One Man's Salty Example

It has been so long ago–yet I still remember promising to post more on my favorite historical Theologian, one who best portrays that a Christian is in fact "Salt of the Earth." I give you herein some information on Dietrich Bonhoeffer. I’m sure the information I give you can find, and more, without much trouble, but I hope my inadequate summary makes it easy and still presents what it means to be salt of the earth. As I indicated in my last post, I do not attribute to him any grandiose type of sainthood; I do say he took James’ advice and showed us his faith by the things he did. He wrote with a rare depth of thought, he taught brilliantly, he lived and died loyal to his Lord. I’ll repeat one of his phrases that seems to be the keynote of his life: "The call of Christ makes those who respond to it the salt of the earth in their total existence."

Bonhoeffer, born in Germany in 1906, was one of seven children, His father was a noted physician and became the first to occupy a university chair in psychiatry in Germany. Bonhoeffer wrote that from his father he learned an insistent, demanding realism:

"...a ‘turning away from the phraseological to the real.’ For him [Dietrich] Christianity could never be merely intellectual theory, doctrine divorced from life, or mystical emotion, but always it must be responsible, obedient action, the discipleship of Christ in every situation of concrete everyday life, personal and public."

He was a student of several of the great German scholars of the time. Friends he grew up with went on to be recognized in their fields of study. Bonhoeffer’s interest from the age of sixteen was Theology. At age twenty-one he presented his doctor’s thesis and became a Theology faculty member at age twenty-four. He was at Union Theological Seminary in New York for a year in 1930 and spoke of it as "a place of free discussion, made possible by the civic courage peculiar to Americans and the lack of any sort of officialism in personal relations." Though he was a skilled pianist he was fascinated by Negro spirituals, took them back to Germany and taught them to his Christian brethren before the songs became commonly known by radio, etc. To be sure, his interest in spirituals sprang out of his empathetic feelings with the struggle of the Negro for equality. This was 1930, long before the 1960's civil rights movements.

Back in Germany, in 1933, Bonhoeffer delivered a radio lecture critical of the public for their willing acceptance of a strong leader who became the "misleader," Adolf Hitler. The broadcast was cut off before its finish. Bonhoeffer refused to be a part of the German Christian Church compromise with the Nazis, so he accepted the call of two German speaking congregations in London. Within a couple of years and against the urging of others, he went back to Germany out of duty to his Lord and fellow Christians and became a leader of the illegal and clandestine Confessing Church. Bonhoeffer saw a Germany being built based on the strength of man, without considering God.

I have never ran across this idea, but when I peruse the work of an earlier German atheist philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche (1844 to 1900) I think Bonhoeffer was well aware of one of Nietzsche’s main thoughts: Modern man and science has eliminated the need for God, to-wit: ‘God is dead’. Nietzsche despised religion, yet knew and wrote of the Christian supported morality that pervaded society, at least in that age–a morality that held civilization together. He despised religion, yet he could foresee that without Godly influences humans were doomed to become socially degenerate and disintegrate into destruction and chaos. Nietzsche’s solution was to propose the necessity of an earthly human ‘superman’ (No, this was long before the cartoon character.) to rule, to forcibly grab the populations and impose order for a strong super-society. By the way, Nietzsche hated Jesus’ "Sermon on the Mount" because His teachings would be helping preserve the weak.

We know Hitler was very fond of Nietzsche, even gave Mussolini a copy of Nietzsche’s book. Hitler surely must have envisioned himself as a Nietzschean superman. The historians do say that Nietzsche’s dogma influenced the 20th century ego-maniacs Hitler, Stalin and Mussolini. I propose that Bonhoeffer recognized the monster Nietzsche had created, that Hitler would not be restrained by common or traditional decency, that in building his super-race he would destroy the weak.

