The World is Bland

"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.“

--Matthew 5:13

Lots of recent studies suggest that we’d all be a healthier if we ate a lot more fish. Something about the oil and our brains. It’s either a really important discovery or the guys on the National Fish Marketing Board are geniuses. Either way, my wife is on the bandwagon. That means I’m eating fish. It’s not that fish is terrible, it’s just bland. In order to get it down, I need plenty of salt or other seasoning. Otherwise, it just kind of sits in my mouth boring me to death.

In Jesus’ world, fish was major. Lots of people earned their living from fishing, and everybody ate the stuff. But they needed salt even more than I do. For one, they used salt (and lots of it) as a way of keeping the fish fresh for more than a day or two. But they also used it for flavor. Middle Eastern cooking is not bland.

In today’s passage, Jesus says something with a surprising idea tucked inside of it: the world is bland. Okay, He doesn’t come right out and say that. But He tells His listeners that they are the salt of the world. That’s their function in the universe. If you stop being salty, He says, what’s your point?

But the implication is that without salt -- followers of the one, true God -- the world is as bland as baked, unseasoned fish. Growing up, I tended to think it was just the opposite. I followed God because it was the ”right thing to do,“ but I was pretty sure everyone else was having a much spicier life than me. ”Being a Christian is boring.“ Wrong. I might have been boring, but it’s wasn’t because of Jesus.

The world is bland because, without God, it’s got no real power and no real future. Without power and a future, sex, popularity, and money go bad faster than yesterday’s trout. Measured in lifetimes, people who live for themselves repeat the same old patterns over and over and over again. Yawn.

Want to keep life more interesting for everybody? Want to add real flavor to your circle of influence? Then don’t apologize for being who God made you to be, for following Jesus with real passion right out loud, for representing the only life truly worth living. I’m not saying you’ll be popular (and it ain't easy), but people can’t deny the spiciness of genuine, loving Christlikeness. Once they sense it in your life, they might realize it’s the taste they’ve been waiting for all along.

Raging Against God

“A man's own folly ruins his life, yet his heart rages against the LORD.” (Proverbs 19:3)

I think the writer of this proverb nails all of us with this one. It’s so easy to blame God when we’re dissatisfied with the circumstances of our lives. And it makes sense in a way, doesn’t it? After all, we believe God can control everything -- that He’s all powerful. So if something in our world stays broken after we’ve asked for His help, He must just not care, right?

This is where wisdom steps in and says, “Wait a minute.” Life comes with two kinds of pain. There’s the hard stuff that’s out of our control, that everyone experiences eventually -- sickness, hurtful people, lack of money, natural disasters, etc. Paul wrote that all of creation groans under the weight of life on a fallen planet. (Romans 8:18-25) We’ve all sinned, and sin brings death. But before the death comes the dying, and dying hurts. Life here hurts.

Could God just take away all the pain of our broken world instantly? Sure. Instead, He allows this moment we call life to convince us that we need Him forever.

The other kind of pain, though, comes as a more direct consequence of our foolish choices. Sometimes, we get sick, or run out of money, or suffer in terrible relationships because we do unwise things. We say unwise words. We unwisely play when we should be working. We refuse to trust God and instead “do it our way.” Nobody can rightly blame God for that kind of pain. That’s all on us. Wise people get wiser by taking the rap for their foolish choices.

The writer of this verse noticed something in his world. Those most likely to make foolish choices are also most likely to blame God for their pain. They’re the ones most likely to be shouting, “How could a good God allow . . .?” I’ve noticed the opposite also tends to be true. Those in my life most likely to make wise choices are also the least likely to blame God when terrible things happen in their lives. And terrible things do happen, even to people who make good choices.

Paul said that he had learned to be content in both high-pain and low-pain circumstances, because he was absolutely convinced that this life is short and the next one is pain-free for followers of Jesus. Finding a life that matters starts with embracing wisdom and letting God be God even in the harshest times.

