Salty and Sweet

Last night I flipped on the TV just before calling it a night and landed on the Food Network show Unwrapped. For those of you that don't know, Unwrapped is a show that shows how all kinds of familiar candies and treats are made and the history behind some of our favorites. For instance, last night's show was entitled Salty and Sweet and one of the highlights was how they make one of my all time favorite candy bars, Snickers.

Also on the show was a boutique chocolatier named Fran's Chocolates. Apparently Fran has hit quite a nerve with her chocolate marvels. Her specialty is sea salt caramels. She makes a rich, creamy caramel and dips them in a luscious dark or milk chocolate, whichever is the preferred. The kicker is the final touch. The pièce de résistance is the final placement of a pinch of sea salt on top of each one. According to the website, these little wonders have taken home plenty of hardware from some competitions. She is pretty proud of them too. One box of 15 will cost you $22. Fran says, "The salt brings all the other flavors to the surface, making the overall effect of the candy even sweeter to the taste."

I could not keep my mind from running wild with this concept in light of what God's word says about salt. The correlations are many. In Matthew 5:13, Jesus is teaching and begins to use a parable about salt. He says, "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." This is a rather strange concept. Christ-followers are salt of the earth. It is bizarre only until you consider what salt does.

First, salt is a healing agent. For eons salt has been used as a safe and effective substance to clean and sterilize wounds when no other method is close at hand. Secondly, and closely related to the first, is the usage of salt as a preservative. Meat has been cured in salt for centuries so that it would keep longer, well before refrigeration was a possibility. To this day, I love a good salt-cured country ham.

Finally, salt is universally used as a spice to bring out the flavors and kick food up a notch. A little girl was asked once for what purpose salt was used. She said, "Salt is what spoils the food...when it is left out."

Now think for a moment about how Christ-followers are salt. They are God's healing agents in a lost and dying world. They preserve a Godly ethos in a world overrun by selfishness and other sinful attitudes that threaten to spoil the joy and grace that Christ wants to show us. And they add a spice to life because Christ's working through them is one of the ways He provides an abundant life on this side of heaven (John 10:10). In much the same way as Fran describes her sea salt caramels, we, as Christ-followers, are to magnify Jesus and exhort those around us, making life a little bit sweeter for all.

Have you lost your saltiness? Are you positively contributing to the lives of those with whom you come into contact? Remember, salt is not a passive substance. The very nature of salt is an aggressive proactivity. So go out there today and in the words of another Food Network icon, "Bam! Kick it up a notch."