At a time when the world could easily conceive of Hitler’s ultimate victory, Bonhoeffer became active in the resistance in Germany, was even one of those involved in the conspiracy that resulted in the attempted assassination of Hitler, and Bonhoeffer’s imprisonment. One of his friends wrote of Bonhoeffer, "The man who felt all the force of the pacifist position and weighed the ‘cost of discipleship’ concluded in the depths of his soul that to withdraw from those who were participating in the political and military resistance would be irresponsible cowardice and flight from reality."

Bonhoeffer did not believe that everyone had to act as he did, but pacifism was not for him, nor was there any possibility of his retreat into some righteous, pious refuge. He could see all around him respectable people in sinful flight from responsibility. He was a German. The sins of his fellow Germans were falling upon him and he took his stand.

In 1943, Bonhoeffer, his sister and her husband were imprisoned. First in a military prison, "the guards were friendly to this strong pastor and secretly took him to the cells of despairing prisoners to minister to them. They preserved his papers, essays, and poems and even established a complete courier service to the family and friends outside."

Then later in 1943 he was moved into the infamous Gestapo prisons and contact with the outside world was lost. One of his fellow prisoners was an English officer who wrote:

"Bonhoeffer always seemed to me to spread an atmosphere of happiness and joy over the least incident and profound gratitude for the mere fact that he was alive. ...He was one of the very few persons I have ever met for whom God was real and always near. ...On Sunday, April 8, 1945, Pastor Bonhoeffer conducted a little service of worship and spoke to us in a way that went to the heart of all of us. He found just the right words to express the spirit of our imprisonment, the thoughts and the resolutions it had brought us. He had hardly ended his last prayer when the door opened and two civilians entered. They said, "Prisoner Bonhoeffer, come with us." ...We said goodbye to him. He took me aside: ‘This is the end, but for me it is the beginning of life.’ The next day he was hanged...."

Bonhoeffer died April 9, 1945, within a very few days of the end of the war.

Numerous essays, articles, and books were written by Bonhoeffer. It is tempting to present many worthy quotations from these works, yet it would beyond my capability to fairly present the "salt" of his writings in summary fashion. I’ll stay with the facts displayed--that Bonhoeffer’s thoughts were more than a Theologian’s lofty words; they are reflections from the heart of a man who heard and understood Jesus’ call, and lived for Him. He was indeed salt of the earth in his "total existence".

We know that salt was associated with the sacrifices. Hopefully, we gain from one man’s example of what it means to pick up our cross and follow him, to be salt of the earth. I submit that Christianity is under strong attack in our day, only a bit more subtle than in Bonhoeffer's day. The sly devil has used clever men and who continue to teach attractive ideologies to distort the faith of foolish man, not to mention his use of the intellectually lazy and not so clever men and women who profess to lead the Church. For us as pew sitting individual Christians, too, in our daily job and socially we often conform. Our mantra seems to be: fit in and never offend.

"Salt of the Earth"–Yes, there may be various metaphorical meanings worthy of thought–nevertheless, if we just sit quietly and think about it and the usages of "salt" in the Word, we might miss seeing that in our obedience to God and our Lord Jesus Christ we cannot be silent and avoid the battles, hide behind church doors or remain indistinguishable from the unbelieving secular world.

"Salt of the Earth"

If I had to choose my favorite of the four Gospels, and if John is not available for me to choose, and Matthew and Luke are likewise not open for consideration as my favorite, I know I would choose Mark. Mark is so very concisely written that Jesus’ work and the essential underlying themes of Christianity stand out as if written in "Bold." Someone might answer me by saying, "Yes, but how very enriching is the elaboration of Matthew, Luke and John!" I would not argue against that; I nevertheless love Mark’s Gospel. I find myself occasionally caught up in thoughtful perplexity about something written therein. I know there is a deeper meaning that should be seen with the eyes of the heart. And that for me is the glory of Mark’s Gospel: He demands our attention to ancient culture and Scripture and an understanding that springs forth in living application.

Mark 9: 49, 50: Everyone will be salted with fire. Salt is good, but if it loses its saltiness, how can you make it salty again? Have salt in yourselves, and be at peace with each other."