How to be Smart

“Whoever loves discipline loves knowledge, but he who hates correction is stupid.” (Proverbs 12:1)

Ever notice the subtle ways people compete to prove they’re a little smarter than someone else? The topic might be spelling, computer geekery, or celebrity gossip; it doesn’t really matter. One person presents a bit of knowledge. If it’s not quite right, Mr. Smarty jumps in with the block -- making sure everyone notices he knew the score and you didn’t. On the other hand, if you produce a morsel of real genius, he now believes it’s his job to top you with an even more obscure factoid.

Here’s the truth: Everyone is a little bit afraid that they’re going to look stupid. Nobody wants to be known as the dumb guy; we want to be respected, appreciated, lauded with cash prizes for our understanding. But today’s passage makes the point that you can’t actually get from stoopid to smart without owning up to your lack of knowledge in the first place.

Proverbs is all about our need to grow in knowledge. Education is a good thing. But it takes large helpings of humility to stay on the path to smartsville. In a word, you’ve got to be willing to admit out loud, “I don’t know.” Or, worse, “I was wrong; show me the right way.”

Whether you’re learning state capitals or how to walk like Jesus, you can’t get there unless you’re teachable, bendable, willing to be wrong and made right. If you just hate being corrected, this verse says harshly, you’re stupid -- and you’ll stay that way.

Bonus: Counter to your instinct, people will like you better if you occasionally say “I don’t know” and/or “I was wrong.” We can all relate to that.

What God Hates

"There are six things the LORD hates, seven that are detestable to him: haughty eyes, a lying tongue, hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that devises wicked schemes, feet that are quick to rush into evil, a false witness who pours out lies and a man who stirs up dissension among brothers." (Proverbs 6:16-19)

The early part of any new relationship involves discovering what the other person likes and doesn’t like. Sam, my two-year-old son, has already learned to open a conversation with, “What’s your favorite . . .?” As he’s gotten to know me, he has learned that “daddy’s music” is usually jazz, that daddy likes eggs every morning, and that Sam is one of daddy’s most “favorites.” But Sam is also learning what daddy doesn’t like. He knows I don’t want him to bang his head on the floor when he’s upset (why do kids do that?), that I don’t like it when he disobeys, and that I’d rather he not feed the pork chop to grandpa’s dog during dinner.

In today’s passage, Solomon helps us get to know our spiritual Father by telling us some things He really hates. It’s weird for us to hear that God hates something. We think of Him -- as we should! -- as the God who loved us in spite of our sin and even sacrificed His own birth Son to offer us a place in His family. But God still hates sin. And we know that He specifically hates these sins. Notice that the writer frames the “top 5” as body parts.

1. Haughty eyes: I never understood this one as well as I do now that I have a two-year-old. It’s the look we all get sometimes that says, “I don’t need you. I can do this on my own. I don’t have to do what you say. You’re not the boss of me.” When we look at God that way, He hates it.

2. A lying tongue: God hates lying. One of the easiest sins for us to justify is one that He hates the most. Jesus called himself the truth. Lies are “anti-God.”

3. Hands that shed innocent blood: God detests injustice, especially hurting the innocent for fun and profit.

4. A heart that devises wicked schemes: When we spend our mental and emotional energies creating strategies to sin and get away with it, God hates that, too.

5. Feet that are quick to rush into evil: Another body part. It’s not just sinful strategies that God hates, it’s also the mindset that says, “Sin? I’m there, dude.”

6. A false witness who pours out lies: It should tell us something that lying makes God’s hate list twice.

7. A man who stirs up dissension among brothers: Remember when Jesus said, “Blessed on the peacemakers”? This is the opposite of that: the peace-breakers. God hates that, as well.

So what does this list do for us? For one, it helps us to know the God who loves us better. Two, it gives us a way to show our love for the God who sacrificed His Son for us -- by not doing what we know He hates. When Sam chooses to obey me, he not only makes me happy, he’s learning that he helps us to move closer together. We can draw close to God by doing the same thing with Him.