Salt also preserves.
Any food treated with salt is
protected against decay. Salt was especially used in the days before freezers
and modern preservatives.
Christians, who are salt, should
preserve values, life, joy, peace, and especially the stronghold that the
Kingdom of God has in an area or country. If we apply the principles described
above and act as salt that preserves, Christianity will survive in our area. A
stronghold is a position of strength. Christianity has the stronghold in
countries such as England, the United States, and South Africa, while Islam has
the stronghold in countries such as Pakistan and Arabia.
The preserving function of Christians
being salt is an active process. Most corruption and decay took place because
the church was asleep and passive at the time, or just did not fight hard
enough. I’m thinking of things like the legalization of abortion and the
removal of the Bible and prayer from the schools. We need to fight. For
example, pornography was kept out of the South African family stores because
the Christians launched a huge offensive against it when pornography became
legal after the 1994 government change.
One of the issues we should preserve
is our freedom of individuality and expression. The controversial issue of political
correctness is something that we as “salt” Christians should challenge in the
spiritual realms. Political correctness is possibly one of the major causes of
spiritual apathy among Christians, because it can lead to fear of persecution.
Instead of Christians challenging, rebuking, preaching, and training in
righteousness, many have become cautious, do-not-disturb Christians. They hear
a social gospel in a church that acts as a social club rather than a training
center for spiritual soldiers.
Political correctness seems to be a
tool designed in the supernatural realm to prevent Christians from
evangelizing. From the perspective of political correctness, evangelism imposes
religion and therefore offends. Unfortunately, in reality, this only seems to
apply to Christianity and allows non-Christian religions to flourish. It is a
breeding ground for ungodliness. We should seek the Lord to show us how we
could challenge it and persevere in the spiritual battle until we get results.
We want to say with Paul, “I have
fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith” (2
Timothy 4:7). In the midst of setbacks, trials, temptations, and persecutions,
Paul kept the faith that God can make a difference.
We should fight the good fight on
God’s behalf to preserve His values on this earth, keeping the faith that He is
able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power
that is at work within us (Ephesians 3:20). Being salt demands that we spend
much time with God in prayer and it commands us to take up our authority in
faith. How do we then actively preserve what is important for an abundant life?
When meat is covered with salt, the salt interferes with the natural process of
decay and changes the logical course that the meat would have taken. In the
same way, we as Christians should interfere with the process of decay and
change the logical course that the earth would take.
We do this in a number of ways. We should pray without ceasing. “The
earnest (heartfelt, continued) prayer of a righteous man makes tremendous power
available [dynamic in its working]” (James 5:16b, The Amplified Bible). We
should focus our prayer away from ourselves and on that which needs change. We
should pray fervently for that which the Lord told us to pray about. (To be continued)
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