This past week I received an e-mail from a close friend of mine in regards to sidewalk salt to melt ice on walk ways. Instead of me going into detail about it, I want you to read his challenging words...
"Leading up to this newsletter, I planned on writing about random observations. I observed something that proved to be very interesting – salt on a sidewalk! Not only salt on a sidewalk, but too much salt on a sidewalk. Interesting observation huh? I bet you can’t wait to read the rest of this newsletter! So there I was at Caribou Coffee in early January sipping on some coffee and eating a brownie I took with me to eat…yes Caribou probably frowns on me bringing food to their coffee shop, but I don’t really care! As I looked out the window I saw an enormous amount of salt on their sidewalk. The salt was put down a day earlier for a winter storm that produced more rain than anything else. The salt was spread out, better yet dumped, so heavily that you were walking on salt instead of a sidewalk.
What a waste I thought to myself. All of that expensive salt uselessly sitting there. It was then a verse in the Bible came to my mind about being the “salt of the earth.” I never thought much about this verse nor did it ever really grab my attention…until now. In both Matthew and Luke, Jesus uses an illustration to depict the necessity of disciples (i.e. Christians) living out a real Christian life. Jesus sets the stage leading up to the scriptures in Matthew 5:13 and Luke 14:34-35 by making those around him aware of what it meant to follow him. Jesus preached a message on these occasions more piercing than most congregations hear on a Sunday morning. His message included Christians being persecuted, taking up their own cross, and denying their selfish desires…in essence becoming slaves to God. Yes, slaves. In the New Testament the Greek word generally translated “servant” could be translated “slave” for a total of 133 times. Our English translations over the years
elected to use servant in lieu of slave for some good intentioned reasons. (It is worth noting that slavery in antiquity was much different than the horrid racial slavery we have been exposed to). Followers of Jesus understood that by believing in him they became a slave to Jesus – their Master, Lord, Savior, and God. I bring up this understanding of how first century Christians recognized themselves as slaves because people (including myself) need to hear and understand what it means to claim the Christian name. Christians have been bought with a price – Jesus crucified.
Christians are no longer their own lord or master. We desire to be autonomous and submit to no one, but that is unacceptable once you become a Christian. A Christian has to recognize a new lord in their life and this will undoubtedly change their life. It is becoming more and more apparent churches in the United States are comprised of stagnant, immature Christians. Studies abound supporting the claim that as a whole Christians are not growing in their faith nor being transformed into disciples of Jesus. What does all of this have to do with me seeing too much salt on the sidewalk? Read Matthew 5:13 and Luke 14:34-35 below:
“You are the salt of the earth, but if salt
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.” (Matthew
5:13)
“Salt is good, but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its
saltiness be restored? It is of no use either for the soil or for the manure
pile. It is thrown away. He who has ears to hear, let him hear.” (Luke
14:34-35)
Jesus made it clear that “Christians” who have lost the true meaning of who they are in Christ no longer do justice to the Christian name and might as well be thrown away. What a startling image and a waste. As I look back and see all of that salt wasting away on the sidewalk, I have to ask myself whether I am the salt on the ground being “trampled under people’s feet?” If I call myself a Christian, do I still “taste” like a Christian? Asking ourselves these questions and taking inventory of who we are in Christ is no small order. I don’t care if you claim to have been a Christian for all your life, for the last thirty years, or for the last five; “he who has ears to hear, let him hear” this – if you are a Christian then you are to whole heartily devote yourself to following and serving the Lord Jesus Christ. In the book of Revelations (3:14-22), Jesus reminded those in the church of Laodicea the same thing. Jesus was rebuking them of their staleness and said “I know your works: you are neither cold nor hot. I wish that you were either cold or hot! So, because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth.” If I ended here, there would be little hope for those of us who acknowledge we are like that useless salt on the sidewalk outside of Caribou getting trampled on. But God wants to restore our saltiness, and he wanted those in the church of Laodicea to start growing out of their lukewarm following. This is what Jesus said to them and what he says to us – “behold I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.” I didn’t make a resolution this year, but I am recommitting myself to understand and live out
what it means to be a real Christian.
May you also rise up to the task for much is at stake in understanding how we so called Christians are to live as disciples and slaves to our Lord, Master, Savior, and God…and on the lighter side - Friend. I hope to continue this pointed and challenging discussion on what it means to be a real Christian in the following newsletters. The stage has been set though, and my prayer is that we start examining ourselves in the midst of communing with Jesus."
Let me know your thoughts, I would love to hear your insight to these words!!!
