“You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how shall it be made salty? It is from then on good for nothing but to be thrown out and to be trampled underfoot by men.” — Matthew‬ ‭5:13‬ ‭MEV‬‬

When you’re cooking, you don’t want your salt to overpower the flavors, but rather to bring out the natural goodness of what is already there.

If we are the salt of the earth, we’re not trying to overpower the earth and make it our flavor. Rather, we’re trying to bring out its natural goodness:

When God created this earth, he called it good. It became insipid when humanity decided to go our own way instead of God’s way — so now we are the salt of the earth, sprinkling that goodness back on our world, by choosing to go God’s way.

And what if we lose our savor, our saltiness? Then, Jesus says, we’re of no good except to  be thrown out and trampled upon.

That sounds harsh! Unless you really consider what He is saying: even salt that isn’t salty any more still has a use in the kingdom. Just like salt that was never refined for human use, is still useful — Salt on icy roads saves lives.

Thus we need not take this verse a condemnation of Christians who aren’t able to fulfill their duty by enhancing the natural goodness of this earth. They also have a use, creating much-needed friction in slippery situations, to help save lives.

In God’s kingdom everything belongs, even those of us who have lost our original way and fail to be as salty as we should be.