Salt Life vs His Life

We are in Luke 14:34. Good salt is effective salt. It has properties which accomplish its intended purpose. . There is a great book called The History of Salt that traces the role salt has played in the history of the world. It is considerable and very interesting. So what would cause salt to lose its saltiness or to become tasteless? The word for tasteless in the text is moranio. Do you see "moron" in this word? It means to make insipid, to make to become a simpleton, become a fool, make foolish, and to lose savor. It is a change in quality and effectiveness.

 

Salt is a very stable compound of the elements sodium and chlorine. They share an electron, and seem to have a very happy marriage bond. Salt exists in crystal form meaning the grains stick together providing more effectiveness and saltiness. But when the salt is put into water the crystals tend to separate, and the individual crystals become diluted. So it is dilution that would cause the salt to lose its saltiness or taste.

 

In Jesus' context here salt stands for the discipleship bond. Just as sodium and chlorine bond to form salt (or individual salt grains bond to other salt grains to form a crystal), the disciple and Jesus bond to form a healthy, effective relationship which accomplishes the purposes of discipleship. The bond is very stable but when diluted by 1) stronger relationships, even family (14:26); 2) even by one's own self-preservation (14:26); by putting our cross down and failing to follow Jesus (14:27); or 4) allowing possessions to distract us, it loses its saltiness. So if we categorize these four we have dilution by 1) Earthly relationships; 2) Self-preservation; 3) Trackless living; 4) Distractions. These four cause tasteless living. People who encounter Christians diluted by these things will be impressed by the salt of Jesus. They taste Jesus through us. Maintaining taste is essential to living an effective Christian life.