How Much Salt can a Saltshaker Shake on a Campus?
Flipping through channels on Saturday night led me to be with God. I finished dinner while watching the History Channel; as a history major you never get too old watching or learning more about history. There is always something new to argue and something in history that is revealed.
This time I was watching a show called Big History and they were talking about salt. I was perplexed, curious, and interested in finding out why they were doing an episode on salt. Yet God was going to take me on an adventure.
World Changer = Salt
While watching the show, it dawned on me and the Holy Spirit started moving in my heart to the passage in Matthew 5:13 “You are the salt of the earth…” Throughout the first three Gospels, salt is mentioned in Mark 9:50 and in Luke 14:34. I always had a difficult time understand why we were called to be salt on the earth.
For the past couple of years it had always meant only to bring flavor to life because salt brings flavor to all kind of situations; we are called to heal and also bring peace through leading of the Holy Spirit and the obedience of Christ. To be pure and not corrupted by the world, hence this follows the verse about light. As a historian, I always thought that there was more to this and there is more as to why Jesus calls us to be the salt of the earth.
In watching the show, my memory bank of all the history I learned in school and inspired by God spiraled into pure excitement. Salt in history has played a crucial role in uniting and destroying nations and empires. Salt has played a crucial role in connecting vast trade networks to a city like Timbuktu, while becoming the reason why the Romans built roads. The word salary derives from salt and to a certain extent salt was worth more than gold.
I look differently as to why He called people to be salt because salt is something rare and expensive. As believers, we are called to be world changers on campus and the workplace because like salt it can shift the landscape. While salt brings flavor to our taste buds, salt is a major player in changing the minds of people; it shapes the world we live in today.
Be a Salt Lick on Campus.
While learning more about salt, salt lick came up during my research; most civilizations and great empires built their cities around a fresh water source. The cities built their fresh water source around salt licks which were deposits of salt. While water was important, salt was important as well. Amazed as I was to this discovery, one of the amazing things about discovering this was going back to the Bible and understanding why Jesus calls his followers to be salt.
It is for this reason why Jesus calls us to go out in groups of two or three; we become a salt lick. Often time people flock to salt licks because of the wealth but also animals in nature flock to salt licks because they are a vital part of what their body needs. That is why we are called to be salt on campus, to not only bring flavor but also be an example of purity. Furthermore, in working together, we become a place for people to come and experience what life in relationship with Jesus is really about.
Anthony Deng is a New York City Metro Campus Coordinator for Campus Renewal. He ;eads and coordinates volunteer for events such as One Cry and helps facilitate the New York City Metro Area student core team. Anthony was born and raised in New York City graduated from CUNY the City College of New York he has a B.A in History and Asian Studies. Anthony gives New York City tours to freshmen of various campuses teaching and showing various hidden gems of New York City. On the side, he loves to collect college sweatshirts and t-shirts as well as plays. In addition, he loves to play and watch basketball and football.
