The Salty Church

Ye are the salt of the earth: but if the salt have lost his savor, wherewith shall it be salted? it is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of men. Matthew 5:13 (KJV)

      To understand what Jesus is saying, it is important to grasp the importance of salt in the daily life of those that lived in His day. Salt was used as a preservative in ancient times. There was no refrigeration or ice and meat would spoil quickly in the heat. This made it necessary to salt down or rinse meat in a saline solution to preserve it. In fact it was used for this well into the twentieth century in remote areas, the great missionary David Livingstone died deep in the jungles of Africa, in order to ship his body to England it was packed in salt to preserve it on the journey.

      Every person that heard Jesus speak of salt knew exactly what He was talking about. Today we think of salt as a condiment which enhances flavor, perhaps that is the problem. God intended for His Church to be powerful and stand in the gap to stop the decay that is destroying creation not to be flavor enhancement to make life a little better. I read a line today by Keith Green that said,

“The Church used to be a lifeboat rescuing the perishing. Now she is a cruise ship recruiting the promising.”

     This speaks directly to the problem that is overwhelming the Church. We must see sin as rotting decay that is destroying society and the lives of God’s creation. Our mission is to be the salt! We must stand between the living and the dead holding in our hands the precious Word of God and lifting high the cross of Jesus. We must see the importance of living out the Beatitudes in our lives and leading others to Christ. We must rescue the perishing before it is too late. Instead of manning the life boats we are rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic.

      In 2 Thessalonians 2 Paul is writing about the Antichrist and his revelation in the last days. He pens an interesting passage beginning if verse 5,

“Don't you remember that when I was with you I used to tell you these things?
6 And now you know what is holding him back, so that he may be revealed at the proper time. 7 For the secret power of lawlessness is already at work; but the one who now holds it back will continue to do so till he is taken out of the way.
8 And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus will overthrow with the breath of his mouth and destroy by the splendor of his coming.”

     Something is holding back the events that we call the “End Times”, the revelation of the Antichrist, the setting up of his kingdom, the persecution of Israel, and finally his spectacular destruction by Christ. Who or what is it that holds back the lawless one? It is God’s Church.

      In verse 7 Paul says, “but the one who now holds it back will continue to do so till he is taken out of the way.” Don’t let the use of the male pronoun “he” throw you. The Church can be referred to as “he” because Christ is the head and that metaphor allows the picture of a man. There is coming a day when The Father will say enough, Jesus Christ will rise from His throne, the angel will begin to blow the trumpet and the dead in Christ will rise first, then we which are alive and remain will join them in the air. Jesus will gather His Church unto Him and this world will see the rise of the Man of Sin who will hate God and wage war against Israel. The moral decay will increase rapidly because “the salt” will not be here and in only seven short years mankind will follow The Antichrist to Armageddon.

      This glimpse into the things to come teaches us about our purpose here and now. We are the Church of the Living God, called to be salt, warring against the sinful nature and rescuing the perishing. It is time that we began to fight the good fight as if we were surrounded by men and women that were drowning and sinking into the depths of hell. We are.