More than Useless ... Toxic

One of our associate pastors recently spoke on the cost of discipleship from Luke chapter 14. It was an excellent message. I mention it not so that these thoughts should be construed as an amendment, correction, or disagreement. What follows are simply thoughts that sprung forth as I was reflecting further on the topic.

The speaker mentioned that salt, as we think of it, typically does not lose its saltiness. In ancient Palestine, it was gathered from marshes and was filled with impurities. Over time, the impurities overwhelm the salt, and the mixture ceases to have any of the useful properties of salt. It becomes so polluted that it becomes useless. Professed followers of Jesus who will not follow Him are deemed, by the Lord Himself, to be useless to His cause.

No believer should want to be useless to the efforts of the kingdom. But, if that does not adequately get one’s attention, perhaps, that metaphorical left jab could be followed-up with a crushing right hook. Years ago, I preached through the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5-7, where another treatment of this “salt of the earth” metaphor appears. I suspect it is the more familiar treatment of the two.

            “You are the salt of the earth, but if the salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled under people’s feet … - Matthew 5:13

Luke’s account says:

… It is of no use either for the soil or for the manure pile. It is thrown away.  – Luke 14:35

The Luke account points out the “uselessness” of salt without saltiness to both soil and fertilizer. The additional nuance from Matthew is that it is destructive, that is, toxic. Technically, this salt did have one singular use.  It was thrown away, but not willy-nilly. This sludge was thrown away “to be trampled under people’s feet.” In other words, it was used to treat the paths that cut through the fields from which pilgrims could legally pick grain for their own use on their various journeys from here to there. Farmers could not have people wandering through their fields and off the paths. If I were a farmer, I would want to keep those pathways well-defined. I would look for a product that would destroy all life and potential for life, something more than useless … something toxic. I may run down to my Home Depot and look for something that destroys even the possibility of life.

“What can I do for you, sir?” says the man in the vest.

I answer, “Do you have any of the that toxic sludge that used to be salt?”

Is “useless” versus “toxic” a distinction worth mentioning? If I was told that I was “useless” to some cause, I might not like it. It might hurt my feelings. I might even pout. On the other hand, as a fierce introvert by nature, I might learn to appreciate the incognito status of being of no value. I might just be satisfied that I still get to hang around with “Team Redeemed.”

However, if I am told that I am actually harmful to some cause, I would have to decide, “Do I want to be an ally in this cause or an enemy?” To simply exist as a useless appendage in the Body of Christ is not an option because it is not even a possibility. I will be detrimental to the cause of Christ, not simply irrelevant. I will be a witness to the Gospel, but a damaging one. My choice is rather clear. Do I want to be for Christ or against Him? I will need to examine myself to determine if I am really a man of faith at all.

I have never believed that an arbitrary line can be drawn between faith in Christ and being a disciple of Christ. “Why do you call me “Lord, Lord, and not do what I tell you?” (Luke 6:46). Our obedience to Christ in this world is not a matter of little significance. The church falls into disrepute when adherents to Christianity rebel against the commands of God. We cannot flirt with how to bend rules without sinning. We must despise every appearance of evil.

The Body of Christ cannot infight over petty matters and advance the Gospel. We cannot enjoy impure entertainments. We cannot harbor rage, bitterness and unforgiveness. We cannot continue to tell tales and spread gossip. We cannot fly off the handle as a means of responding to the things that agitate us. We cannot express ourselves with coarseness and innuendo because we want to be seen as clever, relevant or because we want the world “to take us or leave us as we are.” (If that’s really the way you are, you need to look into repentance and transformation.) We can and should engage in the cultural debates of the age, but with respect – to one another, to leaders and to sinners. In personal crises, we cannot always resort to the same selfish short-cuts that the world may view as appropriate.

To be useful at all to the cause of the Kingdom of Christ, believers must walk as true disciples. Uselessness is not the only risk. Actual toxicity is another. We are to expect the Gospel to be scorned by the world, because followers of Christ who have come out from the world trust in a resurrected Savior and live with an expectation of eternal life. We should expect to be despised in the world, because darkness hates light. Somehow, the Gospel will continue to make strides forward. However, we are not to expect the world to mock the Gospel because its adherents show it to be irrelevant, powerless and non-binding when the chips are down. No one is drawn to that.