous, religious elite who think of themselves as better than the
rest. They think of themselves as holy people uniquely acceptable to God. They
fail to recognize that they have lost their saltiness and failed to be the
lights to a dark world they were intended to be. It makes me wonder how many of
us who sit in church every Sunday morning have lost our saltiness as well.
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