Salt in the Rottenness

Among many popular expressions circulating in religious assemblies today is this one: We must be salt in the rottenness.

David says in the first psalm: “Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor stands in the path of sinners, nor sits in the seat of the scornful; but his delight is in the law of the Lord, and in His law he meditates day and night.”

If people had meditated on the law of the Lord day and night, they would have realized a long time ago that the expression “salt in the rottenness” is absurd and superficial. People should actually be embarrassed over having used the expression without even thinking about it.

My understanding has always been that salt keeps things from rotting. No one is so foolish as to salt rotten fish or rotten meat. However, people have so incredibly little understanding of God that they believe He would salt something rotten, expecting something to come from it.

It is written in Matthew 5, “You are the salt of the earth.” This means that God allows the earth to continue for the sake of the righteous, so that they have a place where they can receive their spiritual training. In other words, the righteous are the salt that preserves the world, which God otherwise—had it not been for these righteous people, had it not been for this salt—would destroy. If there had been ten righteous people in Sodom, God would have spared the city; but there was too little salt, and it was destroyed.