FROM LOMBOK TO LOCKDOWN – a lesson in saltiness
Matthew 5:13 “You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot.
One of my most vivid memories in my 40 years of ministry was meeting Pastor Siman* in Lombok, Indonesia, soon after the brutal attacks in January 2000.
A total of 18 of the 24 churches in Ampedan and the island’s capital of Mataram nearby were destroyed in three days of sectarian violence. Graffiti on the church ruins testified to the rage which caused thousands of Christians, Chinese and tourists, to flee to nearby Bali island. “We must destroy Christians,” was painted on a skeleton on the ruins of the Seventh Day Adventist Church in Mataram, beside a cross with the word “death”. “Don’t try to rebuild” said the slogan on the devastated Imaculada Catholic Church, “no forgiveness for Christians”. Only those houses marked “Muslim” or displaying prayer mats escaped.
With one exception – the Church of Pastor Siman
As we met with Pastor Siman we were surprised to learn that his church was one of the few who escaped the inferno as all the churches around him was burnt to the ground. His explanation, however, as to why his church survived the onslaught, did not surprise us.
“When I approached the building that terrible evening, I could see a mob of Muslim fundamentalists advancing to my church. There were flames behind them and they were armed with petrol bombs, machetes and sticks. I knew it was my turn to face the ordeal that so many believers have already faced in my country.
“But suddenly another group of Muslims formed a barricade behind me and prevented the mob from approaching my church.
“Go away” shouted the attackers. “You are Muslims like us. “Let us through!”
“Not this Church!” came the reply from those behind me. “Leave this Church alone!”
Again came the anger of the mob. “Go away. Let us through!” Why do you defend these infidels”?
And then, to my astonishment, came the answer. “These people care for us, clothe us and feed us. If you burn down this church we will be without food tomorrow. You will not burn this church!”
And they didn’t.
We left Pastor Siman that day with a new understanding that a church building is simply a salt container, providing a space for salt to be scattered. The importance in Christian faith is not going to church, but being Church. Our relevance will only be measured by our influence. Lockdown proved that the church is best suitable to fulfil her role in society outside the building, not inside.
THE CONTEXT OF SALT
The Beatitudes in Matthew 5 provide glimpses of grace that set the standard for recalibrating our theologies. They guide us to a gracious Father and not an angry God. It provides a platform to not only consider WHAT we communicate but HOW we communicate truth.
The Sermon on the Mount is the very blueprint for a Christian lifestyle, also providing a benchmark for recalibrating our theologies. These teachings must have been revolutionary at the time of Christ, and they still are today. Jesus sees the crowds following him and heads to the mountain. This is no coincidence. It is symbolic of the ‘new’ Moses giving a ‘new’ law. A new standard is given for a new calibration.
Then comes the application in verse 13: “You are the salt of the earth.”
This encouragement of Christ is to contain and reflect a message that both contain flavour and savour, with the ability to preserve. Salt contains both qualities in a perfect balance; if you lose one you lose the other. Jesus did not instruct His followers to be the sugar of the earth and just provide a sweet flavour, nor did He encourage them to be the vinegar of the earth to simply protect and preserve truth. If His goodness is to be reflected to all the earth it needs to contain both the value of salt and the qualities of salt in equal balances.
THE VALUE OF SALT
Using the metaphor of salt was not a spur-of-the-moment inspiration, it was an intentional reference. Salt was extremely important in Biblical times and it was widely understood that salt was a requirement for life. The use of salt was important enough that salt was sometimes even used as currency. Amazingly, the word salary comes from the Latin word Salarius, which pertained to the yearly revenue from the sale of salt. Etymonline (https://www.etymonline.com/word/salary) describes it as follows. “Salary comes from the Latin salarium “an allowance, a stipend, a pension,” said to be originally “salt-money, a soldier’s allowance for the purchase of salt”.
THE QUALITIES OF SALT
Salt had a wide number of uses in the ancient world. The most common interpretation of this verse is a reference to salt as a preservative, and to thus see the duty of the disciples as preserving the purity of the world.
But salt also had the quality of adding flavour and savour and Jesus specifically referred to this quality in the second part of verse 13 (KJV): Ye are the salt of the earth: but if the salt have lost his savour, wherewith shall it be salted?
There is also a third, less explored, quality. Ancient peoples sometimes put salt on the wicks of lamps to increase their brightness. This also correlates with verse 14 where followers are called to be the light of the world.
Finally, there is also a fourth interpretation that is consistent with the teachings of Christ even though it is less accepted in the theological world. Many fertilisers use salts in appropriate quantities. Salt was a minor but essential ingredient in fertilizer, and some Bible scholars suggest that the Greek word for salt here refers to the chemical agent used in ancient times to fertilize fields rather than the edible salt used to preserve meat or flavour foods, and that “earth” (Greek: τῆς γῆς, tēs gēs), should be translated as soil By implication this could be interpreted that the disciples were encouraged to bring new life to the world, and the disciples are thus to help the world grow and prosper like fertiliser would benefit the soil
The conclusion is quite simple. Regardless of interpretation and preference, followers of Christ need to add value to life – in flavour, growth, preservation and beauty. The challenge, however, is in the balance and to not only seek a one-dimensional value, but a balance of all.
THE ABSENCE OF SALT
Jesus clearly stated that if salt loses its function, it is to be thrown away for people to trample upon.
On this scripture William Barclay wrote the following:
This is the function of the Christian life. If he fails in his function there is no good reason why he should exist at all. We have already seen in the economy of God that uselessness invites disaster. He who has an ear to hear, let him hear
The value of salt is not measured by the size or the beauty of the salt pot but solely by the flavour it produces. Likewise, the validity of the Church will be determined, not by the size or the beauty of the building, but only by its relevance and influence in society. Once we lose the ability to add life to our communities we become a useless institution.
And here comes the key to lockdown
Many believers have demanded that churches reopen and that our right to worship be honoured. After all, this is our constitutional right – not?. Some doom prophets even predicted that this is all an evil plot to restrict religious freedom and implement new laws that will limit worship. The beginning of the end – so to speak
But salt cannot be restricted to a container. Salt functions best outside the salt container. When lockdown was implemented and churches were closed, Christians became what Christ intended the Church to be. Yes, there is a longing to worship together and share communion as the body of Christ. But the container is never the object of life, the salt is. Flavour is only produced when salt is poured over flavourless food.
Let us boldly seize the opportunity to preserve, but not at the cost of providing flavour. Let us seek to add life in a season of death and provide flavour, but not at the cost of providing the moral compass that is so desperately needed in a time of uncertainty.