Dial In with Jonny Ardavanis - What Does it Mean to Be The Salt of the Earth? | 4 Powerful Ways Christians Impact Culture with Harry Walls

Episode Date: February 11, 2025

Jesus calls Christians "the salt of the earth" - but what does this actually mean for believers today? In this powerful teaching on Matthew 5:13, discover the four essential functions of salt and how they apply to Christian living in our modern world.Harry Walls breaks down the biblical meaning of being "salt of the earth" through these key aspects:The symbol of purity in speech and conductA preservative that inhibits corruption and promotes growthA seasoning that brings joy and makes life betterA substance that provokes thirst for ChristLearn practical ways to step out of the "salt shaker" and engage with your community while maintaining your Christian witness. Whether you're an athlete, business professional, or parent, this teaching will equip you to live as salt and light in today's culture.🎯 Key Topics:Matthew 5:13, Christian living, Biblical teaching, spiritual growth, Christian influence, cultural engagement, discipleship, Christian witnessWatch VideosVisit the Website Buy Consider the LiliesFollow on Instagram

I'm talking Christians now. You got to get out of the salt shaker. Out of the salt shaker into the world, engaged productively and proactively in a penetrating way by your presence. If you're potent, you promote what's good in the culture. The world is better because you're in it. And the world is less dark if you're associated

with anything because you inhibit that corruption. Well, Harry, thanks for joining. I've heard you teach several times on what Jesus says in Matthew 5.13. I'll read it for us, and then I want you to jump in. Jesus says in Matthew 5.13, I'll read it for us, and then I want you to jump in. Jesus says in Matthew 5.13, you are the salt of the earth, but if the salt has become tasteless, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot by men. He goes on from there to say you are the light of the world.

But one of the things that I find comfort in is Jesus is not telling those who are his own to be anything other than what they are. He's not saying you should be salt or you could be salt or you can be salt. He says you are. And if I'm a Christian and I'm hearing the words of Jesus plainly, I'm the salt of the earth. I need to understand what that even means in order that I might live in alignment with what the revelation of God's Word tells me. So what does it mean to be the salt of the earth? What are the implications of what Jesus says here to every Christian of all time? I think it's important contextually to know that when Jesus said that, salt was rare and valuable. And what he was saying is you are rare and valuable, and you bring blessing and

benefit to the world in which you are in as a kingdom citizen, unless you've lost the qualities of salt, the virtues of salt, the qualities of it that make it valuable. Roman soldiers were paid sometimes in salt, which is where you get the statement, not worth your salt. It was rare. Taxes were paid with salt. And so I think it's important to understand that when they heard those words, they were hearing, you are rare, valuable, and your life is productive and meaningful in the world. And not every Christian thinks that way. No. Just from the onset, rare and valuable.

You are bringing something to the world. That's why I like the salt. There is no other. It's a definite article. The earth. You're an exclusive influence in the way nothing else or no one else is to everyone everywhere. Unless you're not, which is why I said you can lose the properties of salt, become tasteless, in which case you're good for nothing except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot. And I take that to mean not treated with value

or rare, but useless, not because you're not salt, but because you've lost the potency and the properties of salt. Therefore, you're not valuable. And I take thrown out, trampled underfoot to be a way of saying really treated with contempt. It's not that they disagree with you. It's they don't respect you. Yeah. Now you've talked about maybe four features and functions of what salt does in a context like this that Jesus is addressing. Maybe walk us through those and we'll make comments as I'll make comments as you go, but walk us through those four features or functions of what salt does. And I'm listening to this as just a Christian. Jesus tells me through his living word, I'm salt. Yeah. And when he said that, salt was a symbol of purity,

and that's important to understand, that salt was considered the purest of all things because it came from the purest also. And this is something the Romans said, from the sun and the sea. So, salt was considered a symbol of purity. So, I argue that Christians should be a symbol of purity, an example of moral integrity, honor in words, honor in conduct, honor in attitude. And so one of the ways you function in the world because of who you are is you give them a living picture of what purity looks like in real time. This is how a person talks who's morally integrous. This is how a person walks who's morally integrous. So the world sees the Christian or should as the standard of right and wrong. So the first thing a Christian does is they model maturity and morality by how they talk and how they walk. That's why Ephesians 5 says you ought to talk a particular way because you're citizens of the kingdom of God.

There should be no filthiness, silly talk, or coarse jesting. It's not fitting. Not fitting for what? A kingdom citizen a christian yeah so the first thing salt is and we are therefore is a picture of purity secondly salt was a preservative before refrigeration meat would rot so they would salt the meat they would saturate it in a saline solution it preserved the value of good things so part of what salt does is it inhibits corruption and it actually promotes growth. Jesus makes an interesting statement in Luke chapter 14 when he

says salt is good unless it's lost its saltiness and then it's hard to regain its properties. But it says it's good for nothing. It's not good for the soil or for the manure pile. And what he points out is salt had properties that were good for the soil as a fertilizer to promote good growth. It was also used as an inhibitor, the manure pile, for germs and corruption. And so potent salt, which is what the context is, Christ's first discipleship,

because we just got done talking about me first, me over family, me over your stuff, me over your own life, me first discipleship. That's good salt, and that's potent salt. And high-intensity salt in the soil, properly dosed, causes what's good to grow. That's what a Christian is, a promoter of growth. And they're an inhibitor of corruption. Even in the world, just the sin and wickedness that you would see, the Christian prevents that. They inhibit corruption. It's because they're in it, the soil, or on it, the manure pile.

