Unsavory Salt is Good for Nothing
Arthur Pink continues his commentary on the Sermon on the Mount with Christ's reference to unsavory salt in Mathew 5:13, a verse which it seems was spoken in order to warn His servants of the danger of being unfaithful or slothful in performing their duties:
"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 underfoot of men" (Mat. 5:13)
Pink compares infidelity among pastors/teachers to unsavory salt in that it is "ineffectual, worthless, despicable, subject to a fearful curse." "The unprofitableness of unfaithful ministers is expressed in the words ‘it is thenceforth good for nothing’: just as unsavoury salt is become worthless to season meat, so unfaithful ministers are valueless to God and man."
Matthew Henry concurs and points out that for one who calls himself a Christian to be unsavory, especially one who teaches others, is very sad because:
(1.) "He is irrecoverable: 'Wherewith shall it be salted?' -- Salt is a remedy for unsavoury meat, but there is no remedy for unsavoury salt."
Christianity will change a man's life for the better where it is embraced with a sincere heart. But if a man professes to take it up and yet bears no fruit, he is worse off than before. No one is in a more dire state than a deluded pseudo-Christian, except for one who also holds a church office. As Pink points out, in all the mention of false prophets and apostles in the Bible, none are ever said to have repented.
(2.) "He is unprofitable: 'It is thenceforth good for nothing' -- What use can it be put to, in which it will not do more hurt than good?"
A professing Christian who is errant in understanding and devoid of holiness is a stumbling block to others. But if the same man presumes to hold office in the church and teach others, how many more does he cause to stumble? As Henry says: "A wicked man is the worst of creatures; a wicked Christian is the worst of men; and a wicked minister is the worst of Christians."
(3.) "He is doomed to ruin and rejection: 'but to be cast out, and to be trodden underfoot of men' -- He shall be cast out, expelled from the church and the communion of the faithful, to which he is a blot and a burden."
I believe that, in this world, many ungodly men are lauded as faithful ministers of Christ because of their willingness to appease and please the unregenerate masses. But there will come a day when the true nature of such men shall be laid bare before all the saints, and they shall not stand in the congregation of the righteous but be trodden under foot, so to speak.
As Pink explains, faithful preaching requires a willingness on the part of the preacher to rub salt into the wound at times. In other words, to confront sinners with the guilt of their sins, thereby searing their consciences. I must agree with him when he says that there is a great danger for preachers "to become men-pleasers, to yield unto the demand for smooth speaking, to tickle the ears of their auditors with novelties." And I'm afraid that most of today's preachers are just that. It seems to me that they cater their preaching to the desires of the audience, and inoffensiveness and innovations in ministry are esteemed as virtues rather than the vices which they really are.
Pink continues:
"Such preachers become unsavoury salt, unprofitable in their ministry, failing to season souls so that they are acceptable to God. Salt is useless when it loses its virtue and acrimony. Ministers become such when through lack of prayer and continuous study they fail to increase in spiritual knowledge, or when adopting false doctrine they preach error, or when they cease to denounce sin, or when they fail to practice what they preach."
Now, whether today's teaching ministers lack prayer is hard to say. Who knows what they do secretly? And although failure to study doctrine is somewhat of a problem, I do come in contact with many men who possess a good deal of theological knowledge and expound upon biblical doctrines quite accurately. As far as practicing what they preach, that only matters if their preaching is faithful in the first place. But I believe that it is not, and that because of one trait which Pink has mentioned above: the failure to denounce sin.
As I see it, the greatest infidelity of the modern Evangelical preachers lies not so much in what they declare, but rather in what they fail to declare. The problem is not that they never mention sin and repentance at all, but that they never really confront their audience with particulars. For example, in today's preaching one often hears declarations such as: "We are all guilty before God." or "You must repent of your sins." Although these statements are true, they are only generalizations which are too vague, in and of themselves, to produce convictions of guilt and bring forth repentance in those who hear them. It should be obvious that men cannot repent of their wrongdoing unless they understand exactly what it is that they have done wrong. Therefore, they must hear preaching which exposes the guilt of particular sins and demands repentance for them, rather than preaching which only speaks of sin and repentance in general terms.
