02-18-07-Persuade--Salt of the World
We have been looking at successful soul-winning using the words Pray . . . Pursue . . . Persuade as our guideline. We have seen how Jesus told us to Pray to the Lord of the Harvest. Then we saw how men Pursue others for Christ. Today, we come to the next step—Persuade.
I can hear the groans already—“I knew you were going to get around to putting a guilt trip on me. I was waiting for you to convince me of how important it is that I confront people with the Gospel and I’m not comfortable doing that.”
I can understand why you might think this way, but let me assure you that this is not what I want to do today. I think the problem lies with our lack of understanding about soul-winning. Today, we think of persuading someone as arm-twisting, or making someone do what they don’t want to do—like buying something they don’t want to buy. But that is not what I believe the scriptures mean when they talk about persuading someone to know Jesus. That idea of persuading implies that we are selling something and we have to “seal the deal” so we can have good sales statistics—or se we can chalk up how many salvations we have had.
According to the Oxford Concise Dictionary, persuade means to cause to do something through sound reasoning. The origin of the word "persuade" means to advise completely. So to Persuade is use sound reason to advise someone of a course of action, rather than forcing them to do something against their will.
Persuade ■ v.
- cause to do something through reasoning or argument.
- (of a situation or event) provide a sound reason for (someone) to do something.
– origin C15: from L. persuadere, from per- ‘through, to completion’ + suadere ‘advise’.
So let’s look at a passage of scripture to help us get another perspective on how we can Persuade others by the way we live as sound reasoning for them to come to know God. Now I want to tell you that this is a 2 part message. Today, we will look at the first part—being Salt in the world. Next week we will look at the second part—being Light in the world.
¨ Matthew 5:13 (NIV) “You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled by men.
This scripture comes from Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount. It shows us the relationship Jesus’ disciples are to have to the world. Now you may say, I thought the Sermon on the Mount was to a large group of people, not just for His disciples. I think we probably feel that way because of what we have seen in movies about Jesus. In Matthew 5:1 we see that there was a large crowd, which included the disciples. But in fact, scholars believe that what we call the Sermon on the Mount was not just one sermon, but a summary of many sermons that Jesus preached.
There are at least 3 good reasons for this belief:
1. There is way too much material on too many different subjects in this passage to put it in one sermon (e.g. divorce, prayer, money, persecution, judging others, worry, etc.). If I, or any other preacher, preached everything that is here in one sermon we would be thrown out of the church for being long-winded.
2. Also, as a preacher, I know that people can’t absorb that much material in one setting. It is one thing to sit and read a sermon, then to pause and linger over it as we read; but it would be entirely another thing to listen to a sermon for the first time. You see, we can read at our own pace with understanding of the words; but to hear something for the first time would cause us to be overwhelmed with the truths being spoken long before the sermon was finished.
3. If Jesus was going to have helpers and assistants to do His work, they first had to have instruction. So, in the Sermon on the Mount, Matthew shows Jesus teaching His disciples His message which they were to take to men. In fact in Luke’s account of the Sermon on the Mount this becomes even clearer. In Luke the Sermon on the Mount (Luke 6:20-49) follows immediately after what we would call the official choosing of the Twelve (Luke 6:13 ff.). Also the passage we are looking at today in Matthew 5:13 appears in Luke 14:34, which is totally separate from the Sermon on the Mount.
Having said all that, I want you to see that the words we are looking at today were for Jesus’ disciples, not just everyone—which means it pertains to us today as His disciples. While it is true that there are many principles in the Sermon on the Mount that anyone could apply to their life, carefully examining the passage shows us that much of it is specifically for those who follow Jesus—e.g. they are persecuted on account of Him.
¨ Matthew 5:11 (NIV) “Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of Me.
So as we look at this passage in that light, we can see that Jesus is sharing with His disciples what He felt was important for them to accomplish His mission on the earth. That is that they must be Salt and Light so that they can Persuade others to know God and glorify Him.
The passage does not say that we will become Salt, but it says we ARE the Salt of the earth. In the ancient world, salt was highly valued because of its properties:
1. Salt is a preservative—since there was no refrigeration at that time, meat would spoil quickly. But rubbing salt on it allowed the meat to be preserved from the decay or corruption for a longer period of time. Even today, hunters will salt down the meat after field dressing a deer so it will not spoil until they can get it out of the woods and processed.
