On Being Useful
Or Being Salt & Light
“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. You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house.”
Matthew 5:13-15
I’ve heard salt and light used as metaphors as long as I’ve been a Christian. In fact, I have heard them so much that they’ve practically lost their impact. When someone says I must be salt or light to the world, I think, “I know. I know. Been there; heard that,” and then go about my business without thinking much further.
But there is a problem with my indifference. The “you” in both instances stands emphatic in the sentence. I cannot escape the fact that Jesus means me when he says “You are …”. In fact, if I were present when Jesus spoke these words, he would likely look me straight in the eye and say “You, Paul, are the salt of the earth….You, Paul, are the light of the world.” So, I really must not take this lightly.
What does it mean to be “the salt of the earth?”
In Jesus’s day, salt had a two-fold function: 1) As a preservative it slows decay and 2) as an added ingredient to food it enhances or magnifies the taste. Believers, says Jesus, are like “salt;” unbelievers are like “the earth.” This tells me something about how I must engage the unbelieving world around me. As Jesus’s disciple I must preserve what would otherwise decay and enhance what good there is in the unbelieving world. True that virtues like beauty, kindness, courage, character, honesty, integrity, civility, and deference (among others) are difficult to find in our culture, but they’re not altogether gone! If I’m going to be useful as a believer in the world around me, then I must take my responsibility seriously to slow down the decay by magnifying beauty, kindness, courage, character, honesty, integrity, civility, and deference! I must intentionally express those moral qualities that slows the moral decay and highlights God’s common goodness given to all.
I cannot tell you how many believers’ blogs or blurbs, tweets or chatter, that I come across whose theme is only lamentation, only sorrow about the decay of our world. Apparently they think their sole “usefulness” is in their ability to be a cultural critic. Seems to me these believers are speeding up the decay and serving up a tasteless alternative by failing to bring out what good there is in the world. After all, if believers are not preserving and enhancing what good God has given the world, what other resource is there for the world to turn to? “If the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again?” Pass the salt, please!
“Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.”
Philippians 4:8
Jesus’s disciples must preserve and enhance what good God has given to the world.
What does it mean to be “the light of the world?”
Jesus also says “You are the light of the world.” A light is of no use unless it illuminates. When camping I use a headlamp to light up my way in the wilderness. Imagine being in the dark of the woods, turning on the headlamp and, instead of putting it on my head, I put it into my backpack! For the light to be useful it must illumine what is around it. As a follower of Jesus the source of my light is Jesus (cf. John 8:12. See also, Ephesians 5:8; Philippians 2:15). Apart from Christ’s light, my own light is merely a reflection of my efforts, which are rarely radiant!
On what does the light shine? Matthew 5:16 is explicit: “In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.” Whatever good I do because of Christ in me must be visible to the world around me! It is through me and by Christ that God receives glory.
As already noted, the “you” was emphatic in the first metaphor, “You are the salt of the earth,” so too is it emphatic here, “You are the light of the world.” This passage of Scripture tells me that, though I am to be distinguishable from the world (just as salt is distinguishable from the food that it preserves or light is distinguishable from darkness), I must engage the world in positive ways that point the way to God. I cannot retreat from the world; I must not isolate my faith.
John’s proclamation, “God is light” where “light” is used metaphorically, with multiple meanings or aspects from which to think of it. Light is intellectual or revelatory. For the Greek and Hebrew mind, light was often associated with truth, whereas darkness was associated with error (cf., Psalms 43:3; 119:105, 130; Matthew 4:13-16; Luke 2:28-32; John 1:4-9; 1 Timothy 6:16; 1 John 2:8). Moreover, light can be ethical or have a moral aspect associated with purity and goodness, whereas darkness is associated with impurity and evil (cf., Isaiah 5:20; Ephesians 5:8-11; Romans 13:12-13; John 3:19-21; 8:12; 12:46).
To Consider: An advantage of the “light” is not merely to help us see, but to empower us to walk. As God’s children, we are to light up the world around us as by our character. In doing so God receives the praise and glory of our efforts (Mt. 5:14-16).
Being useful means bringing something unique to the world that it does not already have and is in need of. Being useful means being an agent of change that enhances rather than impedes moral, economic, political, social, cultural, relational, and intellectual progress. Being useful means shining the light of good behavior so those in the dark will take note and look up toward God as the source of that goodness.