Earth Salt: Thoughts and Reflections

"Ye are the salt of the earth." The simple, concrete metaphor might have startled Christ's Sermon on the Mount listeners, but has become so widely used that many do not know its Christian beginnings. For those of us who do know, being earth salt can bring us closer to Christ and to our neighbors everywhere.

Christ referred to His followers as friends, little children, fruit trees, light of the world, sheep of His fold, branches of His vine, His mother and His brethren. He referred to the paralyzed man at Bethesda as "son" and the woman who was healed by touching his robe as "daughter." But the word salt and its binding to earth have perhaps become as enduring as the use of the substance.

Such a common flavor, preservative, and purifier—the world is filled with it, (including "trillions of tons of it . . . in our oceans"). Its contribution to human health is critical.

Earth Salt People

Appropriate Metaphor

Earth salt people, like salt, "spread throughout the world and enhance it, adding flavor to things that would be bland, drawing out the blessings of whatever is good, and providing a contrast by being distinct and different." Paul counseled the Colossians (4:6) that their speech should be “seasoned with salt"; he didn't use the most exotic foreign flavor he could think of.

Salt is a strong and reliable preservative. Writers on Christianity.com applied this benefit to people: "preserving the good, true, and beautiful elements of humanity as God created us, following His commandments and loving each other as God loves us." They added, "encouraging his followers to act as a preserving influence on the world, counteracting moral decay and corruption." As Christians, we respect our leaders on navigating through aspects of worldly society we do not want to preserve—and these are legion.

Salt purifies. It releases ions that have been found to neutralize air-borne pollutants affecting allergies or asthma. Salt cannot destroy existing corruption, but it can prevent it or stop its spread. Salt is often compared to leaven, which "corrupts and deteriorates."

Earth salt people are often described with words like honest, trustworthy, reasonable, kind, compassionate, unselfish, considerate. People who know them stress that they serve without seeking rewards or recognition. As Paul wrote to the Philippians (2:3), “Instead of being motivated by selfish ambition or vanity, each of you should, in humility, be moved to treat one another as more important than yourself.”

Appropriate Attitudes and Behavior

Susan Porter, president of a world-wide Christian children's network, spoke of the "little maid" mentioned in 2 Kings, a slave-servant to the wife of Naaman, a Syrian army captain who had leprosy. The young servant spoke to her mistress "two sentences with the power of God . . . 'Would God my lord were with the prophet that is in Samaria! for he would recover him of his leprosy.'"

Mrs. Porter noted that Naaman's interaction with Elisha and the servants who convinced him to obey Elisha's words are generally credited with the healing. But the "little maid" was the one who sent Naaman to Elisha's door. Being a young slave in a foreign country, but filled with faith, she was definitely salt of the earth. Susan Porter concluded, "You may be young or feel of no importance, but you can be as salt in your family, at school, and in your community."

We do not know the name of the "little maid"; the healing became famous, but she did not. As an earth salt person, God knew what she did, and so did she. We are blessed to know and love earth-salt people. Some of us are extremely blessed to have them in our families, neighborhoods, and congregations.

Howard W. Hunter, a world-renowned Christian leader before his death, told the student body of a large university at the beginning of their fall semester,

If you feel that much of what you do this year or in the years to come does not make you very famous, take heart. Most of the best people who ever lived weren’t very famous either. Serve and grow, faithfully and quietly.

Most [are] quiet, relatively unknown folks who come and go and do their work without fanfare. [They] too, are part of God’s army.

Christ's Loved People

Jesus Christ lived the kind of salt of the earth life He asked of His people. We know almost nothing of His life before He began his ministry; though the greatest in Heaven, He and His parents lived as earth salters. When His time came, they emerged and accepted the necessary lives and responsibilities. Though He was the most powerful being on earth, he was homeless, desiring none of the world's luxuries, accepting all the world's suffering and grief.

He chose those closest to Him, his apostles, from the salt of the earth, many of them covered with salt from the sea as well. Matthew was collected from the tax table, but had the disciple's heart and soul. Regardless of origin or background, with the exception of one they gave what they had to give. The apostles eventually became famous through their actions and their words, but they didn't start out that way. Christ knew before He called them who they were, what they would become, and how they would change the world. They needed to advance from salthood—and they did.

Christ healed multitudes of earth salters. He knew them, and he recognized their faith—some called out loudly; most behaved more salt-like. Even those in great groups laid out for Him were important to Him, and their faith was rewarded. He touched those who others might have feared to touch, including those with leprosy or possessed with evil spirits. They were among the salt of the earth, and He loved them.

Zacchaeus, though a chief tax collector and very wealthy, did not consider himself above others (physically or otherwise). He was so short that when he was curious to see Jesus he had to climb a sycamore tree. Jesus knew He was in the tree; Jesus also knew his heart and behavior. Zacchaeus gave half of what he had to those in poverty; if he accidentally cheated anybody, he returned four times the sum involved. Jesus called out, “Zacchaeus, come down immediately. I must stay at your house today.” To Zacchaeus (and the inevitable sneering onlookers who hated tax collectors), He proclaimed, “Today salvation has come to this house" (Luke 19).

After Jesus had told his listeners to be the salt of the earth, he added a harder commandment with another metaphor: "Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid." He did not specify how big the lighted city had to be, where it had to be located, or what sorts of people had to live there. Cities and hills housing salt of the earth people may be what He had in mind.

Some of Today's Salters

Today people are still reading the Bible; following the words, teachings, and examples of the Savior; and still being salt of the earth. None of us could count all the ways salt is and can be used. Likewise, there are uncountable ways people salt the earth. A few may be useful for getting minds going.

Fit-it-in salters are people who fit salting in though time is tight. People with demanding jobs and/or families to raise and/or care for still want and need to be salt of the earth. People with health challenges are in this category, as are people who are disabled, elderly, or otherwise limited in salting they can do.

• It's easy to see people who are unable to do and have difficulty obtaining yard care.

One father wanted to teach his young son how to use a lawn mower, so he arranged to come to someone who needed mowing. He and his son mowed together, his wife raked, and his two very young daughters picked up pine cones in the back yard.

A woman visited almost daily her mother and father, who were in different ends of the same large care center, as different equipment was necessary for their serious conditions. As she walked between them, other residents noticed her and spoke to her as she passed. She listened and talked with them, which many badly needed.

Circumstance salters are in life circumstances where they encounter needs they can meet.

• A police officer was troubled about infants and young children whose parents were unable to care for them for periods of time. He, his wife, and their two children volunteered to be a temporary family when one was needed. For example, they kept an infant, appropriately named Sunshine, for more than a year.
• In a school where deaf children had recently been included, some children in the inclusion classrooms wanted ways to relate with their new friends. A woman who was fluent in American Sign Language volunteered to teach a class where these children could learn some signs.

Life-committing Salters commit themselves, and often their families, to a lifestyle of salting.

• Some salters adopt a child with a disability—commonly autism or mental disabilities from parents' addiction
• A husband and wife who were both trained in mental health counseling lived in an area where this help was not available. They opened a clinic together, charging low prices and capably serving local needs.

Sadly, many of today's societies and cultures seem devoted to being high on hierarchies. Some push for high tiers of wealth, professional accomplishment, or educational attainment. Others want their accomplishments in science, literature, visual arts, music, drama, athletics, and other endeavors to be recognized and acclaimed; GOAT is displayed on social media, labeled clothing, bumper stickers, and any other way they find to stake a claim. Earth salt people don't need to be bothered with such things.