The message that sinners need to hear, and which, I believe, today's Evangelical preachers largely (if not entirely) fail to declare, is one in which individual commandments of God are expounded upon, specific examples of ways in which those commandments can be transgressed are given, and the audience is confronted -- in direct, second-person terms -- with the fact that each one among them who is guilty of the particular sins just defined, must face up to his guilt and turn from those sins if he is to be saved from the wrath of God.
As Pink says: "Solemn beyond words is this verse, and prayerfully should it be laid to heart by all Christian ministers." Woe unto those traitors to the cause of Christ who preach the Word of God yet shrink back from confronting sinners with the bitter truths that will save their souls. Unsavory salt they are and the Lord shall deal with them accordingly.
"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 underfoot of men" (Mat. 5:13)
Pink compares infidelity among pastors/teachers to unsavory salt in that it is "ineffectual, worthless, despicable, subject to a fearful curse." "The unprofitableness of unfaithful ministers is expressed in the words ‘it is thenceforth good for nothing’: just as unsavoury salt is become worthless to season meat, so unfaithful ministers are valueless to God and man."
Matthew Henry concurs and points out that for one who calls himself a Christian to be unsavory, especially one who teaches others, is very sad because:
(1.) "He is irrecoverable: 'Wherewith shall it be salted?' -- Salt is a remedy for unsavoury meat, but there is no remedy for unsavoury salt."
Christianity will change a man's life for the better where it is embraced with a sincere heart. But if a man professes to take it up and yet bears no fruit, he is worse off than before. No one is in a more dire state than a deluded pseudo-Christian, except for one who also holds a church office. As Pink points out, in all the mention of false prophets and apostles in the Bible, none are ever said to have repented.
(2.) "He is unprofitable: 'It is thenceforth good for nothing' -- What use can it be put to, in which it will not do more hurt than good?"
A professing Christian who is errant in understanding and devoid of holiness is a stumbling block to others. But if the same man presumes to hold office in the church and teach others, how many more does he cause to stumble? As Henry says: "A wicked man is the worst of creatures; a wicked Christian is the worst of men; and a wicked minister is the worst of Christians."
(3.) "He is doomed to ruin and rejection: 'but to be cast out, and to be trodden underfoot of men' -- He shall be cast out, expelled from the church and the communion of the faithful, to which he is a blot and a burden."
I believe that, in this world, many ungodly men are lauded as faithful ministers of Christ because of their willingness to appease and please the unregenerate masses. But there will come a day when the true nature of such men shall be laid bare before all the saints, and they shall not stand in the congregation of the righteous but be trodden under foot, so to speak.
As Pink explains, faithful preaching requires a willingness on the part of the preacher to rub salt into the wound at times. In other words, to confront sinners with the guilt of their sins, thereby searing their consciences. I must agree with him when he says that there is a great danger for preachers "to become men-pleasers, to yield unto the demand for smooth speaking, to tickle the ears of their auditors with novelties." And I'm afraid that most of today's preachers are just that. It seems to me that they cater their preaching to the desires of the audience, and inoffensiveness and innovations in ministry are esteemed as virtues rather than the vices which they really are.
Pink continues:
"Such preachers become unsavoury salt, unprofitable in their ministry, failing to season souls so that they are acceptable to God. Salt is useless when it loses its virtue and acrimony. Ministers become such when through lack of prayer and continuous study they fail to increase in spiritual knowledge, or when adopting false doctrine they preach error, or when they cease to denounce sin, or when they fail to practice what they preach."
Now, whether today's teaching ministers lack prayer is hard to say. Who knows what they do secretly? And although failure to study doctrine is somewhat of a problem, I do come in contact with many men who possess a good deal of theological knowledge and expound upon biblical doctrines quite accurately. As far as practicing what they preach, that only matters if their preaching is faithful in the first place. But I believe that it is not, and that because of one trait which Pink has mentioned above: the failure to denounce sin.
