The call of Jesus is to be the salt of the earth. Bonhoeffer has some insightful thoughts on salt in Discipleship. They are some good reminders for us.

Too often, as conservative evangelicals (my “tribe”, so to speak), the focus has been on heaven. Basically it’s an attitude of “Just get me out of here!”

Salt penetrates the earth. We don’t lose sight of heaven. But we have a mission on earth. Jesus calls his disciples to be salt. It is not Jesus himself, but the presence of his disciples. We are to live transformed lives in this world.

The community of disciples must remain what Christ’s call made them. That will be their true efficacy on earth and their preserving strength.

The call is be salt. You can’t “do” salt. You have the Kingdom DNA and live it out. As we live out the power of the Kingdom of God in this world, the world is preserved. The world will have a preservation only the Body of Christ can bring it.

This is also an area of great debate. Do we make Christian governments? Do we make secular governments behave in some Christian way? (This is something both “liberal” and “conservative” Christians try in our country.)

Here is what is necessary to remember: The Kingdom of God is powerful no matter what the government. Jesus lived under the oppression of the Roman Empire. Our Chinese brothers and sister today live under a totalitarian regime. Salt is salt. It is not dependent on what kind of government on this earth rules over it. But when salt IS salt, no form of government can stop it.

I think when we allow our views of what government should do in some “Christian” way (liberal or conservative), we are asking the government to be something it is not. And as a result, we, as the Body of Christ, as backing away from being what we are called to BE: Salt.

Joseph, Esther, Daniel…. Paul… serve as examples of salt in places that didn’t act very God-like. They serve as incredible examples of being the preserving agent to a world that so desperately needs help.

BE salt.