FHII said something in another thread about the "salt of the earth" and how it flavors food and makes you thirsty. I have always felt the same.
I was reading a political novel called "Peace" by Jeff Nesbit (a Christian author) and in one section they discussed the salt of the earth in a way I had never considered...
First a little set-up...It centers in the Middle East with all the turmoil that is currently taking place in real life. The main character, Nash (Who hates politics), works with a NGO helping people in third world nations. His dad works for the State Dept. Nash received a text message from a prisoner and was overwhelmed by the thought of being in the middle of passing info between the prisioner and the State Dept so he went to visit a pastor friend of his for counsel, wisdom, and advice.
In the process of the discussion, this is what the pastor had to say...
...."Jesus was talking to his new disciples. He told them that they were, in fact, the salt of the earth. What he meant by that was that salt keeps things from going rotten, from being corrupted. Jesus was telling his disciples that they had a very high and noble purpose - to preserve the world from corruption. Because once something is corrupted, it's doomed and headed to destruction."
"But Jesus then added a very important caveat. He also said that salt is worthless if it loses its qualities - it's saltiness. Once salt is no longer salt - if it's no longer able to preserve - then it might just as well be tossed to the ground so people can walk over it. Without its flavor, salt is worth nothing.
"In effect, when the salt of the earth loses the ability to preserve the world from corrupting, then the world itself is at risk. Without those in place - like you, Nash - who are called to be the salt of the earth to do the right thing, the world can very quickly become a vile, dangerous place and rapidly head toward doom and destruction. The end of the world, then, is literally at hand."
..."It is my belief that there is simply not enough salt on the earth to preserve it. A vast part of the Christian church is like the church of Laodicea from the book of Revelation. It's lukewarm. God would actually prefer that you're either hot or cold."
It goes on to talk about the church and the political application in this scenario, however, the point I found interesting was the "preservative" concept. I had never considered that before.
Thoughts?
I was reading a political novel called "Peace" by Jeff Nesbit (a Christian author) and in one section they discussed the salt of the earth in a way I had never considered...
First a little set-up...It centers in the Middle East with all the turmoil that is currently taking place in real life. The main character, Nash (Who hates politics), works with a NGO helping people in third world nations. His dad works for the State Dept. Nash received a text message from a prisoner and was overwhelmed by the thought of being in the middle of passing info between the prisioner and the State Dept so he went to visit a pastor friend of his for counsel, wisdom, and advice.
In the process of the discussion, this is what the pastor had to say...
...."Jesus was talking to his new disciples. He told them that they were, in fact, the salt of the earth. What he meant by that was that salt keeps things from going rotten, from being corrupted. Jesus was telling his disciples that they had a very high and noble purpose - to preserve the world from corruption. Because once something is corrupted, it's doomed and headed to destruction."
"But Jesus then added a very important caveat. He also said that salt is worthless if it loses its qualities - it's saltiness. Once salt is no longer salt - if it's no longer able to preserve - then it might just as well be tossed to the ground so people can walk over it. Without its flavor, salt is worth nothing.
"In effect, when the salt of the earth loses the ability to preserve the world from corrupting, then the world itself is at risk. Without those in place - like you, Nash - who are called to be the salt of the earth to do the right thing, the world can very quickly become a vile, dangerous place and rapidly head toward doom and destruction. The end of the world, then, is literally at hand."
..."It is my belief that there is simply not enough salt on the earth to preserve it. A vast part of the Christian church is like the church of Laodicea from the book of Revelation. It's lukewarm. God would actually prefer that you're either hot or cold."
It goes on to talk about the church and the political application in this scenario, however, the point I found interesting was the "preservative" concept. I had never considered that before.
Thoughts?
