Quick Thought About Salt

"You are the salt of the earth."
-Matthew 5:13a
     This is going to be a super random post, but this is something that popped into my head a while ago and I wanted to share it. If you know me well, I enjoy salty foods. I've always had an affinity for salty foods, and would always choose a salty food over a sugary one. For example, I would much rather have chips than ice cream. This might sound ridiculous to some of you, but God made us all different. Anyway, this is not the point I want to make today.
     If you attend a church regularly, it is probable that you have heard a message on Matthew 5. Jesus tells His disciples and the crowd that they are the "salt of the earth". Many times, when I have heard a message of this passage, the salt's attributes are analyzed. For example, it is often said that salt changes the flavor of the food, preserves the food, and is potent (affecting things around it powerfully). These are all true, but one thing that I think is often overlooked is that salt is used in bunches.
     When I was thinking about this idea of salt, I was eating chicken noodle soup. It was a bit bland, so I placed some salt into my soup. When I looked at the salt shaker, I thought about the fact that we never use a single grain of salt to flavor and preserve our food. When we hear the word "salt", we don't often think of a single grain of salt. We think of a lot of salt. I realized that this is how we are supposed to be as the salt of the earth. We aren't meant to be a single grain of salt, but to be a community of salt, working together. A single grain of salt does make a difference, but salt in bunches is how salt is meant to be used.
     I believe that it is significant that Jesus was talking to His disciples, plural, and not to a single person. God calls us to salvation as individuals, but He calls us to preach as a church. Let us not isolate ourselves from the church, but work together in order to change and preserve the world. Jesus hasn't called us to be a grain of salt, but a group of salt. It's easy for me as an American to individualize my Christian walk with God, but He's called me to work with others. Let's become the salt of the earth, together.
-Smart