WHY DID JESUS CALL SOME BELIEVERS MORONS?

Luke 14:34-35—“Salt is good: but if the salt have lost his savour, wherewith shall it be seasoned? It is neither fit for the land, nor yet for the dunghill; but men cast it out. He that hath ears to hear, let him hear.”

Matthew 5:13—“Ye are the salt of the earth: but if the salt have lost his savour, wherewith shall it be salted? It is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of men.”

Mark 14:50—“Salt is good: but if the salt have lost his saltness, wherewith will ye season it? Have salt in yourselves.”

Why the offensive title? What does salt having lost its savour have to do with being a moron, much less Jesus calling believers morons? Most Christians don’t realize how uncompromisingly harsh Jesus was in His assessment of believers who’ve ‘lost it’ as seen in the above passages.

The Greek word translated as ‘lost his savour/saltiness’ is moraino (Strong’s #3471.) Only in these passages is it translated such; in other passages it is consistently translated another way. Lest it seem ‘nitpicking’, let’s look at the root word from which moraino is derived. The Greek word is moros (Strong’s #3474.) The English cognate is telltale: we derive moron from it! Further, in every New Testament passage that moros is used, it always refers to a fool or foolish! For example:

Matt 5:22—“…but whosoever shall say, Thou fool, shall be in danger of hell fire.”

Matt 7:26—“And every one that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand:”

Matt 25:8—“And the foolish said unto the wise, Give us of your oil; for our lamps are gone out.”

The Greek doesn’t imply simple stupidity; it has the connotation of someone who is morally senseless, deliberately playing the fool! Christ’s warning is very stark: He said the Christian who chooses to be a fool instead of salting the earth cannot be salted again, is good for nothing, and only fit to be cast out and trodden under foot!

What then does it mean to be salt, seeing the gravity of this?

Some Christians simply function like salt in a container or box. Unused salt is as useless as saltless salt, for we are to be meet for the Master’s use! Jesus isn’t implying a simple optional seasoning, either, superficially sprinkled to provide excitement and flavor, catering to the tastes of this earth. No, the ‘salty Christianity’ Christ desires is that of salt’s primary use, that of a preservative or preventative against corruption and decay.

It’s not enough to be sprinkled ‘onto the earth’; for salt to function as a preservative, it must thoroughly be mixed in to halt and arrest rottenness. For us as Christians, that means we must be completely engaged with our culture, permeating every aspect. Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord! (Psalms 33:12) Proverbs 14:34 states: “Righteousness exalteth a nation: but sin is a reproach to any people.” We should then, “Have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them…walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise, redeeming the time, because the days are evil.” (Ephesians 5:11, 15, 16)

Salt tends to irritate the sensitive, much as Christ did in His time on earth. The Great Physician came to heal, yet as the ‘stone of stumbling, and a rock of offence’ (1 Peter 2:8.) The Greek for ‘offence’ is the word scandalon, from which we derived our English word, scandal. He was a scandal in His day, standing for the righteousness of God amidst the corrupt culture. We are to imitate his salt. Dare we salt our culture that we suffer as He did?

Christians must understand that the very ills of society they bewail are worsening because they are NOT functioning as salt. What happens when we are willing to live in the earth but not function as salt amidst the corruption?

Consider the example of Lot the ‘righteous man’, vexed with the wicked deeds of those he dwelt amongst in Sodom. (1 Peter 2:7-8) Remember he ‘sat in the gate’, an important man. Despite his vexation with the ungodliness around him, did he salt the Sodomite culture? NO! While he lived in Sodom, the outcry of the city was so great God chose to destroy it. His sons-in-laws thought he joked when Lot warned of Sodom’s impending destruction. Only 4 of his family were spared, while others stayed in Sodom. Lot allowed Sodom to corrupt him instead: he had to be dragged from the city by the angels; rather than flee to the mountains he begged to remain nearby Sodom in the plain; his wife wistfully looked back despite the warning not to and was judged with Sodom; his ‘saved’ daughters indulged in sexual sin. Like most Christians today, Lot’s salvation was simply a ‘fire insurance policy’. His wife’s fate, to become one with Sodom in its judgment, a pillar of corrupted salt, is a severe warning to Christians. Don’t take God’s commands lightly or spurn his warning!

