“Jesus said to his disciples: ‘You are the salt of the earth. But if salt loses its taste, with what can it be seasoned? It is no longer good for anything but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot.'” – Matthew 5:13
Ask any cook and they’ll tell you that a little salt makes almost everything taste better. Just a pinch will bring out the flavor of whatever you are cooking. It’s an almost invisible ingredient, but without it, dishes can taste flat. As disciples of Jesus, we are called to be “the salt of the earth.” We get to be the secret ingredient in our homes, workplaces, and relationships. We can help bring out the best in others, taming their sourness or bitterness, and bringing out their sweetness and zest. We can ask ourselves if we live each day as the salt of the earth by being cheerful, trustworthy, helpful, and kind. When we seek to live a life of virtue and gently encourage others to do likewise, we keep our “saltiness” and make the places we live and work more enjoyable.
Even the way we speak is an element of “saltiness”: “Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you know how you should respond to each one” (Colossians 4:6). Salt was often used in the ancient world to draw out impurities and keep meats from decaying. When our speech is “seasoned with salt,” it means that it is pure and life-giving, having no impure overtones, foul language, or gossip that tears people down.
Salt can absorb odors from rotting waste around it; it can take on bad favors of spoiled food. These things can contaminate salt and make it taste strange, causing it to lose its “saltiness.” Similarly, when we are around others who have habits that are contrary to Christian virtue, we can give into temptations to “absorb” these habits, as well. Maybe a co-worker can be unkind, a fellow student is lazy, a friend tends to gossip, a family member frequently is grouchy and irritable. We can unintentionally take on these bad habits, and our Christian “salt” can lose its taste. For example, if we give into temptation to gossip and speak ungraciously about another, we participate in the sourness, bitterness, and impurity that our “salt” (kindness, charity, purity) is supposed to season and curb.
I believe there are two good places to start living out this call to “saltiness”: sacramental Confession and intentionality. Here’s my plan for living out this Gospel this week: First, I will examine my conscience, asking God to reveal to me if there are any times when I have taken on another’s vice. Then I will ask Him to show me the situations where He has called me to season with salt, but I have instead let it be “trampled on” and taken on a bad habit. Next, I’ll make a plan to go to Confession and ask God to forgive me for any sins He has revealed to me. Confession absolves us from sin and releases His grace, especially for the virtue that I need more of to counteract the vice at hand. For example, have I been lazy? Then I can ask God for the grace of diligence, and intentionally strive toward that virtue.
I can focus on being intentional about cultivating this virtue and God to help me avoid falling back into the pattern of sin. I can begin my day with the firm resolve not to sin again in this way and to be watchful of when I am most likely to commit that sin. I can make a point about having a plan for what to do when I am confronted with the temptation. I might choose a scripture to repeat to myself if I am tempted, like “I am in the world, not of the world” (see John 17:14-19) or “I am the salt of the earth” (Matthew 5:13). If I fall back into sin, I know that Confession is always available, and that I can start over again anew.
Jesus, I’m sorry for the times when I have given in to temptation and have allowed my salt to be “thrown out and trampled underfoot.” Please fill me with the joyful purpose of being your salt for the people in my life.