In other words, as somebody said, you got to get out of the salt shaker yeah but out of the salt shaker into the world engaged productively and proactively and in a penetrating way yeah by your presence if you're potent you promote what's good in the culture the world is better because you're in it. And the world is less dark if you're associated with anything because you inhibit that corruption. Going back to what you're saying about salt being mingled with the substance of corruption, and you said getting out of the salt shaker, I think that's maybe something worth extrapolating on because a lot of Christians hang out with only other Christians.

And there's maybe a reasonable element of, yeah, I want to fellowship with other people in the church. But maybe just expound on that for a moment, getting out of the salt shaker. You've talked to me about how every Christian should have fishing holes. You use that reference just to say where I'm rubbing shoulders with other people in the community that I want to typically rub shoulders with, whether that's a gym, whether that's for you, one of your other hobbies. You're intentionally pursuing opportunities to mingle with other people that do not know the Lord so that you can be what you're called to be, which is salt. Maybe just expound on that for a moment. Yeah, I mean, that's precisely the issue is salt doesn't have influence unless it's in it and on it. And Christians, because the culture's corrupt,'t have influence unless it's in it and on it. And Christians, because the culture is corrupt, it's not enjoyable to be in certain spaces and places.

You want to withdraw to where you like the music, you like the conversation, you like the environment, the vibe, if you will. And we bunker and bubble in the context of Christian community. Listen, you need to be in church. But the goal of being in Christian community is to grow in Christ, to encourage each other in Christ, and then to go out into the world and scatter for the purposes of Christian witness and influence. Yeah. So the salt has to get out and engage out of the salt shaker into the world. So you have to intentionally say, you know what? This is not my favorite space to be in. But I'm here with purpose.

I'm playing on this team. It's not a Christian team. It's not populated with Christian people. But I'm on this team with an ambition to make a difference because if they don't have a Christian, they'd have no salt. Yeah. I remember you even thinking back to it now that you – at one point, we were going to intentionally study at the Starbucks for a little bit just to rub shoulders. It was a Starbucks I think that you were confronted in that had maybe pride paraphernalia. Yeah. And you were like, I'm going to go there and study because that's the way I mingle.

Maybe someone will come up and ask me what I'm reading. But I think it's a good point that you're bringing up just because so often we see maybe the wickedness of the world that's growing rampant and we want to, you said, bubble and bunker. And I think sometimes people think that's what they're called to do is to be separated. But Paul, you know, it's even going back to what Paul says. If you were to be totally removed from the world, God would just bring you home.

This is our calling as Christians. This is why God left us here is to be salt. And you've mentioned those first two things thus far, which is a picture of purity and then – Powerful preservative. Yeah, and then a powerful preservative. And on it as a potent Christian, Christ-first Christian, Jesus-before-everything Christian. Okay, and then a powerful preservative. Because you're in it and on it as a potent Christian, Christ first Christian, Jesus before everything Christian. Okay, and then what's number three? The third one is an interesting one.

It comes out of Job chapter six. And Job basically says, does chapter six, verse six, do you eat tasteless food without salt or the white of an egg without the seasoning? And the answer to that is clearly no. And he said, that's actually loathsome to me. Even though it's good for me, I'm not interested in that. And I take from that what we all know about salt. A third property, it's a seasoning. It makes things better, whether it's watermelon or steak or the white of an egg. It improves the life experience of a good thing. Life is good. And Christians bring a powerful, pleasing seasoning that makes life better. Because Christians bring something the world needs to make life worth living. I mean, people lose

an appetite to live. People say life's not worth living. Well, a Christian is a contradiction to that potential temptation by saying, oh, no, there's life. There's joy. It's not because their life's perfect. It's not because their children all go through easy growing up, maturing processes, or they were always healthy. They enjoy all kinds of financial profitability. Christians struggle through life like anyone struggles, but they have something that makes life joyful because they have hope, they have comfort, they have clarity, they have stability, they have qualities of Christian living and virtue and perspective that they can lend, they're the fragrance of Christ, and they make life better. So I would like to argue that if a Christian's

in the club, they're on the team, they're in the business, it's a better business. It's a better neighborhood because a Christian's in it, and they're bringing life to it. Julian, who succeeded Constantine, who had made Christianity the religion of the empire, wanted to go back to the old pagan gods. In essence, he said the reason he did is because Christians suck the life out of life. They brooded their life away. The sun would shine, but they wouldn't see it. They just didn't communicate the vibrancy and the vitality of life. They just wanted to suffer and die. That's what he said. And I want to argue that as the salt of the earth, we bring seasoning to everything. We make it better.

