Issue 206
This is part of a six-month series looking at the Sermon on the Mount from a workplace angle: enjoy the ride!
(WARNING : Do not attempt any of the behaviours advocated in the next seventeen pieces on the Sermon on the Mount without the use of poverty of spirit – dependence on God).
If you are a Christian you are salt. You are not to aspire or try to be salt, you already are. The phrase ‘the salt of the earth’ has passed into common usage and has come to mean a hero or heroine, often unsung, who works long term for the good of others. But what does it mean to be the salt of the earth where you work? The good news is that firstly it means just to be there. For salt to work it needs to be scattered and when you go to work, so are you. Being there is the start and being at work with others is a great context in which to be salt in the world of work. For many of us it provides the opportunity for long term, regular contact with people… For others who work on their own or in short term teams it provides the challenge to make quick impacts as opportunities come and go.
The two features of salt which connect with Jesus’ teaching and your work also lend themselves to long and short term contacts. Salt preserves; it stops the rot. Your role as a Christian at work is to stop the rot. Without you bad situations get worse and worse, situations become disasters and good things go wrong. You are there to challenge the unethical, immoral or malpractices and promote good. It may be your words, your example or your campaigning that are your methods but a salty life stops the rot.
Salt also flavours. It enhances the taste of all kinds of food. You are there to make work taste better. To be pleasant, fun, encouraging, positive, sociable, affirming, real and inspiring. In teams, projects, tough times, parties or all night marathons you are there to add flavour with a Christian twist. Your personality and character will determine your areas of special saltiness but stopping the rot and adding flavour are the common features.
Then comes the surprise: Jesus warns of losing saltiness. You may have read learned interpretations of this but the truth is that it is a statement of the absurd. Salt cannot lose its saltiness. Salt is salt is salt. So why is Jesus being deliberately absurd? I suggest that it’s to make us think.
Part of the warning may be about salt not being scattered – because if Christians withdraw then the saltiness is lost. This is a powerful truth: you need to be there – where the action is – to be salty, so don’t pull out, withdraw or hide with other Christians.
However, this is surely also a call to be who we are. Being the salt that you are means being yourself at work. It means staying true to the purity and flavours that God has scattered in your soul, not avoiding or hiding but celebrating your God-reconstructed life and work style.
In the end the only way salt can become ineffective is if it is mixed with so much contamination that it is too diluted to use. This again is a call to be who you are. Keep salting yourself. Use your God-given blessedness to stop the rot in your soul. Draw in the resources of the Spirit to retain your preserving power and stay corruption free. Let the self-preserving power of God allow you to retain your flavouring properties. Be salt to yourself and you will stay salty. Of course if you want to know how to do that there’s more Sermon on the Mount to follow…
Matthew 5:13
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
In preparation for the next GEOFFSHATTOCKweekly, do feel free to email us your thoughts to wtw@worktalk.gs or leave a comment on our Facebook or Twitter profile. You can also visit our YouTube channel - get inspired and share Worktalk's vision with others.
Work well
Geoff Shattock
© Copyright 2024 Geoff Shattock
All GEOFFSHATTOCKweekly archives are for personal use only. For permission to use for any other purposes please email using the address below thank you.
WORKTALK LEARNING
1 Washington Villas, Hythe Road, Marchwood, Southampton, Hampshire, SO40 4WT United Kingdom
T:+44 (0)23 8086 8543
http://www.geoffshattock.com
comms@worktalk.gs
