Matthew chapter five commences Jesus’ longest message on record, the three-chapter, world-famous, Sermon on the Mount.

In this sermon, Jesus sets his sights high and wide in this demon rattling rant. Most people don’t get how controversial this sermon was back in his day. But the religious hoity-toities, that he aimed it at, did because they didn’t like him too much after this speech.

Yep, the famous Sermon on the Mount purposely offended the self-righteous dorks of his day. It was bold, politically incorrect yumminess on steroids.

In the Sermon on ohe Mount, Christ defines what is “blessed” in God’s eyes, how his disciples are to be in the world, Jesus’ laws for relationships, what he says about anger, lust, cash, fasting, judging others, the proper way to pray, the stairway to heaven, and the highway to hell.

In Matthew 5:1-12, Jesus is talking generalities to the general populace. In verse thirteen of chapter five, he turns his guns on his hand picked boys and declares them to be… salty dawgs. And he warns what happens if they, for whatever reason, lose their saltiness.

Please note, once again, that he called his disciples, salt. he didn’t call them, "My little sugar cubes." He didn’t say to his chosen ones, "You’re the pumpkin spice on the latte of life." He didn’t refer to them as, "Jesus’ jelly beans", but as salt.

Jesus chooses his words wisely. That’s why he calls us sheep instead of porpoises. Why would he call us sheep? Well, we’re stupid, we need a shepherd or we’ll get eaten by wolves, that’s why.

So, out of his vast vocabulary he calls the brothers, salt: biting, stinging, hot, dry, gritty, spicy, preserving, and healing … salt.

Salt in Jesus’ day, during Roman times, was worth its weight in gold.

If a quick history lesson regarding salt is on your Bucket List then I’m going to make your dreams come true right now. (*This is from Ian Harvey and Vintage News)

• What is SALT? It’s an ionic compound made of sodium and chloride
• Every person on the planet knows salt.
• Salt’s profound impact on human civilization spans recorded history, and in fact, precedes it.
• It’s been a part of human existence from our very beginning.
• Neolithic settlements were formed around salt springs.
• Salt was essential when mastodons schlepped this 3rd rock from the sun and was in general use many, many moons ago.
• But this valuable item wasn’t always easy to get.
• During the early days of the Roman Empire, salt was used as a form of payment.
• Etymologists believe that the word salary came into use during the Roman Empire when soldiers were regularly paid with a handful of salt.
• In fact, this precious commodity was part of the reason the Romans built their roads: to move salt!
• In ancient Greece much of this trade involved an exchange of salt for slaves, and here we find the expression for a lazy individual as being someone “not worth his salt.”

Back in the day, salt was muy importante. Some cities were formed and others destroyed in economic rivalries, sometimes even leading to wars over salt.

Speaking of War: The importance of salt in times of warfare can be seen throughout history.

• During times of war, national economies were strained to the limits and supplies of salt were often impacted negatively.
• This would lead to people suffering malnourishment from the lack of salt.
• When Napoleon’s forces retreated from Moscow, many of the troops lost their lives as a result of salt deficiency and consequently, a low resistance to disease.

For those who believe in ghosts and zombies, there is the belief, shared across large parts of the world, that throwing salt on certain places or around the house can ward off evil spirits and even zombies.

Which brings me back to our text in Matthew 5:13, Jesus said, “You are the salt of the earth.”

My paraphrase in the King Doug version of The Bible, "Hey, dudes: you are crucial, you’re valuable, you’re gold, you’re essential. However, if you lose your original purpose and power you’re going to be an ineffective religious blob of nothingness and men will walk on you, ignore you, and you won’t change diddly squat."

Here’s three distinctive traits of salt. 1. Salt frets, bites, stings, and yet … it heals. 2. Salt keeps food and animal hides from rot. 3. Salt’s a spice.

Let’s check out these three traits a little more fully, shall we?

Number One. Salt’s a natural healer. It stings and yet, it heals.

God’s given us a big job of healing the planet. Like salt, a true gospel delivery will sting before it heals. We want to "heal" without stinging. That’s not going to happen.

Like alcohol, another cleansing agent, salt will sting an open wound and cause initial pain before improvement follows.

Question? Why are there no messages about hell, sin, the judgment seat, our rebellious heart, or how we love to follow demons and darkness, how we hate God and the light and we are, by nature, children of wrath?

I tell you, "why"--saltless ministers have deemed them "too negative" … "too hurtful" … to the sinners’ sensitive psyche.

The Gospel and the cross is offensive to rebels who want zilch to do with a Holy God.

In order to truly heal them, the minister has to wound them first.

Never back down from saying non-PC, hard truths.

Without rebuke, reproof, and conviction of sin, there is no true understanding of forgiveness, Jesus’ sacrifice, grace, the wrath of God, and the penalty of an eternal hell.

Ergo, spiritual disease, infection, malicious bacteria continues in the church, culture, and politics.

All because we’re afraid of being unpopular; stinging and being gritty when necessary.

Number Two. Salt kills rot in meats.

According to Howstuffworks.com … “Salt inhibits bacteria in a variety of ways. It’s a disrupter that wreaks havoc in microbes, interrupting their enzymes and chipping away at their DNA.”

It most often works through dehydration, removing many of the water molecules that bacteria need to live and grow.

Salting is used because most bacteria, fungi, and other potentially pathogenic organisms cannot survive in a highly salty environment, due to the hypertonic nature of salt.

In tanning animal skins, salting is what sets the hair and keeps the hide from decaying.

Our presence and our voice should kill cultural rot.

We should be a disrupter that wreaks havoc on satanic garbage.

Simply put, if rot’s going on around us, we’re not doing our job.

Number Three. Salt’s a spice. Food to me, that’s not salted, tastes hideous. It’s too bland.

Matter of fact, wherever I eat, a salt shaker is nearby.

It’s clear, from this analogy, that Christ calls his crew to be holy agents of change to this sin ravaged planet.

Also, we should do his good works with spice. No more bland Christianity. Be bold, life-giving, fun, faith-filled, hope-loaded. Don’t be drab and dour.

Clash Ministries is here to do two things, namely, put brains and cojones on Christians. Yep, our holy job is renewing minds (Rom. 12:1-2) and emboldening hearts (Prov. 28:1). Your generosity helps us throttle the enemy by equipping God's people to live bold, wild and free in Him. You are a vital part of this ministry and we could not do this without you. Thank you for your faithful gifts and partnership and remember to always ... stay rowdy!

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Doug Giles is Pastor of Liberty Fellowship in Wimberley, TX, and is the founder of ClashDaily.com​

Follow Doug on Instagram and Twitter @TheArtOfDoug.