Salt & Light

 Salt is a preservative. Light is a disinfectant. Both aid in eliminating, or at the very least, the slowing down of corruption. Their absence precipitates and speeds up the process of decomposition, so without their presence in a community or nation, things fall apart far faster than they would have had they been present. You can tell when a nation has moved away from God because the corrosive properties of sin intensify and metastasize simultaneously. Sin gets more perverted and hedonistic while at the same time corrupting more and more souls. Sound familiar?

There. We’ve solved the riddle. It wasn’t rocket science, after all. It no longer remains a mystery as to why there seems to be an escalation in evil, godlessness, and all manner of perversion, both in speed and level of depravity. The less salt there is in the world, the faster and more pronounced the corruption. The less light there is in the world, the more extreme the infection.

The rate at which culture collapses is a good indicator of the church's health. If the pace is slow and the corruption is held in check, then there is still enough salt and light doing what they do: They’re keeping the corruption at bay and slowing down the process of decomposition. If, perchance, it seems as though the bottom dropped out and there’s no end in sight, with everything collapsing in hyper speed, then you know that the salt has lost its flavor and the light has been dimmed.

I understand that this generation, being more audacious than any other that came before it, finds nothing wrong in looking their noses down at giants of the faith such as Paul, Peter, Luke, John, Jude, James, Timothy, or Matthew. However, using the metric that Jesus set forth, where do you think we score as far as spiritual health is concerned?

Matthew 5:13-16, “You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt loses its flavor, how shall it be seasoned? It is then good for nothing but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot by men. You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. Let your light so shine before me, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.”

One of the most destructive teachings to ever find a place in the doctrinal narrative of certain denominations is that you are not accountable to God for anything; nothing is required of you, and you have no duty to perform other than the tithe check every thirty days. It made people lazy and slothful and kept them ignorant of their responsibilities toward God and their fellow man.

Like the five-minute abs and the four-hour workweek, the idea that heaven was free rather than priceless found an audience. It spread like wildfire because who doesn’t like something for nothing, especially if that something is fire insurance at a giveaway rate?

It wasn’t love for Jesus that drew men; it was fear of hell. It was a deal they couldn’t pass up even if they were dubious about the whole God, devil, heaven, hell thing. Raise a hand, and you’re on the list. You get on with your life, making no change, seeing no transformation, feeling no different. Then, because something still gnawed at them, given that they inherently understood there had to be something more to the whole thing than just repeating a prayer once, they were told there wasn’t a hell anymore so that fixed it mighty quickly.

We pronounce people saved in perpetuity before they even understand from what, by whom, and for what purpose. It’s the only way we can brag about ten thousand people finding Jesus on a given Tuesday, but if this is the case, and every other Tuesday the army of God grows by ten thousand souls, why is everything getting worse, and those bold enough to say they follow Jesus dwindling?

The church is supposed to impact the world, not the other way around.

You are salt. The world is supposed to perceive you as an irritant because you are. Salt impedes the process of corruption, and those already corrupted and seeking to corrupt despise you for standing in the way of their plans. If your nature does not grate on the devil, the salt has lost its flavor. There’s no other way of interpreting this verse, and if this is the case, then it opens up a whole new batch of uncomfortable questions.

Why are some spiritual leaders today more comfortable in the presence of the godless than the children of God? Why are some preachers and pastors exalted by those who have no fellowship with the light? Why do certain denominations run interference for perversion, attempting to normalize it in the eyes of their parishioners?

The litmus test for salt is that it retains its flavor. If it doesn’t pass the test, then the only thing it’s good for is to be thrown out into the street and be trampled underfoot. It sounds a bit harsh, but they’re not my words. They are the words of Jesus, and no, they are not incongruent with His nature. They are incongruent with who this generation says Jesus should be: an awe shucks, go along to get along, lovey-dovey we’ll get you in through the back door sort of guy.

Jesus isn’t slashing prices because the big day is drawing near, and there are still seats to be filled. He’s not looking to make a deal just to pack out the venue. The roadmap for man’s salvation was laid out in the Bible, as were God’s expectations of those who would call themselves His. Anyone who thinks they can circumvent the Word is only fooling themselves.

John 14:6, “Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.”’

With love in Christ,

Michael Boldea, Jr.