In this same area as a preservative, salt has the ability to provide healing by drawing out the toxins in our bodies. G. G. takes baths in Epsom Salt when she feels pain and it helps her to feel better. When you have a sore throat, you are told to gargle with salt, because it will help your throat to heal and feel better. So then salt preserves from corruption, decay, and it aids in healing. If we ARE the salt of the earth, we must have a preserving influence on life.
2. Salt represents purity—because of its whiteness this is easy for us to see. But there is a deeper meaning than just looks. Purity is expressed in how something is used. For example Jewish sacrifices were offered with salt (Lev 2:13; Num 18:19; Ezek 43:24).
The disciples would have understood the connection between a salt covenant and relationships. Here is how a salt covenant worked: I would take a pinch of salt from my bag and you would take a pinch of salt from your bag. We each would put our pinch of salt in the other’s bag and then shake our bags. Now the covenant was in force for as long as any grain of my salt was in your bag, and for as long as any grain of your salt was in my bag. Since it would be impossible to tell which grains belonged to either person in either bag the covenant was binding forever. The purity of a salt covenant was unquestioned because of the element of salt that was used in making the covenant.
In this world around us, we have to constantly battle for the standards of purity in our lives. “One of the characteristics of the world in which we live is the lowering of standards. Standards of honesty, standards of diligence in work, standards of conscientiousness, moral standards, all tend to be lowered. The Christian must be the person who holds aloft the standard of absolute purity in speech, in conduct, and even in thought. . . . The Christian cannot withdraw from the world, but he must, as James said, keep himself “unstained from the world” (James 1:27).”[i] (William Barclay)
So, if we ARE the salt of the earth we must be an example of purity.
3. Salt gives flavor to things. Food without salt is bland and unappetizing. Yet, when added to food salt gently permeates through it and brings out the flavor of what is already there. It doesn’t take a lot of salt, but as we sprinkle just a little on our food it makes a big difference in the flavor. When you serve up a meal you usually can taste the effect of the salt but you cannot identify where it is.
I think this is a model of how we should approach our world -- mix through it -- permeate it –draw out the flavors and be a part of enhancing it. Each small grain of salt that we ARE enhances and improves the world around us in some good way. Christianity is to life what salt is to food. Christianity gives flavor to life. The sad thing is that so often people have related Christianity with exactly the opposite. They have associated Christianity with that which takes the flavor/enjoyment out of life. They think it is like eating a steak that has not been tenderized by salt or seasonings, and been made mouth watering and juicy, but rather has become tough and flavorless. So then, if we ARE the salt of the earth we must bring flavor to life.
4. Salt makes you thirsty. Men today need to discover the joy of the Christian faith. Men need to hunger and thirst for righteousness (Matthew 5:6). In a world full of worry and anxiety, the Christian should be the one who remains calm and has peace. In a world full of depression, the Christian should be the one who remains full of the joy of life. There should be a sparkle or liveliness about Christians that makes others thirsty for what we have.
But sadly, too often Christians act more like mourners at a funeral. This is especially true when we leave church. Think about it, do we leave with joy in our hearts because we have been worshipping our King? Or do we leave with sad faces and frowns, because the preacher preached too long, the music was too loud, someone didn’t shake hands with us, or numerous other reasons? To those who see us, do we look like we must have been sucking on a sour pickle in church!
“Robert Louis Stevenson once entered in his diary, as if he was recording an extraordinary phenomenon, “I have been to Church to-day, and am not depressed.” [ii] Honestly, is it no wonder that those around us want nothing to do with our God and Christianity or to come to church? Friends, wherever we are, if we ARE the salt of the earth, we must be the spreader of joy and make men thirst for God.
Jesus went on to say that, if the salt had lost its saltiness, it was fit only to be thrown out and trampled on by men. Now, this is hard for us to understand because from what I remember from my Chemistry class salt does not normally lose its flavor and its saltiness. I wondered about this, and I discovered that chemically salt is a very stable compound by itself. But if it is mixed with other substances it becomes impure, and then it can go bad.
The fact is that what we think of as salt today is not what would have been available in Jesus’ time. We think of common table salt that has been purified and processed, but salt grows naturally in domes in the earth. In Israel, the largest source of salt is the Dead Sea which is full of impurities that come from the surrounding earth, so it certainly is not pure. Actually, today the salt from the Dead Sea is used to create facial products for women because of the properties of the salt.
