Slugs of the Soul

"You are the salt of the earth" ~ Matthew 5:13a

Jesus said that during His Sermon on the Mount (an uber big lesion about several life topics). I have heard that verse many times and I've never understood it. I've always thought it had something to do with salt's strong taste, like Christians were to stand out among all the other people (or flavors) of the world. Well, tonight during a Bible Study, my friends and I discovered there is more to Christians being salt then meets the eye.

What's the opposite of salt? No, not pepper. It's sugar (or at least we’ll say it is for now). So, let’s compare the differences between salt (people who follow God) and sugar (people who don't follow God).

The first thing that comes to mind, for me at least, is salt has a twang to it that enriches flavor. Sugar always tastes good, every time, all the time. But. It makes people sick and the body technically doesn't require any sugar at all (besides the natural sugars in fruits). Truth enriches the soul, like salt, but if someone always "sugar coats" everything there will be no depth, no spiritual growth, and no progression to greatness. 

In the Bible, yeast is a metaphor for sin because it only takes a pinch of yeast to affect an entire batch of dough; aka one pinch of sin can affect a life. Sugar (ungodliness) helps yeast (sin) to grow and reshape more and more dough (one's heart).

Salt is a preserver. Before refrigerators, things were salted to keep them alive. Sounds like God’s word, don’t you think? Salt also kills germs and, in ancient times, salt was put into wounds to clean them before medicine was applied. What if they put sugar in wounds instead? What about sugaring meat to keep it preserved? I don't think that would work.

Taking a closer look, salt's form is a cube. It is sturdy. Firm. Every salt piece is like that. Sugar, on the other hand, is crystallized, sporadic, easily broken, and does not have a predictable pattern. With God there is an orderly way to look and act for every believer. Without God, there are no rules and someone’s life can look like the nonsensical spikes of sugar.

Sugar causes cancer. It kills the body! Salt use to be a means of payment in ancient times because people knew without it, they would die.

There are hundreds of other salty Christian metaphors, but here was some off the top of my head. So, if Christians are the “salt of the earth” (Matthew 5:13a) then Christians are to enrich their and others lives through God’s truth, preserve the soul, kill diseases that infect out inner self, and we are to be constructed in a sturdy, consistent pattern that God designs.

The next time the slugs of the soul come crawling in, remember Godly salt and kill ‘em good!