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CHAPTER XX Salt
It had not occurred to me that it might require something of me to believe in Jesus and follow him.
Choices are made by weighing the benefits against the liabilities and deciding almost always in favor of the benefits. Why would one decide in favor of liabilities? Following Jesus is so rich in benefit, any liability seems negligible and tangibly insignificant by comparison. Almost none, including me and the twelve, had truly evaluated the costs, the necessities of being a follower of Jesus of Nazareth.
"I have come for a reason," I often heard him say. "I have come from the Father of Light to bring Light into the world. If anyone seeks to follow me, if anyone comes to me and is not willing to lay all else aside, he cannot be my disciple. My purpose is too high. The calling is too great to allow room even for family to come before me. Father, mother, wife, children, brother or sister or even one's own temporal life may never be put above this calling. If one is not willing to accept the consequences of following me, though it mean a life of pain or even death, it is impossible to be my disciple.
"Let me be clear about this. Suppose one of you wants to build something. Will he not first sit down and estimate the cost to see if he has enough money to build it? If he lays the foundation and is not able to finish it, everyone will think him a fool. They will say 'this man started what he was not able to finish.' What kind of impression does that give?
"Or suppose a king is about to go to war against another king. Will he not first sit down and consider whether he is able with ten thousand men to oppose one coming against him with twenty thousand? If he decides no, if he is smart, he will send a delegation while the enemy is still a long way off and negotiate for peace. In the same way, you need to measure what it will require of you to come with me. You need to seriously measure the cost. If you cannot sacrifice what may be otherwise gained by not following me, you cannot be my disciple.
"He who would follow me must have uncompromising grit--salt. Salt is good. It adds pungency to your life and those around you. Salt rubbed into a wound can assist in the cleansing and healing of the wound and is often used to keep disease away, is it not? Nevertheless, it stings like fire and is painful when applied. There are some who prefer living with their sores and lesions rather than have the salt applied and be made whole again. So if your salt is not salty, or if it doesn't sting, you can be sure that it is not salt! Such salt can do nothing! So what do you do with it? It can't be re-made into salt. It is not suitable for anything, not even for a pile of manure. You throw it out. Some of you will never understand this. But if you have the ears to hear, then hear."
Jesus gave little thought to the status of those with whom he associated. He never sought out the wealthy and the socialite, nor did he avoid them. He did seem to take perverse pleasure in annoying religious officialdom. Jesus truly enjoyed the company of tax collectors, drunks, rogues and other unpretentious people. They in turn, enjoyed gathering around him and listening to him. This left the religious bureaucrats and the teachers of the law muttering to themselves, "This man welcomes dogs and swine. He takes pleasure in eating with them and not with us." It never occurred to them that he might enjoy their company as well had they been willing to enjoy his. I never figured out how he could do it, but Jesus always seemed to sense what others were thinking about him, or to hear what they said when they were whispering to themselves. Walking over to the synagogue officials he said simply, "Gentlemen, are you concerned about something?" Before they could respond he raised a question he had raised before. It introduced a story he had told and re-told many times. "Suppose one of you has a hundred sheep and loses one of them?" We nodded at one another. Here comes the sheep story again. We smiled. I suspect Jesus knew of our amusement, but it mattered little to him. "Does he not leave the flock unattended and go after the lost sheep until he finds it?" This was a favorite theme of his. "And when he finds it, with satisfaction he gladly puts it on his shoulders and returns it to the flock. When he returns home after a day's shepherding, he calls his friends and neighbors together and says, 'Let's celebrate! I found my lost sheep today!'" It was a great story containing a wonderful truth. "Listen!" Jesus said, lowering his voice and by doing so caused everyone to lean forward to hear, "I tell you that in the same way there will be more celebration in heaven over one sinner whose heart is changed than over ninety-nine self-righteous prigs who think they do not need change."
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