Chemistry was not...

my strong suit in high school and therefore, not a chosen class for my college major. I took the requisite science and math to graduate and then made it a personal goal to stay out of the building that smelled like formaldehyde.

The Bible however, requires an understanding of chemistry. Did you know that? Look at Matthew 5:13:

"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."

I know what salt is because I cook with it and sprinkle it on my food, all the time. In fact, the older I get, I think I tend to use more salt than less. I see my Mom's hand sprinkling it on and hear my Dad's voice telling her/me to take it easy--the food doesn't need preserving.

So the visual illustration of true believers being the salt of the earth is a powerful one bringing up all sorts of pictures of how salt flavors and seasons food. How salt in the days before refrigeration preserved food from decay and rot. How roads and sidewalks are covered in salt during icy, snowy weather to melt the elements of slippage and provide a measure of safety. How salt makes you thirsty for a drink of water. How at night I crave the saltiness of popcorn. How salt works with baking soda to make bread rise. Jesus used a significant visual illustration to describe and apply how He commands His people to live in the world.

But some reading I came across on the properties of salt indicated that sodium chloride is one of the most stable compounds we have and that therefore, salt cannot technically lose its saltiness. Bible skeptics can really pick up on this and show a crack in Jesus' teaching, eh?

Further reading proved the historical context that grounds Jesus' illustration. The table salt we use today is a very purified form that can withstand virtually any attack to its composition. Salt can become contaminated when mixed with impurities and so become useless, even dangerous. (There's a wide range of application enough for a whole other blog post on what happens when believers become contaminated with impurities of teaching and belief and...I digress).

The salt in Jesus' time though was not purified and may even have come from around the Dead Sea region. While being part sodium chloride, the actual salt was also mixed with a benign white powder, kind of like a grainy dust. The salt part was easily washed out from the other material, but the remaining white powder looked like salt. Even though it did not and could not act like or taste like salt, until it was actually tried, that grainy white imposter salt remained. Once discovered, it was not good for anything but to be thrown out and trampled upon.

Again, application and illustration abound in warning and encouragement to the true believer. It's not enough that one look like a disciple of Christ--punching the religious card. One must actually be a disciple of Christ. This only comes by faith, only evidenced by works of faith, and is only proved by the Giver of faith.

But it is still worth the question and searching examination to consider as a confessing believer, am I true or imposter salt?