How to be the "Salt of the Earth"

When Marilyn and I sit down for dinner in the evening, it’s usually in front of the TV watching the Food Network.  We like to watch the competition shows like “Chopped”, “Beat Bobby Flay”, and “Guy’s Grocery Games.”  We also like to watch the ‘Junior’ versions of those shows, as well as any and all of the baking competition shows.   We like travel shows that highlight the different cuisines from around the world.  The one ingredient common to almost every recipe from savory to sweet to in-between is salt.  Salt is an amazing seasoning that adds flavor to food.  Salt by itself is not that tasty; but leave it out of a recipe or put too much salt into the dish on one of the cooking shows and it’s a sure elimination.  Salt is not made to stand alone in a dish, but to enhance the flavor of the main ingredient. 



We are called by Jesus, to be the “salt of the earth” (Matthew 5:13-16).  In our baptism, we were made flavorful; alive with God's love, peace, joy, and compassion.  Fruitful Christians are those who evangelize by adding those flavors to the lives of the people around them.  But we have to watch out for trying too hard!  Food that is over-salted tastes horrible!  No matter how good our intentions might be, if we come on too strong, we do more harm than good.



People are much more likely to turn to Jesus if they first experience His love from us, and His peace in how we treat them, and His joy in the way we live our lives.  They need to discover that Jesus loves them just the way they are, that He is gentle but sincere when inviting them to grow spiritually, and that He can help them turn hardships and troubles into blessings and joys.



And, just like salt, we’re not made to be the star and center of attention.  We’re not made only for ourselves.  Instead, it’s our Christian duty to enter into our world and add to it, helping to transform it into a world of grace and mercy, full of the “flavor” of God’s Kingdom.  This is done, especially, by the building up of relationships.  It’s done by striving to touch one person at a time so as to enhance their lives and help them to be closer to Christ.  The love of God that we bring into our world, and into the lives of those whom we encounter, can be seen analogously as salt entering into food and enhancing it.



Again, like salt, we can lose our taste.  In other words, we can fail to be the “salt of the earth.”   We do this when we enter into our world, encounter various people, and fail to truly enhance their lives.  When our presence in the lives of others has little or no effect upon them for the good, then our actions are like tasteless salt that is only good to be thrown away and “trampled underfoot.”  We have a duty to have an effect on the lives of others.  We have a duty to enhance the goodness and faith of those whom we encounter on a regular basis.  If we fail to make a difference in the lives of others, we’re missing the point of those relationships and we’re failing to be the salt of the Earth.



When others grow in faith and love as a result of our presence in their lives, we are fulfilling this most basic command of Christ, filling the world with the flavor of the Kingdom and giving Glory to God. 



To come full circle from my opening paragraph, one of the shows I especially enjoy watching is “Guys Grocery Games”, or as it is called by the host, “Triple G”.  As I write this reflection, I am amused at the Holy Spirit’s sense of humor (again!) by bringing to my mind the bracelets that some people were wearing in the ‘80s that said WWJD (“What Would Jesus Do?).  I think we should bring those back as a set.  One could read WWJD? with a question mark, and the other could be the answer to the question and read GGG with an exclamation point; Give Glory to God!