Salty Disciples

Scripture:

Luke 14:34   “Salt is good; but if salt has lost its taste, how can its saltiness be restored? ³⁵ It is fit neither for the soil nor for the manure pile; they throw it away. Let anyone with ears to hear listen!”

Observation:

We must be constantly reminded that Jesus is talking about discipleship. He is looking for disciples who are going to remain committed, sticking with him through thick and thin. The crowds of people would have been impressed with his healing skills and great teaching, but they may not have been prepared to commit themselves to a life of discipleship. 

To the inner circle he is reminding them that they have become salty. There were many uses for salt, including the flavoring of food, the creation of medicinal pastes, and the preserving of meats. Salt was useful and necessary for everyday life. This statement by Jesus is profound, because unsalty salt would be entirely worthless. Unsalty disciples therefore, would be entirely worthless. 

Salt was sometimes mixed with manure and used as a fertilizer. If the salt lost its saltiness, it was not even useful for non-food purposes. This salt would be thrown away. Those who would become Jesus’ disciples were to listen very carefully to these words. 

Application:

John Wesley applied this passage to ministers. This may be a place to start because Jesus is concerned with those who will serve as the inner circle of his ministry. Therefore, those who have answered the call to ministry must find themselves in the cross-hairs of Jesus’ questioning. Ministers are to be salty disciples. They are to be actively engaged in ministry throughout their entire lives. Just as pure salt is salty through and through, the minister of the gospel is to be salty in all that they do and to the very end of their days. In this sense, a minister never really “retires.” 

When my parents were in their 80’s they moved into a retirement community. My father had kept pastoring churches into his retirement years. Now, they were down-sizing and moving into this community where immediately they became the spiritual leaders for so many people. He helped to organize the chapel and they regularly visited with people in their apartments to minister to them and pray with them. You could not take the saltiness out of them. 

Sadly, I hear of others who finish their time of official ministry and somehow hang up the salt. This is not supposed to be saltiness as a profession, but saltiness as a part of our nature. A minister is not called to a profession, but to a way of life. 

However, while Wesley used this verse to speak of ministers, Jesus was addressing his comments to all those who would be disciples. One does not have to be engaged in vocational ministry to be a salty disciple. The world needs disciples engaged in spreading the salt of Jesus in every vocation of life; salty car mechanics, salty dentists, salty baristas at Starbucks, salty nurses, salty academics, salty mothers, salty fathers, salty children, salty students, salty lawyers, salty — well, you get it. If we fail to be salty, through and through, the world will never get to savor the beautiful flavor of knowing Jesus. 

Prayer:

Lord, pour out your salt on me, flavoring me, preserving me, and using me for your kingdom — through and through. Amen.