“You are the salt of the earth. 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” (Matthew 5:13).

For the past three days we have been studying what Jesus meant when he called his disciples and his church the salt of the earth.

Salt has many uses: salt flavors, preserves, melts ice, causes thirst, and disinfects.

We studied the chemical makeup of salt: sodium chloride.

Finally, we will look at what makes salt salty.

In order for salt to be salty to flavor the world around it, preserve the truth, melt the hearts of men and women, cause people to thirst for God, and disinfect, salt must dissolve. It must change shape. It must die.

If the grains of salt refuse to change its shape, if the grains of salt refuse to melt away and die, “if the salt loses its saltiness…it is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot.”

Do you know what we call salt that doesn’t dissolve? Dirt. When you salt your food and as you’re eating, you bite into an undissolved grain of salt, what do you do? You spit it out!

The only way for salt to be salty is for it to change shape and form. The only way for salt to be salty is to dissolve.

The only way for disciples to be salty is for the disciples to dissolve and die. We die to our old self, to our old hopes and dreams, to our old ways. Only when we are willing to change, can we function as salt.

Are you ready to be salty today?

Allow God to change you and renew you so that God can use you to be the salt of the earth.

“You are the salt of the earth. 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” (Matthew 5:13).

God is so smart. God made everything. God even made salt.

The chemical composition of salt is sodium chloride.

Sodium is an extremely active element found naturally only in combined form. In the natural world, sodium doesn’t exist on its own. It always attaches itself to another compound…like sodium chloride!

Chloride is a poisonous gas that gives beach its offensive odor.

But combine the two, and you have sodium chloride: salt.

Salt – the substance that we use to flavor foods, to preserve meats, to melt ice, to cause thirst, and to disinfect.

Sodium is like love. Love always attaches itself to another. You cannot just love for love’s sake. Love must have an object. Love must love someone or something. But that’s the problem with love. Love has no boundaries, no morals. Love, loves all things. Love attaches itself to all things. Love on its own is very problematic. Love combined with truth? Now, we’ve got something!

Chloride is like truth. Truth on its own, and without love, is poisonous. Truth, spoken without love, is offensive. It turns people away. It injures. It kills. But truth spoken with love, now you’ve got something! Truth spoken in love transforms.

But when love and truth are combined? You’ve got sodium chloride. You’ve got salt. Salt that flavors the world around it, preserves the truth, melts the hearts of men and women for the gospel, causing people to thirst after God, and bringing healing.

Salt of the earth.

Be salty, my friends.

“You are the salt of the earth. 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” (Matthew 5:13).

Right after the Sermon on the Mount/the Beatitudes, Jesus tells us that if we live out the Beatitudes, if we live as Christ’s disciples who live out his kingdom vision, we are salt.

In the next several days we will be looking at what Jesus meant by that. What does it mean to be the salt of the earth?

Today, we will look at the most common uses of salt to see how we are to function in the world today.

Salt has multiple uses.

• Flavor enhancer – salt enhances the natural flavor of foods. You don’t believe me? Try eating your favorite dish without any salt. It is amazing how salt is able to bring out and enhance the flavors already in the food.
  
  In the same way, Christians who live out kingdom values bring out the best in the people and the environment around them.
  
• Preserver – not only does salt enhance the flavor in foods, salt helps to preserve foods. Long before refrigeration, people used salt to preserve meats from rotting and decay.
  
  Christians who live out kingdom values preserve what is true, honorable, loving, and right so that our world doesn’t rot and decay.
  
• De-icer – salt is used to melt ice. Every time it snows city maintenance trucks are out laying down salt and dirt to melt the ice on the streets.
  
  Christians who live out kingdom values are used by God to melt the cold hearts of men and women to soften and awaken them to the reality of a loving God.
  
• Thirst inducer – you know why bars give out free popcorn and nuts? Because they are salty. And salt causes people to be thirsty. Bars give out free popcorn and nuts because they want customers to buy more drinks.
  
  Christians who live out kingdom values cause people to thirst after eternal things; to thirst after God.
  
• Disinfector – salt can be used to treat and disinfect wounds.
  
  Christians who live out kingdom values bring healing to the world around them.

Jesus tells his followers, you are salt.

You get it? Those who live out kingdom values enhance, preserve, melt, causes thirst, and heals.

Be salty today.