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If the salt loses its savour by Jean-Louis Coraboeuf "For which of you, intending to build a tower, does not sit down first and count the cost, whether he has enough to finish it... Or what king, going to make war against another king, does not sit down first and consider whether he is able with ten thousand to meet him who comes against him with twenty thousand? Or else, while the other is still a great way off, he sends a delegation and asks conditions of peace. So likewise, whoever of you does not forsake all that he has cannot be My disciple. Salt is good [kalos, good, noble, precious]; but if the salt has lost its flavour [moraino], how shall it season? It is neither fit for the land nor for the dunghill, and men throw it out. He who has ears to hear, let him hear!" (Luke 14:28-35). After having said, "If you do not prefer Me to your family or even yourself. If you do not carry your cross and if you do not follow Me, you cannot be My disciple" (Luke 14:25-27), Jesus compared that to the construction of a tower [purgos] and to a war between two kings; the Greek word purgos designates the top part of a house. In fact, after our new birth, we are called to construct our spiritual house (Luke 6:48-49) on the rock, Jesus (Matthew 16:18), to become a dwelling place for God in the Spirit (Ephesians 2:22). Before our conversion it is our soul, which is in control for our spirit is spiritually dead, but afterwards, is it going to leave room for the Spirit of Christ? there will then be war between the former king and the new King. Are we ready to pay the price to follow Jesus or are we going to negotiate a compromise? The ambassador represents the interests of the king; every negotiation will then only be a compromise whose aim is to safeguard some interest. But Jesus asks us to renounce, to separate ourselves, to abandon all the wealth and values that bolster our soul in order to become the salt of the earth. Salt is good, that is noble and precious: it was put on the offerings (Leviticus 2:13) and it was added to perfumes (Exodus 30:35), we must also have some in ourselves (Mark 9:51) so that our words are always accompanied by grace (Colossians 4:6). The Greek word moraino translated by 'to lose its savour' means literally 'to render spiritless', 'to lose all its qualities of attractiveness', 'become foolish'; its origin is found in the Greek word moros which is translated by 'senseless' to define "the man who built his house upon the sand" (Matthew 25:3) and by 'foolish' to describe "the virgins who didn't take any oil with them" (Matthew 25:3). In the natural, salt loses its savour when it is mixed with something vile, it becomes useless, unusable. If the salt, which is in us, loses its nobility because of the spiritual compromises of our soul, we then become unusable for the Kingdom of God. But we are called to be a part of the glorious Bride, holy and without blemish (Ephesians 5:27), not of the lukewarm Church that Jesus will spew out of His mouth (Revelation 3:16) or the prostituted Church which will finally be cast to the ground (Revelation 17:16). Let he who has ears to hear, listen! |