As I see it, the greatest infidelity of the modern Evangelical preachers lies not so much in what they declare, but rather in what they fail to declare. The problem is not that they never mention sin and repentance at all, but that they never really confront their audience with particulars. For example, in today's preaching one often hears declarations such as: "We are all guilty before God." or "You must repent of your sins." Although these statements are true, they are only generalizations which are too vague, in and of themselves, to produce convictions of guilt and bring forth repentance in those who hear them. It should be obvious that men cannot repent of their wrongdoing unless they understand exactly what it is that they have done wrong. Therefore, they must hear preaching which exposes the guilt of particular sins and demands repentance for them, rather than preaching which only speaks of sin and repentance in general terms.
The message that sinners need to hear, and which, I believe, today's Evangelical preachers largely (if not entirely) fail to declare, is one in which individual commandments of God are expounded upon, specific examples of ways in which those commandments can be transgressed are given, and the audience is confronted -- in direct, second-person terms -- with the fact that each one among them who is guilty of the particular sins just defined, must face up to his guilt and turn from those sins if he is to be saved from the wrath of God.
As Pink says: "Solemn beyond words is this verse, and prayerfully should it be laid to heart by all Christian ministers." Woe unto those traitors to the cause of Christ who preach the Word of God yet shrink back from confronting sinners with the bitter truths that will save their souls. Unsavory salt they are and the Lord shall deal with them accordingly.
posted by Stuart DiNenno at 11/27/2004 10:20:00 PM
2 Comments:
Stuart:
From your comments in this article and the one before it, you say that you have not seen preaching of the manner that you describe and that the problem is widespread.
I personally have witnessed preaching that specifically covered particular sins. I have participated in small groups which likewise covered these as we studied various books of the Bible.
I have also witnessed preaching that was less specific but God still used to accomplish His purposes (saving people). While I could not imagine a pastor NEVER preaching on particular sins, there are other important one-on-one opportunities to teach people.
Sincerely,
G-bert
There's a big difference between talking about particular sins and confronting your hearers with their guilt of particular sins.
You can talk about the particular sin of a biblical character -- for example, Peter's denial of Christ -- and say, "What HE did was sinful." And you can talk about the particular sin of a certain group of people -- for example, homosexuals -- and say, "What THEY do is sinful." But if you don't define particular sins AND address the people to whom you are speaking in the second person (YOU), you are not confronting them with their personal guilt.
Likewise, preaching repentance is more than merely preaching sermons which teach truths about repentance. One can teach about repentance without actually telling anyone to repent. For instance, in a sermon about repentance a preacher can show where it is exemplified in the Bible and how it was preached in the Bible, and he can even quote the biblical passages in which the prophets and apostles told their hearers to repent, yet never directly confront his audience with their own sinfulness and specifically tell THEM to repent.
In other words, a man can (and many do, I believe) preach a sermon which teaches truths about repentance, yet do so in a detached doctrinal manner or in an otherwise non-confrontational way which produces no conviction in his hearers and, therefore, does not produce repentance.
Then there is the fact that sin is not properly defined by today's Evangelical preachers (I will expound upon this if anyone asks). And also the fact that church discipline is virtually non-existent in Evangelicalism.
Now, I am not saying that NO ONE IS EVER SAVED by the type of preaching I condemn, but I am saying that we shouldn't expect the Lord to bless mealy-mouthed preaching with much of an increase. And I do not believe that He is doing so. I believe that very few of today's Evangelicals are truly regenerate.
And I do agree with you, G-bert, that the gospel can be communicated one-on-one. But it must be a gospel which confronts people with their sins, and makes clear their need for repentance and their need to embrace the Savior. And that must be followed by teaching which leads the repentant into the way of holiness, and discipline which both corrects the errant saint and removes the unrepentant hypocrite from the congregation.
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