Sugar or Salt?

by D. James Kennedy                                                                                                              Vol. X, No. 4, April 1997

[This is reprinted from the October 1996 issue of Impact, the journal of Coral Ridge Ministries.]

            Peter Marshall, who served as chaplain to the U.S. Senate, observed that when the apostles preached, riots or regeneration followed. Nowadays, he said, we get a pat on the hand and "nice sermon pastor."

            We are all tempted to be "nice" Christians -- to remain silent about Christ or biblical moral standards when we have the opportunity to speak. But a saccharine brand of faith, one without offense or effect, is not true New Testament Christianity. We are called by Christ not to be the "sugar of the world," but to serve instead as the "salt of the earth."

            The function of salt, as Jesus Christ's first-century audience knew full well, was to preserve from corruption. In the intervening centuries the followers of Christ have indeed proven to be the preservatives of morality and decency in the world.

            William Wilberforce is one example. His tireless, lifelong crusade to end slavery within the British Empire awoke the conscience of his nation, and resulted, finally, in freedom for more than 700,000 slaves when Parliament passed an emancipation bill in 1833. His burden to end the slave trade and free the slaves was a direct result of his commitment to Jesus Christ.

            His life illustrates another attribute of salt: it stings. Slave traders, along with fellow members of Parliament who benefitted financially from slavery, reacted furiously to his crusade. Lord Melbourne bitterly protested that, "Things have come to a pretty pass when religion is allowed to invade public life."

            Wilberforce was attacked in the press, he was attacked physically, his family was threatened, and he was the target of attempted murder. He had to hire bodyguards to protect his family and himself. Still, he continued his crusade. He stood up in the House of Commons in 1791 and declared, "Never, never will we desist till we ... extinguish every trace of this bloody traffic."

            How much, dear friend, are you acting as a preservative for this society? You could do far more than you imagine. You could change many things if you would just sprinkle a little salt on some of that "decaying meat" of our culture. Let your voice be heard. Don't be afraid. We can have an influence ... a preservative influence everywhere we go.

[Editorial Note: Among Virginia Baptists one important way to be salt is to be fully committed to the inerrancy of God’s Word. The issue among us is not organizational (although there are organizational results); nor is it a matter of money (though your decision will determine where you send your gifts); nor is it a matter of who fills influential positions (though faces will change as more vital decisions change). The issue is theological: what do we believe about the Bible? Is it fully inspired by God, His revelation to men, or is it basically a human document, the record of some men’s search for God? Upon the answer to that question hangs the world and eternity. TCP]