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Sitting in our weekly Bible study class, my wife and I are still very raw and guarded. It’s not that we have any issues with reading the Bible and discussing it publicly with other Christians. Our emotions tend to remain on high alert in these spaces because in Texas, even in progressive churches, as my priest once put it, “everyone is a little bit Baptist.”
Sitting in our weekly Bible study class, my wife and I are still very raw and guarded. It’s not that we have any issues with reading the Bible and discussing it publicly with other Christians. Our emotions tend to remain on high alert in these spaces because in Texas, even in progressive churches, as my priest once put it, “everyone is a little bit Baptist.”
Nowhere is this more experienced than in spaces where congregants are invited to read and discuss the Bible together. It is here where it becomes practically inevitable that cultural Christianity and evangelical dogma rear their ugly heads.
It was only our second time attending this particular study when my wife and I’s trauma was triggered. Though it was only our second week, it was another couple's first week. Everything in the class was going fine, and the priest did a great job facilitating the conversation. This particular priest has an incredibly gentle spirit, and her presence is calming. Everything was going well until we read the following passage.
13 “You are the salt of the earth, but if salt has lost its taste, how can its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything but is thrown out and trampled under foot.(Matthew 5:13, NRSVUE)
Once we read the passage, our priest asked the group, ‘What sticks out about this passage to you? How does it make you feel, or what does it make you think?’
The Self-Deprecating Effect of Evangelical Dogma
As different participants shared their thoughts, the wife of the new couple joining the group began to share. Almost immediately after she started speaking, my wife and I tensed up and gave each other the ‘look.’ It’s the look that says, ‘Oh crap, I feel triggered. Are you feeling this too?’ both of us were…
This woman shared how this passage reminded her how much of a failure she often feels in the eyes of God. If she’s being honest, she rarely, if ever, feels like a ‘salt of the earth’ kind of person. In fact, she mostly feels like someone who has lost their saltiness or maybe never had it to begin with.
What was triggering wasn’t the woman’s honesty but the self-deprecating dogma that was undergirding her feelings. You see, evangelicals love to focus on a particular meta-narrative that they apply to the Bible and human history. It follows this pattern:
- Creation - God created the universe, and it was good.
- Fall - God’s creation was good until humanity (Adam and Eve) screwed it up.
- Redemption - Because of Adam and Eve’s decision, all humanity and creation are now sinful and ‘fallen.’ But the good news is Jesus came to redeem both.
- Restoration - One day, Jesus will return and restore humanity and the universe back to its original good state.
This woman, likely unaware she was even doing it, was following the evangelical meta-narrative. Without my wife speaking a word, she and I knew after the woman’s self-deprecating ‘confession’ she would turn the corner by discussing how grateful we should all be that Jesus died for our sins. She didn’t disappoint.
She continued sharing how grateful she was that we were all recipients of God’s grace because of Jesus. She was comforted in reminding herself that despite her failings, despite how unsalt-like she was, God loved her enough to come and die for her.
The room fell into an awkward silence…For a moment, everyone sat silently, looking around at each other.
This isn’t hyperbole when I say my heart was racing. According to my Apple Watch, sitting in a comfortable chair discussing the Bible, my heart rate jumped from 99 - 103 BPM. Believe me when I say religious trauma is real.
Jesus’ Response to People Who Lose Their Saltiness
Despite my trauma response, I felt like it would be unloving to myself, to this woman who shared, and to the room to bite my tongue. I mustered as much of a compassionate and empathetic tone as I could and responded. I acknowledged this woman's feelings and thanked her for her honesty and courage.
I then shared that I’d like to offer another perspective on the passage. Instead of feeling like Jesus’ words reminded me that I was a failure, I was comforted in knowing that regardless of my actions, Jesus declared me ‘the salt of the earth.’ Re-examining the passage shows no qualifications for being the salt of the earth.
Jesus doesn’t say, for those who recognize their sin and believe in me, they are the salt of the earth. He doesn’t say those who feel guilty about their failings and remember they are nothing without the grace of God are the salt of the earth. He says, “You are the salt of the earth.”
The unqualified declaration Jesus makes cuts through all the guilt-inducing shame this woman was feeling. On her best day, when she’s as salty as salt can be, she is the salt of the earth. And on the days when she is self-consumed, resentful, and lacking compassion, she is still the salt of the earth.
At this point, a few of the older ladies in the room verbally confirmed what I shared. No one judged the woman, and she seemed to genuinely consider the different perspective that was offered.
However, the unanswered question was, “What about the rest of the passage where Jesus talks about losing our saltiness?”
The Grace of Jesus Shows Us We Are Always Loved by God
Salt was essential in ancient times not just for flavor but also for preservation. When Jesus uses the metaphor of being the salt of the earth, he calls humanity to preserve and promote what he taught and embodied: the values of love, justice, and community in society. Losing "saltiness" can then be seen as symbolizing complacency or losing one's commitment to these values.
With this understanding we can see how Jesus embodied this metaphor through numerous stories within the gospels. For example, there was deep prejudice between Jews and Samaritans during the life of Jesus. In Luke 10:29-37 we see Jesus call a Samaritan, who lived out the law by showing mercy, a deeper child of Abraham than the Levite or Jewish Priest. We read later in Luke 17:11-19 Jesus teaching that a Samaritan was worthy of healing.
Along those same prejudicial lines there was deep animosity between Jews and Gentiles during the time of Christ. Again, we see Jesus actively tearing down these walls of division. In Mark 8:1-10 Jesus crosses a lake to the ‘gentile side of the tracks’ and feed four thousand people. In Matthew and Luke we see Jesus heal the slave of a Roman soldier. Furthermore, Jesus openly commends the soldiers faith as being greater than what he has seen in Israel.
Jesus also broke down gender boundaries. He included women within his group of disciples. According to Luke 8:3, a group of women were the primary financial supporters of his public ministry. Mary Magdalene was also the first person to experience the risen Christ. This is why church history refers to her as “the apostle to the apostles.”
We could go on and on, but I believe the examples above make the point regarding what being the salt of the earth looked like in Jesus's life. So, to our question, what about those who don’t do this? What about those who lose their saltiness?
How Jesus Embodied Being Salt of Earth
We don’t need to go far to get ample examples of how Jesus treated those who fell short of promoting and preserving the values he embodied. One need only look at the lives of his disciples.
The Bible tells us Jesus chose the twelve after a night of prayer and meditation (Luke 6:12-16). Jesus poured his life and teachings into these twelve more than anyone else. He didn’t punish or rebuke them when they didn't understand something. He would pull them aside and provide additional instruction privately.
When they did not understand what his life was about, he didn’t berate them for their ignorance. When they failed miserably in living out the values Jesus taught them (Peter's violence, Thomas' doubts, James and John wanting to call thunder down on a Samaritan village, etc.), Jesus continued to love and instruct them.
The late Bishop John Shelby Spong summarizes the relationship Jesus had with the disciples this way:
“The story of his life was drawn from the Gospels as if its purpose was to proclaim that nothing one could do and nothing one could be could separate any person from the love of God.” (Why Christianity Must Change or Die, p.128)
When Jesus declares, “You are the salt of the earth,” he uses aphorism. Aphorisms are valued for conveying insight and wisdom in a succinct and easily digestible form.
So what do we see Jesus’ response being when the disciples royally screw up time and time again? We don’t see Jesus throw them out, trample them underfoot, and tell them they are good for nothing. He continues to love and instruct them.
What should we expect when we royally screw up? Not shame and guilt, but a continuation of Jesus’ love as he continues to instruct us.
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