People are watching us as ambassadors of Christ in this earth. For all the outward pageantry that we are Christians, not heathens, we are SAVED, what does the world see? Our salt? No! Divorce rates among professing Christians are ridiculously high, pornography use is rampant in the church, the Gospel of repentance from sin is watered-down or not even preached, and many pagan philosophies are absorbed into the church to make Christianity more appealing. Christians tend to avoid openly expressing their faith in the culture, choosing instead to grumble behind closed doors about society’s ills, keeping their salt in their salt shakers. What real difference is there between so-called Christians and everyone else? Why should people be drawn to Christ? Why should anything change in the culture if Christians’ faith doesn’t mean enough to them to make a difference in the culture? These are disturbing questions to ask. But if we avoid fulfilling Christ’s statement, ‘You are the salt of the earth,’ we deserve his repudiation and the world’s scorn.

Christians must value God’s righteousness enough to stand for God’s it as ‘salt of the earth’, sprinkled onto the culture to stem the rottenness pervading it. We are soldiers of Christ in this battle—this is an ACTIVE, military analogy, not a pacifist one! God has given us all the means to withstand in the evil day. Jesus prayed not that we be taken out of this world but protected against the evil one. Let your salt out of your salt shaker! Speak openly with salty words to those around you; use the hands God gave you to write; the feet shed with the gospel of peace with God to carry you out into the culture. The battle is not against flesh and blood, yet those wicked principalities use men to destroy souls through wicked laws, corrupt government, and lawless law enforcement. Don’t shirk involvement in political or legislative matters as Christians! If the wicked parade open sin in the streets, should not the tide be stemmed—or do you go with the flow like Lot, intent on saving only yourself?

A salty stand for righteousness goes hand-in-hand with the Great Commission. Paul used the abuse of his Roman citizenship to not only address the issue, but as an opportunity to preach the Word! Are we vexed by the ungodliness around us? Do we not hunger and thirst for righteousness? Then like salt, be sprinkled into the culture, mixed in to affect the only cure available to men, repentance to God available through Jesus Christ.

Take your calling seriously: “You are the salt of the earth!” Don’t be a moron!

Consider these verses in closing:

Prov 24:7—“Wisdom is too high for a fool: he openeth not his mouth in the gate.”

Prov 24:24-25—“He that saith unto the wicked, Thou art righteous; him shall the people curse, nations shall abhor him: But to them that rebuke him shall be delight, and a good blessing shall come upon them.”

Prov 11:11—“By the blessing of the upright the city is exalted: but it is overthrown by the mouth of the wicked.”

Prov 21:22—“A wise man scaleth the city of the mighty, and casteth down the strength of the confidence thereof.”

Prov 25:5—“Take away the wicked from before the king, and his throne shall be established in righteousness.”

Prov 29:12—“If a ruler hearken to lies, all his servants are wicked.”

Prov 28:2—“For the transgression of a land many are the princes thereof: but by a man of understanding and knowledge the state thereof shall be prolonged.”

Prov 28:4—“They that forsake the law praise the wicked: but such as keep the law contend with them.”

Prov 29:2—“When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice: but when the wicked beareth rule, the people mourn.”

Prov 29:8—“Scornful men bring a city into a snare: but wise men turn away wrath.”

Prov 29:26—“A righteous man falling down before the wicked is as a troubled fountain, and a corrupt spring.”

Prov 11:18—“The wicked worketh a deceitful work: but to him that soweth righteousness shall be a sure reward.”

Isa 26:9—“With my soul have I desired thee in the night; yea, with my spirit within me will I seek thee early: for when thy judgments are in the earth, the inhabitants of the world will learn righteousness.”

Isa 51:7—“Hearken unto me, ye that know righteousness, the people in whose heart is my law; fear ye not the reproach of men, neither be ye afraid of their revilings.”

Isa 58:2—“Yet they seek me daily, and delight to know my ways, as a nation that did righteousness, and forsook not the ordinance of their God: they ask of me the ordinances of justice; they take delight in approaching to God.”

Mt 5:6—“Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.”

Mt 6:33—“But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.”

2 Ti 3:16-17—“All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: that the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works.”