Look at table salt and compare it to rock salt. Notice how much rougher and dark the rock salt is because of the impurities in it. If you want to try an experiment, take a glass of water and put table salt in it. Then in another glass, put rock salt. You will see many more impurities in the glass of rock salt. (Experiment: table salt vs. rock salt)
At the time of Jesus most salt was derived from marshes, lagoons, or from the rocks around the Dead Sea. This salt contained impurities and it was these impurities that sometimes caused the salt to spoil. Now what would they do with bad salt? They couldn’t throw it out on the field. It would kill the plants. So they’d throw it out on the path where it was trampled under foot.
There is an interesting note about the Greek word that is translated “loses its saltiness.” The word is “moraino” (mo·rah·ee·no) which literally means “to make or become foolish.” This word is used four times in the New Testament. Both Matthew 5:13 and Luke 14:34 refer to salt,
¨ Luke 14:34 (NIV) “Salt is good, but if it loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again?
¨ Romans 1:22 (NIV) Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools
¨ 1 Corinthians 1:20 (NIV) Where is the wise man? Where is the scholar? Where is the philosopher of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world?
So in both of these passages (Rom 1:22 & 1 Cor 1:20) the meaning of becoming a fool is used. In fact this Greek word is the word that we get our word “moron” from.
3471 μωραίνω [moraino /mo·rah·ee·no/] v. From 3474; TDNT 4:832; TDNTA 620; GK 3701; Four occurrences; AV translates as “lose savour” twice, “become a fool” once, and “make foolish” once. 1 to be foolish, to act foolishly. 2a to make foolish. 2a1 to prove a person or a thing foolish. 2b to make flat and tasteless. 2b1 of salt that has lost its strength and flavour.[iii]
3471. μωραίνω moraínō; fut. mōranó̄, from mōrós (3474), foolish. To make dull, not acute, to cause something to lose its taste or the purpose for which it exists, e.g., salt not being able to make things salty (Matt. 5:13; Luke 14:34). Used of the mind meaning to make foolish or to show to be foolish (1 Cor. 1:20); in the pass. (Rom. 1:22, meaning they became foolish or acted like fools; see Sept.: 2 Sam. 24:10; Is. 19:11).[iv]
The meaning of what Jesus is saying is clear: the distinctive saltiness of salt is what makes it what it is; take away the saltiness and it is useless and worthless. It has lost its purpose for which it was created. Jesus is really saying that Christians who “lose their saltiness” are in fact making fools of themselves. They’re not being the influence nor are they being what God created them to be.
As I look at how many of us, as Christians, interact with the world today I wonder if we don’t fall into two camps. Either we remain in the 'salt shaker' and don't interact with the world we live in—maybe for fear of being contaminated. Or we become so mixed up with the world that we become diluted and impure. Instead of having an impact on the world, the world dominates us and we “lose our saltiness” and become fools.
This is how I believe we Persuade men to seek God. By the way we live as salt in the world; we can show them their need for preservation from the corruption of the world. We can be encouragers who build up and bring healing to the hurting around us. We can demonstrate to them their need for purity in a rotten and corrupt society. We can help them to find the true flavor in life, not the false “spice” of life that is offered up my Madison Avenue and Hollywood. We can persuade them to become thirsty for the joy and peace that this world cannot give them that only comes through a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.
We ARE the salt of the world, if we belong to Jesus. We are to be spreading ourselves around so that everyone we come in contact with is given a “taste” of the gospel and the hope of the cross.
When you are out in your harvest field, are you being salt? Or has your salt “lost its saltiness” and you have become foolish—just like the rest of the world? The only way to keep your saltiness is to stay pure and undefiled. Will you let God purify you today so that you can persuade others to follow Him?
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[i] The Gospel of Matthew : Volume. 2000, c1975 (W. Barclay, lecturer in the University of Glasgow, Ed.). The Daily study Bible series, Rev. ed. (118). Philadelphia: The Westminster Press.
[ii] The Gospel of Matthew : Volume. 2000, c1975 (W. Barclay, lecturer in the University of Glasgow, Ed.). The Daily study Bible series, Rev. ed. (118). Philadelphia: The Westminster Press.
v v: verb
TDNT Theological Dictionary of the New Testament
TDNTA Theological Dictionary of the New Testament, Abridged in One Volume
GK Goodrick-Kohlenberger
AV Authorized Version
[iii]Strong, J. (1996). The exhaustive concordance of the Bible : Showing every word of the text of the common English version of the canonical books, and every occurrence of each word in regular order. (electronic ed.) (G3471). Ontario: Woodside Bible Fellowship.
fut (future)
Sept (Septuagint)
[iv]Zodhiates, S. (2000, c1992, c1993). The complete word study dictionary : New Testament (electronic ed.) (G3471). Chattanooga, TN: AMG Publishers.