Matthew 5:13-16
“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.
“You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.”
This passage is easily one of the most heavily mined passages in all of the Christian faith. I say that, because I have heard countless sermons, lessons, and homilies from this passage. And it ranks personally very near the top of my list of favorites Bible passages. The text here is so compact and so filled with meaning. The metaphors are so vibrant, relevant, and colorful. And yet it is one of the passages that I least like to hear people teach, preach, or speak from.
The reason for that is simple. This passage is more often than not misapplied, and warped into a thing that bears little resemblance to the actual text. The misapplication relates to a fundamental failure to appropriately read the text. It is turned into a lesson about the doing, or behavior of the Christian life. Verse thirteen is misread to apply it to behavior, which is where the door of misapplication opens. This allows the passage to be perverted into a hammer to beat believers for either what they aren’t doing that they should be doing, or a millstone to weigh them down with guilt for what they are doing that they shouldn’t be.
The truth of the passage is that it has nothing to do with behavior. This passage is about the essential nature of the thing. It is about what salt, candles, and prominent cities on hills really are at their core. It has nothing to do with how they behave or don’t behave. It has nothing to do with whether or not they read their Bible, pray, witness to their friends, or the like. The text here does not cast this in an active tense at all. It casts this in the passive tense. And so, this isn’t about doing in any way, shape, manner, or form. It is solely about the being part of our lives and it is about how that being connects with God, and how that connection impacts the world around us. As such, it is not and can never be about whether or not we do the stuff, (reading, praying, or proselytizing). It is about the being part of our relationship with God. It has to do with what we are, and how what we are impacts where we are placed. The difference may seem subtle, but it isn’t.
I do not believe that Jesus is interested in hammering believers for their behavior in this case. Jesus was rarely interested in the doing, or the behaviors of a life of faith. He was interested in what was going on or not going on at the essential core of a life of faith. This is because the Bible tells us that our best behavior is like filthy rags to a Holy God, and so this passage can’t be about behavior. Why would Jesus spend time speaking to encourage better behavior, when He knew that our best behavior was a cheap, filthy, and tawdry thing before the Holy Father?
People tend focus on the last portion of this section as proof that this is about doing. The section uses the word ‘deeds’, so in their mind, it isn’t a stretch to saying that this is about ‘doing’. The problem is that the rest of the text doesn’t support that notion. The rest of the text is passive in nature. The rest of the text leads to a different place. Rather than resolve the passive nature of the rest of the text, they misapply it in whole, and make the text about something that it isn’t. The deeds portion of this is the only time an active word is used in the context. In all honesty, the use of the word ‘deeds’ can mean many things here. The best exposition of ‘deeds’ that I think the whole of the text supports is in line with the passive perspective of the rest of the text.
‘Deeds’ here I think speaks to the object of the metaphor being what its essential core nature really is. By that I mean, what is the ‘deed’ of salt? What is the ‘deed’ of a candle? What is the ‘deed’ of a city on a hill? The ‘deed’ in this context, means that the thing in question fulfilled its nature, by being what it was created to be. The deed of salt is to be salty. The deed of a candle is to provide light. The deed of a city on a hill is to accept that it cannot be hidden. The deed of the believer is to live out their commitment to God by being who God created them to be. This isn’t active, but rather an acceptance of the fundamental core of the believer. God is meant to be praised by this, because it was his act to make good on the potential he placed in our very being. And so it is in being that God gets the credit for his doing.
This passage is saying that a life of faith is a preserving agent, a light in the darkness, and something that cannot be hidden. It is saying that a life of faith is about the essential nature of our being, not our doing. It is saying that this life to which we’ve been called isn’t just about ourselves. The act of obeying our savior in the innermost parts of our being causes things to happen within us that cannot be hidden, that provide guidance to others, and act as a preservative in our lives and the lives of those around us.
In the course of being who we are called to be, others cannot help but see this. They cannot help, but be touched by God dwelling in our lives. They cannot help but be drawn out of their darkness and into God’s light. The passage is saying that God uses the most essential part of our core, the most fundamental parts of our nature for his glorification, and benefit, and for the benefit of others. This passage is not about guilt, or shame in any way. It is not meant to beat believers into doing things. It is meant to show us what a life of faith looks like when it is right at the core. It is meant to show us that what God is doing in us cannot be hidden, and that God is the workman that carries out all of the doing. Accordingly we are meant to simply focus on relationship with God and abide in that place of being. The rest of equation is His to do or not do.
Writer Clark D. Goble started this blog as a means to chronicle his imperfect walk with a Perfect Savior and invites you to join in on the conversation. He also invites you to check out the links to his work. Most often, Clark writes about Jesus and theology. He also enjoys writing fiction in a variety of genres.
Todd French is an information technology professional and a resident of Columbus, Ohio; where he shares a humble abode with his darling wife and beautiful daughters. His interests run the gambit from reading voraciously all forms of fiction to rooting for the Cleveland Browns.
You have definitely brought out a different perspective that I’ve never really thought about. While I don’t totally agree that all the text is passive, if you look at the context of what is being said, then maybe you’ve hit on something generally missed.
When comparing salt loosing it’s saltiness to us as Christians loosing our committment and dedication to our Lord; and hiding our light under a bowl or more simple saying we shutter or block our effectiveness to be seen; in letting our light shine so that others may see it, we have to actually be doing something for the Lord that He might get credit for!
I personally believe that we as Christians have the ultimate responsibility to adapt and adjust to what is going on in the world, not just so we might live comfortably in it, but to affect the world in a positive manner. Whether we do it as individuals or as a larger corporate group doesn’t really matter. It’s the fact that we are learning from our life experiences.
Keep up the writing, you seem to continually hit on real issues of our faith in the Lord.
Initially I did not really agree, but upon further reading, I get the feeling that you are discussing the underlying message or foundation of the message that is commonly preached. You already mentioned that it is not the deeds or actions that are focused on but the fundamental essence of a person that is being referenced. I think that if a genuine child of God DOES focus on this essence of what he has become and the relationship he/she has with God through Christ, then the good deeds fall in line in such a way that the lessons are classically preached.
It seems to me that your line of action eventually yields the line of action that you say the text is not about. So essentially, I agree and disagree. An example of how I understand the relationship between what you say the scripture is and is not about is like a scientist saying “it is not that an object is hot or cold, it is just the degree to which its molecules are moving” (which is what temperature is: the measurement of molecular movement)
All in all, I like that you made me think this hard ^_^ Thanks for the post dude and keep shinin’ your light
Very thought-provoking post Todd! I will disagree with you just slightly. While I agree that this passage is not about “beating” us into a certain behavior, I disagree that it has nothing at all to do with our actions. Like Adam L., I think genuine, deep relationships with God should birth certain actions. Minds such as John Wesley and Matthew Henry seem to agree that these passages speak a great deal to our actions.
As to Christ’s concern with our behavior, later in Matthew, Christ says, “By their fruit you will recognize them. Do people pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles?” I think this verse is evidence that He is concerned about our behavior.
You are correct that many people have used these passages to brow beat people into certain behaviors. Turning Christianity into a religion of works is one of the hardest temptations to resist. John Piper calls it the “debtor’s ethic.” It is the temptation to “pay back” Christ for His sacrifice on the cross with our works … it is futile pursuit that totally cheapens the Grace that Christ rewarded us with.
The key is to find that genuine faith and gratitude of spirit that leads to good works naturally.
I entirely agree with you that there is a depth and richness to these verses that is often missed by translators.