To be ‘the salt of the earth’ is a goal every member
of the Church should strive for (3 Nephi 12:13) yet it is one we seldom think about.
The ancients would have been better at it as salt was used in the Mosaic
sacrificial ritual as a reminder that we should remember and preserve our
covenants with God (see Numbers 18:19; 2 Chronicles 13:5). This admonition,
however, minus the visual use of salt is issued to us today also (D&C
101:39-40).
To be ‘the salt of the earth’ was delivered through
the Beatitudes in conjunction with being ‘the light of the world’, which is a
clear indication of being a good example but what does being the salt of the
earth really mean? And why is it used to help us remember our covenants?
One
explanation is that “the saints, as the salt of the earth, are set forth to
season their fellowmen, to keep society free from corruption, to help their
fellow beings become wholesome, pure and acceptable before the Lord” (Bruce R.
McConkie, The Mortal Messiah 2, p 128). In other words, the more obedient and
righteous people there are on the earth, the more spiritual energy and light
for all of us to live in and be drawn to goodness.
I remember
this, as an example. Some years ago, Australia was in a serious draught. The
Pacific Area President told the saints that if we all paid our tithing the
draught would end and shortly thereafter it did. The righteous action of the saints
benefited the whole country. Why tithing though? Because tithing is one of the
commandments of the baptismal covenant which yields temporal blessings.
Salt is a
preservative. When we preserve our commitment to our covenants, like salt, we
do not lose our spiritual quality. There is nothing that puts us on the path of
spiritual corruption quicker than abandoning
our baptismal covenant because the baptismal covenant is a covenant of obedience
to the commandments and the gateway to temple covenants.
Alma's first baptism at the waters of Moron was a man called Helam. The
words he used as he baptised Helam took the baptismal covenant to a new level.
He said: Helam, I baptise thee, having authority from the Almighty God, as a
testimony that ye have entered into a covenant to serve him until you
are dead...." (Mosiah 18:13). Anciently covenants were not broken even
at the point of death. The meaning of the ancient ‘Covenant of Salt’ was
equivalent to an ‘indissoluble covenant’.
A covenant is not just a promise but a signed contract. If you break a
signed contract, you have lost your integrity and you can no longer be trusted.
You have lost your savour. You are no longer the salt of the earth but are ‘good
for nothing, only to be cast out and trodden under the feet of men’ (D&C
101:40). Consider the legal implications of attempting to break a signed
contract in our day and age. Such a contract is binding and cannot be broken.
“That upright people who keep the commandments are the salt of the
earth, none question; but we might add that the Lord Jesus himself is the Salt
of the Earth. The seasoning, sanctifying, edifying, preserving, uplifting
influence of his gospel keeps all the obedient from corruption and decay and
sorrow” (Bruce R. McConkie, The Mortal Messiah 2, p 128).
So we can say, being the salt of the earth makes us like Christ. We can also
be that seasoning, edifying and uplifting influence in the world if we live His
gospel. Next time you see salt on you kitchen table, remember that…..
- CATHRYNE ALLEN
(Art: Light of the World by Eva Koleva Timothy)
