Be Salty

Colossians 4:6

I had an interaction over the Thanksgiving break that reminded me of a major spiritual truth. We were in a shop down in Panama City Beach, and reading some of the, shall we say, salty t-shirts. You know the ones with inappropriate sayings? A lady behind the counter heard me read one and asked if I wanted it. I immediately said, “No, no, no; I’m a pastor and wouldn’t be caught wearing one of those things.” I came across kinda pompous, but in reality, I was embarrassed that I even read that shirt’s message aloud. She was gleeful that I was a pastor and asked if I’d pray for her. I said, sure, then started to exit the store, but my feet felt like they were stuck in concrete. I turned around and asked her how I could pray for her. She said she loved her job, but there were coworkers who were actively trying to get her fired. She started to weep, so I reached out a hand to gently tap her elbow. She grabbed my arm and held me as I prayed for peace, understanding, and for her to shine God’s light in a difficult situation. It was a sweet moment that started salty because of a shirt I shouldn’t have even read aloud if at all. That salty shirt, however, enabled me to be salty in another manner.

Colossians 4:6 tells us to be salty and graceful in our speech to help people know the goodness of God. It says salty as though to instruct us to use words that preserve hope, enhance the unique flavor of a relationship, and provide a graceful zing to the bland monotony in which we also find ourselves at times.

So be salty, but salty for our Lord. Look for those opportunities to share Jesus. Then DO IT! Don’t just pay lip service, actually serve with your lips. Find someone who needs to be reminded that God is real, that He loves them, and has a purpose for life — even in hard times. So let’s be salty, my friends.