If we do not even possess common potential, then what vehicle can God use to ride the special potential He will give? If we have no ability at all, how will God entrust the special gifts given only to believers? Therefore, this teaching should be given to the congregation while they are still young, teenagers, and young adults. We will not become salt if we do not have excellence in line with the potential God has given us. Indeed, not everyone has the same strengths.
Perhaps those of us over fifty feel it is too late. Yes, frankly, it is late, but better late than never. Cry out to the Lord and acknowledge our mistakes. Why did we stop schooling when we were young? Many will excuse it because their parents could not afford it. Yet many who were far less able still attended school because they were determined. Try to examine where our shortcomings and weaknesses lie. If we have no advantages, then in what can we be the salt of the earth? Whatever our situation, it is not too late. For those who feel they have failed, remember that He is the living God, who will respond when we strive to change and repent.
Do not take this lightly. To be salt means believers have the potential and value that others need, things that others cannot do. These points refer to the functions of salt that cannot be replaced by anything else. Many Christians think that believers should bring a good influence: “Come, be salt.” But if it is only about bringing a good influence, many non-Christians can do that too. They may be no less good than we are, and in many ways even much better.
Often, we limit and superficially view the meaning of being salt, equating it merely with doing good to others. But they can do good as well. Yet are they salt? No. The “You” Jesus refers to in His words is the believers. This verse is addressed to believers, members of the Kingdom of God. If someone could become salt merely by doing a good deed, what about non-Christians who can do the same good? Many people even claim to be good. Some foundations build homes for the underprivileged; that is also a form of goodness. Some provide free cataract surgeries, even cancer operations. People from poor regions are flown to Jakarta. Is that salt? Meanwhile, Christians do not do those things. Or if some do, the number is not large.
Believers must be able to exert an influence that nonbelievers cannot. This influence must be broad, even global. What kind of influence is that? If we read Matthew 5:10–12, the context speaks of persecution: “Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you, and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.”
They experienced severe persecution. Yet in the end, their names were recorded in the Old Testament. That means they exerted influence on the nation and society of their time, and that influence was recognized. They had an influence that wicked or false prophets could not achieve. So there is something others cannot do. Reflect: how could the carpenter’s son, who during His life was accompanied only by simple people of little formal education—the common folk—die as one shamed on a cross, accused of blaspheming God and rebelling against the Emperor, yet change the world without a sword? If not for God, that would have been impossible. He did not gather forces to attack cities with swords.