The Effect of a Christ-Follower

“You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt loses its flavor, how shall it be seasoned? It is then good for nothing but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot by men.

“You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven” (Jesus, Matthew 5:13–16).

            Jesus began His sermon describing the truly blessed life. This sets the precedent for all He has to say about being His follower. Now He goes on to talk about the kind of effect these people, those who follow Him, will have as they interact with society. Without a doubt, those who identify with Christ stand out and have an impact on the world around them.

The Salt of the Earth

            First, He says His followers are the salt of the earth. So what is significant about salt? For one thing, it is a distinct substance. It is different than that which it seasons. Jesus, in one sense, is saying that His followers will be different than the world around them. In the book of John, we hear Jesus praying for His disciples, “I do not pray that You should take them out of the world, but that You should keep them from the evil one. They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. Sanctify them by Your truth. Your word is truth. As You sent Me into the world, I also have sent them into the world” (John 17:15–18).

On one hand, it is clear that Jesus did not intend for His people to be completely separated from society. They are to be part of it, fully engaged in the operations of the surrounding culture. On the other hand, they are to be sanctified (set apart) by the fact that they adhere to God’s truth. They are salt; they are distinct.

            But salt is not only distinct, it actually serves a purpose. In Jesus’ culture, a common use of salt was for preserving things. If meat was to be kept from spoiling, salt could be used as a preservative. The interesting thing to realize is that, historically, it is easy to see to tendency of societies to decay. Even in biblical history, we see examples of this. The book of Judges depicts Israel in its infancy as a nation, where they often needed special leaders (called judges) to help them preserve strength as a culture:

Whenever the Lord raised up a judge for the Israelites, the Lord was with him and saved the people from the power of their enemies while the judge was still alive. The Lord was moved to pity whenever they groaned because of those who were oppressing and afflicting them. Whenever the judge died, the Israelites would act even more corruptly than their fathers, going after other gods to worship and bow down to them. They did not turn from their evil practices or their obstinate ways (Judges 2:18–19, HCSB).

Here, we see the tendency of this particular society to follow a moral downward spiral,

which led to great turmoil and the need for reform. The apostle Paul describes a similar pattern in his portrait of society. He says of people, that “although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. . . Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves. . . And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind to do what ought not to be done” (Romans 1:21, 24, 28, ESV). This is the Bible’s view of the pattern of culture. It always tends toward decay, unless there is something to counteract this phenomenon.

            Jesus says there is, in fact, something that can help prevent the decay of culture: salt—His people living according to His principles. The only factor that could keep salt from being effective is if it loses it flavor (distinctness) by becoming polluted. Jesus says if this happens, then it is useless. The only way to fulfill our purpose is by being different than the world around us. The author Jim Berg writes of the “principle of influence”:

You have to be different to make a difference.

You cannot change anything by adding more of the same.

Suppose you have in front of you a glass of unsweetened iced tea, but you do not like unsweetened iced tea. You wish, therefore, to add something to your glass of tea to change the taste. You cannot change the taste by pouring more unsweetened tea into the glass. You must add something different to the glass, such as sugar, lemon, or ginger ale.

To have an influence on other people, you cannot just be “more of the same” kind of people they are. You must be different to make a difference. (Berg, 211)

            Jesus wants His followers to make a difference; that is why He explicitly tells them they are salt, and they must maintain their distinctness, not becoming polluted by the evil influences of culture. Paul gives a principle that goes in hand with this when he says:

            “Everyone who confesses the name of the Lord must turn away from wickedness.”

In a large house there are articles not only of gold and silver, but also of wood and clay; some are for special purposes and some for common use. Those who cleanse themselves from the latter will be instruments for special purposes, made holy, useful to the Master and prepared to do any good work (2 Timothy 2:19b–21, NIV).

There is a disconcerting tendency in many American churches (which claim to have Christ-followers) for there to be little difference between them and the culture at large. Often, it seems that we can be pursuing the same things as everyone else (fame, fortune, a life of ease) but putting a Christian label on it. Jesus shows that His people are to be radically different, and this begins in the heart (as seen in His beatitudes). His sermon will go on to show just how radically different He is calling us to be, but we must accept from the outset that society tends toward decay, and we must be purified to be useful to God and effective in our culture.

Works Cited:

Jim Berg, Changed Into His Image: God’s Plan for Transforming Your Life (Greenville: BJU Press, 1999).

Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture quotations are taken from the New King James Version.  Copyright © 1979, 1980, 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations marked HCSB are taken from the Holman Christian Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1999, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2009 by Holman Bible Publishers. Used by permission. Holman Christian Standard Bible®, Holman CSB®, and HCSB® are federally registered trademarks of Holman Bible Publishers.