Seasoning the Earth

When I first started cooking, I was notorious for under-seasoning my food.  I would find a recipe, gather the proper measurements for all the ingredients and follow the directions to the letter. Then, I would reach the most horrid part of the recipe, the clause that would prompt me to be emancipated in my culinary freedom…”salt to taste”. Dramatic though it may seem, in my initial, novice attempts to create a dish of some kind of sustenance for myself and my family, I became bound in fetters whenever I picked up the salt to season the food. The light sprinkles would only tip-toe over the food, barely being noticeable, making little to no impact on the meal. The result was bland, unappealing food that we would only resign to eat because time and resources had both been expended. Over time and with practice I became more assertive with my seasoning, more aware of the influence that it had on my meals and the sentiments of my family when I stepped in the kitchen. Salt has two very beneficial qualities among many: the ability to enhance flavor and preserve quality. It can bring the best out of what it is applied to and it can retain the value of what is added to it. The patterns, mentality and subsequent behavior in this world, often times, prove to be distasteful and repugnant. The absence of compassion, the lack of commitment, blatant injustice, the devaluation of life and the scores of ills that infect this world have created such a bland and unappealing view that many choose to just abandon their “plate” and walk away from the table. Roaming about is this hopeless voice singing the lyrics along with Bruce Hornsby, “That’s just the way it is, some things will never change”. But, I don’t believe that.  In a world where it seems that selfishness sings aloud and love is virtually silent, the words of Jesus echo off the pages of Scripture and disarm the forces of insignificance and hopelessness…”you are the salt of the earth”(Matthew 5:13). Why do I esteem these words? What is so profound about this statement and its meaning that would prompt me to mention it here? It is the fact that Jesus gave us a remedy to the conditions of this world…us. This is not a humanistic view, placing man on a pedestal. It is acknowledging the truth about who we are and, as a result, the amount of influence that we have. So who are we? We “are all children of God through faith in Christ Jesus” and “since we are His children, we are His heirs. In fact, together with Christ we are heirs of God’s glory” (Galatians 3:26; Romans 8:17). We are the King’s kids. Therefore, we are tied to Him and everything that He has. It is He who dwells in us  so that just as Christ was in the world, so are we now in this world.  Jesus’ statement was not only a declaration of our identity and purpose but also a commission to go and season the earth with love and with truth.  If this world seems to be unsavory, is its distasteful ways measured by how unpalatable it is or by the lack of seasoning it has? It is the love of Christ that whets the appetite of those who are hungry and causes them to desire more. We are the carriers entrusted to distribute that love to all people, showing the heart of the Father to them. “You are the salt of the earth. But what good is salt if it has lost its flavor?” or if it chooses not to share itself with the world?