Yeah. Yeah. And it contradicts even like the idea of maybe an Eeyore mentality to life and monkish, you know, certain Christians over different periods of time. But I love even that idea of providing the flavoring and the seasoning, the zest, the life. How would you even suggest, you know, let's go back to the team analogy. You said if you're on the club and the team and the business, you are an athlete. How do you do that, practically speaking, just by being Captain Joy and by working hard and encouraging other people?

Or if someone's going, I want to be that guy, what would you say to them? Yeah, I think I've tried to boil that down, especially in the realm of athletics, to demonstrating that success in athletics is being the best you can be. I'm talking Christians now. Being the best you can be for the best. I'm doing it for God, to God, through His power and strength. And the joy I have is not just in winning the game. It's in participating and playing in a way that honors the one who allows me to play the game. So you're playing on a team,

and I've seen this happen in my own life and in the lives of others, that a Christian athlete can play with a joy and a zeal and a fulfillment and a gratitude that isn't only seen when you win and you succeed. I'd like to say a Christian athlete can win the game and not succeed. And they can lose the game and succeed by playing it for the right reason, for the right person. And people see that and they're affected by that. How come Johnny's got life? Sorry, Johnny's not a loser. He's a competitor.

But the game didn't go his way, but he still has something that isn't related to the outcome. It's related to what he has in his relationship with God. And you would be able to apply that perspective in a way of thinking to business, to mothering, whatever it would be. Because no business is profitable every day. No family is joyful every day in terms of circumstances. But a Christian can bring life because a Christian's life is rooted in different realities. I'm not outside of reality. I live in reality and

understand the challenges related with difficulty. But there's a joy, there's a life. There's a hope. There's a comfort that I have that others don't have. And they ask the question, then, what do you have that I don't have, which leads to the last thing salt does. Yeah, go on. Mention that last thing. Well, it provokes thirst. You know, salty food makes you want to drink lots of liquid water. And I'm going to argue that salty Christians, salty Christians create a passion, a thirst for what they have that everybody needs, which is the water of life, Jesus Christ. And that's what a Christian is if they're salty. Salty speech is not sailor or soldier speech.

Salty speech is noble Christian speech. And noble Christian speech united with noble Christian attitudes, positive, peaceable, moral behavior, honest, integrous, pure, not immoral. Those people, they provoke an interest in what they have that others don't have. Yeah. I think even that's true from a famil perspective, you would be salty to your kids. And even going back to living in such a way where your children grow up knowing that if they don't know Jesus, they're missing something. It's different than just training up your child in the way he should go. I think it's Ted Tripp who said,

your relationship with God should make your kids feel like they're missing out if they don't know Jesus. Because you're, to your point, provoking thirst. And that happens both at the familial level, but also at the neighborhood level where people want what you have. They want to, it's the woman at the well, right? Come meet the man who's told me everything. And they were drawn because of the woman's testimony. And then they say at the end of it, it's not just because of her testimony. We've come to recognize this reality. But in summary, what salt is? I'm the salt of the earth. The definitive article. Give me the four again. The picture of purity. You're a model of it. You're a powerful preservative, a promoter

of growth that preserves, an inhibitor of corruption that preserves. You're a pleasing seasoning. You make everything tasteless taste better. You make life better because you're in it and on it. And then finally, you're a provoker of thirst. You cause people to go, I want what you have. How can I have it? I'm thirsty for it. Well, the water of life is what's given me life.

Yeah. And that's what you have the opportunity to share. Because a Christian who's salty is different than the world in which they live. They're bringing a fragrance of Christ, different metaphor. And to those who need it, it's life. And to those who need it, it's life. And to those who refuse it, it's a validation of death because they don't have it. Yeah. Well, I think, Harry, obviously this just last question, and I think we could talk about this for a long time, but just in brief, if I'm listening, how do I grow in what God has made me to be? I sense this. I want to be the preservative.

I want to be the provoker of thirst. I want to be the picture of purity. I want to grow in these capacities. How do I grow in being who God has made me to be? Yeah, that's a great question. Well, first of all, owning what it is that God says you are. This is what I am. So take inventory. Does my speech reflect purity? Does my moral conduct reflect purity 14 and ask myself, what kind of disciple am I? Do I love Jesus, cultivate a passion for Christ that's above everything and everybody? That's the path of God, surrender of self to God, filled with the spirit of God, living in submission to the word of God. And I'm involved in fellowship with the people of God. And I'm walking in a way that's powerful. Yeah.

People of God encourage one another to go and be and do this. And you got to get out there and get engaged. Can't bubble and bunker. So I like to tell people, hey, where are your passions? Like I'm a car guy. You know I'm a car guy. Motorcycles. I want to be involved with people who are in a space that I'm passionate about.

You may not be passionate about that. But I am. And that's a space I want to be in to bring salt and light to that community. So it's not alien to me. And I can relate to them and they can relate to me, but they can experience something through me and from me that otherwise they wouldn't taste. Well, so good. Harry, thank you so much. Yeah, my pleasure.