Let’s not be the Christians who lost the taste.

“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 by men” (Mt. 5:13).

                I was taught by meditating on Matthew 4:18-22 under the title “Jesus who called us.”  I was instructed that Jesus was calling me just as He called Peter, his brother Andrew, James, and his brother John (vv. 18, 21).  I learned that there is a promise of Jesus in His call, "Come, follow me" (v. 19).  And that promise was “I will make you fishers of men” (v. 19).  In this way, Jesus is giving us higher calling.  How should we respond?  Like Peter, Andrew, James, and John, we must immediately leave things behind and follow Jesus.  We must leave and follow Jesus like Peter, Andrew, James and John who left their nets (v. 20), the boat, and even their father (v. 22).

Look at Matthew 5:13.  Jesus is saying: “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 by men.”  Based on this word, I would like to meditate on the Word of God under the title “Let’s not be the Christians who lost the taste” and receive the lessons that Jesus gives us

                Jesus is saying that we are the salt of the earth (v. 13).  What does it mean that we are the salt of the earth?  We must be the Jesus' disciples who bring out a distinctive flavor in this world.  What is the taste of the salt?  It is salty taste.  The Korean drama ‘Jumong’ shows that salt was used as an important means of sale in Korea long time ago.  Perhaps in those days, salt was used as a wage for labor, and it was possible to buy what was needed with salt.  The English word “salary” is also said to come from salt (Internet).  That's how salt is so important.  In fact, we are very important and precious like salt.  We Christians are very important people in this world.  The salt flavors food and also helps prevent food decomposition.  Foods that are salted over 12% by weight can be stored for a long time without going bad (Internet).  The salt also plays the following role (Internet): (1) It promotes metabolism.  The salt leads metabolism to break down food and excrete waste products.  When metabolism does not go smoothly, blood is acidified and immunity is low, so there is a high probability of getting various diseases.  (2) It helps the production of red blood cells and cleans the blood vessels.  If there is insufficient salt intake, then   not only our body is indigestible but also lacks iron which will result in not producing of the red blood cells that results in anemia.  The salt prevents arteriosclerosis and high blood pressure.  (3) It balances body fluids.  The salt controls moisture appropriately to prevent metabolism from being acidic or alkaline and absorbs and save the nutrients.  (4) It helps digestion.  The salt enhances the function of the intestine by removing impurities attached to the stomach and the barrier, helping the intestinal fluidity and preventing abnormal fermentation in the intestine.  It ensures the nutrients to be evenly supplied to our body.  (5) It functions as detoxification and sterilization.  The salt increases the body's resistance to invading cells and blood vessels even if harmful substances or bacteria enter the body.  (6) It has antipyretic and geothermal effects.  If you apply salt to the bleeding area with abrasions, you will see the blood clot quickly.  This is because salt has antipyretic and geothermal effects in the body.  (7) It produces cells.  The salt quickly restores dead or destroyed cells.  Good salt with clean water will help our body revitalization and it can also be effective in eliminating skin problems such as acne.  (8) It supplies minerals.  Minerals that cleanse the blood vessels of the human body, help digestion, and help the intestines function to prevent protein from being excreted in the urine are essential to our human body.  The salt provides minerals at least little bit. 

                We Christians are indispensable people in this world because we have a role to make the world taste good with the gospel and to prevent our society from being corrupted (Park).  In reality, however, we don’t seem to be able to meet this responsibility.  Although out lips seem to preach the gospel, but our lives don’t live a life worthy of the gospel.  Furthermore, we are now corrupting the society rather than preventing the corruption of the society in which we live.  In short, now we Christians are not playing the role of salt in this world.  We are like salt that has lost its taste.  To us, Jesus in Matthew 5:13 “…  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 by men.”  Like the salt that lost its salty taste, it seems we become useless in this world.  What should we do?  First we must repent.  And we must restore the taste of salt.  Thus, we must be salty Christians in this world.  I hope and pray that we who have lost our taste in this world may be able to bring out the distinctive flavor of the gospel of Jesus Christ and faithfully take on the role of preventing the corruption of this society.