Salt of the Earth

I love baking. It is one of my favorite things to do here. Cookies, breads, cakes. There's nothing more satisfying in the world than the smell of fresh baked chocolate chip cookies and seeing each little ball of dough rise up warm and gooey. The other day I was making two different recipes out of some left over bananas: cookies and bread. Cindy was making a big pot of soup on the stove at the same time and asked me to pass the salt. Everything we were making called for salt and it got me thinking...

Salt is so weird. It is in almost every recipe: breads, cookies, pudding, soups, potato salad, homemade macaroni and cheese, and so much more. It also seasons foods that alone would be fairly bland: cooked vegetables, grilled meats, corn on the cob, salad, or even on green mango and watermelon (and of course margaritas! :). It's what helps draws out the flavors in the food. 
Salt is essential for the flavor of the dish, but you would never just eat salt...unless you have a problem. If you just sit down and eat salt, I would recommend you stop reading this blog right away and consult a medical specialist or nutritionist, your body definitely has an imbalance!! It also needs to be used in moderation. Too much salt and people complain. It offends our taste buds. On the flip side, too little salt and the dish often feels like it's missing something. We crave that extra seasoning to get just the right taste in our mouths.


Paul says in Colossians 4:6, "Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone."

Image from Monica Casillas Photography

What does conversation look like that is seasoned with salt? For me it means that during whatever conversation, regardless of topic, we should not be so overwhelming as the "salt of the earth" that we inadvertently "spoil the dish". It means engaging in conversations of every type, debate, political, theological, pop culture, etc., while not trying to kill it with a religious agenda or puffed-up knowledge. 

On the flip side, as Jesus said in Matthew 5, we are to be the salt of the earth, to add flavor wherever we go while never losing our saltiness. For me it means whoever we are speaking with, regardless of topic, we should sprinkle in grace, truth, and wisdom into our part of the conversation. It means engaging in conversations of every type, debate, political, theological, pop culture, etc., and letting our voice and the truth of Christ be heard and not letting our flavor be masked by others. 

 

We have been called to give people 

a tasteful flavor of the Gospel in all conversations.  

Neither too much nor with a lack of seasoning.