Church Essential – Salt

The SSB afternoon session with Virgil Walker (09/12/2021) addressed the question, “Is the church essential?”  He argued “Yes!” for three reasons:  1. for the saints, 2. for sanctification, and 3. for society.

His points were excellent and important for us, the church in Gretna, to grasp as we navigate these days with more and more people and the government saying the church is NOT essential.  What do we believe and where do we draw the line in submission to the state?

I think the church is essential because Jesus referred to His people as salt.  Is salt essential?  What was Jesus saying to His followers and the world when He said His people are salt?

Matthew 5:13, You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt loses its flavor, how shall it be seasoned? It is then good for nothing but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot by men.

So what about salt?  Why would Jesus declare us as salt?  [from “What did Jesus mean when He described His followers as the salt of the earth?” at www.GotQuestions.org]

1. By declaring His people salt, Jesus was calling them “preservatives” to slow down moral and spiritual decay. Psalm 14:3, says, “All have turned away, all have become corrupt; there is no one who does good, not even one.”  Believers are to preserve righteousness and goodness in a dark and dirty world in love with darkness and bent to evil and selfishness.
2. Jesus’ disciples are as salt in order to “enhance” life in this world—promoting goodness and making God’s work stand out from the normal way of doing things.  Salt can enhance the flavor.  Salt can make things better.  “But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back,” Luke 6:35.
3. Salt is also seen in terms of value.  In Jesus’ days, salt was a valuable commodity – as a means of money or exchange (the word salary comes from an ancient word meaning “salt-money” – “worth his salt”).  Jesus was telling His disciples how important their ministry would be to one another and to society.
4. Jesus said, “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 underfoot.”  Can salt become less salty?  Strictly speaking, No.  Sodium chloride is a stable compound and can’t become less of itself.  What was Jesus saying:
   1) Jesus may have been referring to the “salt” that was collected from the Dead Sea by evaporation.  The substance resembled pure salt, but it wasn’t effective for preservation or for seasoning.
   2) Jesus could have been referring to the rock formations in which people would store meat. Once the salt leached out of the rocks, the rocks were no longer effective to preserve the meat.
   3) Others have speculated that Jesus was referring to the salt blocks that bakers used in their ovens. Eventually the heat would make these salt blocks useless.
   4) Others think Jesus was referring to a saying of the time: “Can salt lose its saltiness?”  It’s a rhetorical question because salt can’t become less salty.  True disciples of Jesus cannot lose their saltiness.  They are new creations and completely changed.  Someone who is an imposter cannot become salty again.  The imposters are to be “thrown out and trampled underfoot” because they have no effectiveness.

Matthew 5:13 tells us that we are valuable in our role as disciples of Christ.  God uses us to impact the people around us.  Whether we are slowing down moral decay, enhancing the “flavor” of the world or being valuable in God’s hand; God has created His people to make a positive impact.

The church is essential – even for society!