Without salt, food would have no taste. Without salt, rotting could not be prevented. Without salt, the human body would not be able to function properly. Salt is a necessity to survive.
The Bible states that the church is the salt of the earth. Just as natural salt gives flavour to food, the church’s purpose is to give sense and meaning to humanity in this world. The church’s task is to bring hope to an, apparently, hopeless world by preaching the gospel to all nations, tribes, and languages.
If the church does not heed to the calling to be salt, the Bible further states that just like salt that has lost its value, the church will be rejected and trampled upon by those it was supposed to serve.
Matthew 5:13 says: You are the salt of the earth, but if the salt loses its flavour, with what shall it be salted? It is no longer good for anything, but to be thrown out and to be trodden underfoot by men.
According to the above scripture, the church finds its value by fulfilling its God-given role by living out its calling in this world.
The church’s success, therefore, does not lie in how beautiful the building is or how many people attend the service on a Sunday, but rather its impact is in its town and community.
Many churches are closing their doors because they have become irrelevant and are no longer living out their God-given calling.
The time has come for the church to find its calling again, according to the scriptures, and to be salt to the world.
The church can no longer focus on the few faithful members who come to church Sunday after Sunday, while the masses outside its walls have never heard or experienced the gospel.
The church is once again called to be salt for the whole world. Let us heed the church’s calling by fulfilling this role.
- Let us not ask people to come and see, but let the church go and become. Pastor Faans Botes is of the Deo Doxa church in Welkom.
