Be Salty Salt

Be Salty Salt.

It's my new motto.

Now, if you are like me your mind jumps back to the once famous musical talent's of Salt N' Pepa. Which makes me smile. And laugh. And then cringe. In exactly that order. And as desperate as my fingers are to type explanations of all of the above...I am afraid that would completely derail this post and likely have opposite affects of the desired intention.

No folks, this post (as misleading as the the title may be to most of you..or maybe just me) is not in fact, about the infamous Salt N' Pepa* but about doing the work God has called us to do. (Did I really just use Salt N' Pepa and God in the same sentence!? Lord, help me.) 

Ok....must not get derailed.
(Fair warning...this may be a lost cause. I seem to be having a difficult time getting to the point. ;)

So here it is. God calls us to be the salt of the earth. But what does that mean? I know what it means to me and I will get to that later but I was curious to see what Google had to say about it. I came up with many wonderful adjectives; dependable, good, kind, helpful, caring, considerate. In general it seems to be known as a person having a positive impact on others.

So God wants us to have a positive impact on others, be good, kind, dependable, caring, considerate, and helpful? Yes. I believe he wants us to be all those things. But is it enough?

That was a question I asked myself tonight as I was doing my SOAP on Luke 14:34- 35. 
³⁴ “Salt is good, but if it loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? ³⁵ It is fit neither for the soil nor for the manure pile; it is thrown out.
“Whoever has ears to hear, let them hear.”

Is it enough to be nice and blend in? I mean salt is salt right? No. I believe this passage is saying it is not and actually if you have a Life Application study bible you will see the notes say the same. It is not enough to blend in. 

Don't get me wrong. The sad truth is in this day and age I believe that just being the "salt of the earth" will set you apart from others. The truth is a lot of people do not want to take the time to be nice, considerate, and courteous.  Not all, but a lot. 

My revelation through my SOAP tonight was that if we embrace what God has given us...we will be "salty salt." If we use the gifts he has graciously blessed us with to the best of our ability and pair it with being the "salt of the earth" (or an exemplary example of a nice person) we will be "salty salt." We will do more then blend in with a crowd. We will require that second glance and if we are on the right track we will cause enough commotion to have people question the why and the how of what we do. And I believe, if our hearts are in the right place and our focus is on our heavenly Father, we will have an opportunity to give the glory to God. That folks, is what being "the salt of the earth" means to me.  

Just to be clear, I do not believe God wants us to be in the spotlight. I believe He wants us to challenge others to put HIM in the spotlight. In fact, looking back now that is exactly what brought ME to CHRIST in the first place. My (now) husband was a better version of himself then I had previously known. All sorts of changes had taken place for the better. He was being "Salty Salt." (I really should start calling him that for my own entertainment purposes) When he had caused enough commotion for me to start asking the why's and how's ...he gave me one simply complicated answer. Jesus. Then he asked ME to go to CHURCH! And you know what, I was just curious enough to say yes.


Here is the ironic part. All I have ever wanted to do is blend in. Be accepted, liked, maybe even loved but blend in.  I never wanted to stand out in a crowd. Speaking in public terrifies me. I trip and stumble over my words and give the redness of a tomato a run for its money. (This has been proven more times then I care to count) It is because it challenges me that I know that it is important. God doesn't give us easy. He gives us character. He builds that character by challenging what we settle to believe of ourselves. 

My friends, I do not believe that God wants us to ride the waves. I believe he wants us to create them. 

He wants us to be the superb seasoning in a bland world. 

He wants us to be SALTY SALT. :) 






*Please note that I intentionally did not post any links or pictures related to Salt N Pepa out of sheer embarrassment that they are even mentioned in this post. Just trying to keep it real folks...Just trying to keep it real ;)