Our 2026 Retreat Theme

“Someone sounds salty.” My friends would always say to me after my most recent 10-minute rant about the Denver Broncos game. In this context, you could replace "salty" with words like "bitter" or "annoyed." In our slang language, we have made being salty a bad thing. 

In Bible times, however, salt was a valuable resource because it was the key ingredient to preserving food. Back then, you couldn't store food without salt. Salt was an essential commodity. This is maybe why Jesus compares believers to salt. 

“You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot.” (Matthew 5:13)

In other words, if your salt can no longer preserve your food, why do you have it? Jesus goes on, comparing his believers to light. 

“You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead, they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. (Matthew 5:14-15)

I’m sure we've all sung, or are familiar with, the song "This Little Light of Mine.” The message of these verses and that song is clear: Christians are to shine their light proudly. 

A light in a dark place can be powerful. If you entered a football field, blocked out all the stadium lights, and lit a candle at the 50-yard line, everyone in the stadium could see it. That light wouldn’t necessarily light the way for people trying to get around the stadium, but it would be the most noticeable thing in the stadium. 

Jesus goes on. 

“In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.” (Matthew 5:16)

Jesus has sent his people into this world to shine light, to be salt, illuminating the darkness and preserving the world. As Christians live out their purpose in word and deed as salt and light, they illuminate darkness and preserve the world.

The central part of the Christian mission comes from Jesus Himself when he says, "YOU." Every. Single. Believer. This is what He saved us for: to preserve this decaying world and the people in it, and to ensure that hopeless darkness is not the end. To cast a shadow over what Jesus has given light, and to dull the saltiness of believers, runs counter to what our Lord has done. We must live in response to what Jesus has done in our lives and walk purposefully.