Losing Saltiness
Losing Saltiness - Mark 9:50
07.04.2023
A theme that has been reoccurring but I’ve only noticed just recently is really the endurance in running the race. It’s a marathon and the pacing forward with our spirit is important, to stay fit in faith and healthy in our spirits.
What are we trying to not lose? Our goal is to finish well and to follow His commandments;
For everyone will be seasoned with fire, and every sacrifice will be seasoned with salt. Salt is good, but if the salt loses its flavor, how will you season it? Have salt in yourselves, and have peace with one another.
Mark 9:49-50
In the marathon with Christ as we follow Him, we will encounter trials and problems (they come either way no need to look 🗿).
This reminds me in how important it is the way we respond to things.
For example if you see a Christian, well known in the community to be Spirit filled, well-mannered and just fruitful within the vine.
Then one day you see this person snap at someone and calling that person names, verbally abuses this person and causes emotional distress all for a very trivial reason.
When that moment happens the testimony of that person to his/her surroundings and community loses its saltiness not exactly credibility since what said person experienced with the Lord could have very well been genuine and true.
The way I understand saltiness is how another person perceives your words/testimony/Zeugnis;
— how salty is it?
Everyone can fall to their weak spots (anger, pride issues, hatred, lust and sexual immorality). That’s why we need to pay attention and see.
But a person snapping to sin (anger in this case) is simply a symptom that rears its head, from the lack of care for one's spiritual body, leading to one not being able to endure the marathon to finish well.
We drink from the Spirit and eat from the broken bread to commune, that should be our diet, i.e. worship and the word daily.
After seeing this person snap I also realize that any kind of vice, the short and true answer is always Jesus, more of Him and less of us, allow ourselves to be filled, and the overflow will let us love freely.
It would be very hard for a spirit-filled person, filled with His love and His word, to snap at someone and treat someone worse than a pet. When it does happen, there had to be a compromise from getting an in-filling on that day — give us today our daily bread — what that means is simply the person hadn’t allowed him/herself to be filled from the Lord.
After seeing this happen, it became clear that;
- Christ-centered community is important. Your problems aren’t new in the world, and it takes a community to realize this.
- Diet is mad important 🥖🍷
- Jesus will make you salty 🧂
One reason why in Paul’s letters, he often says that a person who leads should be of good standing in the community, known to be in the Spirit, is that your testimony and the saltiness of you and your testimony matters.
The world doesn’t care what you say or what your theology says, they might listen but if you say A and do B, they will simply disresgard us and mock Christ, one of our task as the bride is to keep our bridegroom’s reputation like a sweet perfume.
Our reputation matters in servitude.
Choose a good reputation over great riches;
Being held in high esteem is better than silver or gold - Proverbs 22:1
— not because we want high standing!
But because we love Christ and would hate that our actions and reputation to taint the name we love and the name that saved us.
All this I feel comes from the importance of keeping our saltiness. Otherwise like Jesus said, what is it of use except to be thrown out and trampled by men (but I think this speaks more of ministry)
I think it’s interesting that Jesus mentioned peace next.
Have salt in yourselves, and have peace with one another.
The peaceful atmosphere (ofc) and I wept very much after I saw the debacle happen.
I was so saddened, how must’ve the person on the other end felt?
Perhaps the failure to keep peace between one another could result in losing your saltiness, or a result of failing to be salty will cause the peace to slip away.