Worthless or "salty" salt

"Salt is good, but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored?  It is of no use either for the soil or for the manure pile.  It is thrown away.  He who has ears to hear, let him hear.

Now the tax collectors and sinners were all drawing near to hear him.  And the Pharisees and the scribes grumbled, saying, "This man receives sinners and eats with them."

Luke 14: 34-15:2

I love how the gospel writers put their narratives together.  Each of the authors took the same material and information, and they crafted it for different audiences.  These gospels were not read with their chapter divisions.  Those were added much later.  Instead, the narrative of Jesus' life and ministry read like an action packed play.

In Luke 15, Jesus declares the heart of God for the lost.  With the parables of the lost sheep, the lost coin, and the lost sons, Jesus declares God great concern and pursuing love for the lost.

What is often missed is how he concludes what we read as Luke 14.  "Salt is good, but if salt has lost its taste, how shall it be restored?"  What is he talking about?  In the context, this small section is told by Luke between Jesus' teaching on the cost of being a disciple and the reality that the "sinners" of the day loved him (found him "salty') and the religious teachers grumbled at this fact.  

Matthew uses this teaching of Jesus concerning salt in a different way, and it is found in a different place.  Does this show an error?  No!  I am sure Jesus used this phrase often in its ministry.  It has many applications.  I believe it is clear that Luke is using it here to illustrate the reality of disciples being the preserving influence to the sinners that God is passionately pursuing.  Jesus is the perfect example of a follower of God.  He pursues and is attractive to sinners.  Unfortunately, this also means the religious folks sometimes do not understand him!

This week I will be preaching about how Paul is an unexpected and surprise witness for the truth found in Jesus.  I think God often uses folks, methods, and groups that are somehow "surprising" witnesses to grace.

One of the greatest contractions in the universe is how "religious" folks often make poor witnesses to God's grace, but the scandalous and the sinners are great witnesses.

Why is this true?  Why is this particularly troubling?  Because the goal of most church life is to make people "religious."  Good church folks are often marked by their faithful religious observance.

Yet, here is the rub.  I have often shared in these pages and in classes I teach on outreach that 90% of churches say they wish to grow, but 90% of these churches are not really willing to follow through to grow.  Taking this a step further, I would suggest that 90% of believers claim they want to reach out to friends, neighbors, and co-workers, but about 90% of them rarely follow through.  

Why is this the case?

Excuses abound.  I have offered many of them myself.  Yet, I wonder aloud today "If the salt has lost its saltiness."

Personally and corporately if we are not seeing not-yet-believers being transformed by the gospel, we should pray that God will allow us to see it.  We should confess and repent if we really do not have a heart for such work.  We should ask for God's heart for the lost.

The miracle working God of the bible will answer these prayers.  His desire is for the salt (us) to be salt!