Ever wonder what Jesus meant when He told us we’ll be "salted with fire." Then the phrase about having "salt in yourselves" also deserves some pondering. We know what salt is, yet until we stop and think about it our definition of salt is sort of a child’s definition. To state the obvious, salt is a preservative and it gives flavor to the food we eat. The need to preserve meats and other foods from spoiling in the warm middle east climate in pre-refrigeration days made salt an essential and cherished household substance. Think also of the important industries of that day surrounding salt. It had to be extracted; it was of crucial importance to the transportation industry. Imagine the poor camel caravan drivers hauling fish from Galilee to the population centers in the summer without salt preserving their product. The odor would soon make even the camels suffer and they are reputed to be not the most sweet smelling of animals. The Jews had a maxim, not necessarily one of their holy sayings, that "the world cannot survive without salt."

At this point I haven’t mentioned the delicious savor of salt bringing out or enhancing the flavor of certain foods. That is for me and many of us an important part of salt’s characteristic. I am blessed with low blood pressure so I tend to sprinkle salt generously. So now we know all about salt!

Yet for the context and deeper understanding, I’ll continue. Jesus is constantly teaching The Twelve and perhaps multitudes in other times and places. The original Apostles had responded to Jesus’ call, left their homes and occupations. The Messiah had called them! They traveled with Him, saw the signs and miracles. Other disciples gathered along the way and listened as Jesus taught about Himself and His mission and how Christians should live. Yet Jesus doesn’t refer to Himself as salt of the earth; the label belongs to the disciples. For the sake of the world, the disciples must be salt. No, wait! Jesus did not say, "You must be salt."

Oh, so when He sends them or us out to teach the Gospel to the world, the salt goes with us in the form of the Word that is carried and taught! Uh... no, Jesus didn’t say it that way either. Matthew 5:13 records Jesus declaring to His followers: "You are the salt of the earth."

Is this merely a helpful expression? There are many gems of wisdom in the Bible, aren’t there, so why do I write a blog post about salt? I say being salt is the essence of our life in Christ. Hang with me, please, as I sweep through Leviticus 2. The instructions emphasize the proper preparation of the offerings. We find the priest burning portions of it. In vs 3 and 10 the "rest of" the grain offering "belongs to Aaron and his sons [priests]; it is a most holy part of the offerings made to the Lord by fire." Now we find in verse 13 "Season all your grain offerings with salt. Do not leave the salt of the covenant of your God out of your grain offerings; add salt to all your offerings." [Catch that? "The salt of the covenant of your God!" His covenant preserves; it gives meaning and sweet savor for life.]

Ezekiel 43:24 gives instructions concerning the sin offering. I’m totally certain Ezekiel wasn’t just thinking of salt keeping meat from turning green at the time of sacrifice when he referred to a young bull and a ram, "You are to offer them before the Lord, and the priests are to sprinkle salt on them and sacrifice them as a burnt offering to the Lord."

Exodus 30 would seem to make clear for us that making the sacrifices and producing sweet aromas are holy things, Spiritual things as well as literal. Right attitudes were of the essence. What they did and how they lived for Him were to be "pure and sacred," without corruption. Yes, salted! Exodus 30:34,35: Then the Lord said to Moses, "Take fragrant spices ... and pure frankincense, all in equal amounts, and make a fragrant blend of incense, the work of a perfumer. It is to be salted and pure and sacred."

So, Gringo is spouting Old Testament junk about the animal sacrifices. How does that relate to us? Well, the salt was not featured in the animal sacrifice as being some literal need. I’m sure of that. No, we offer our sacrifices of work for Him, of self-denial now and then, of exhibiting the fruit of the Spirit because that is just the way we are. Yes, our attitudes and motivations are of the essence. We don’t add salt to our surroundings, we are salt. Animal sacrifices with salt are not my topic. Nope, I’m talking about purity and freedom from corruption in our lives. Paul refers to our "Spiritual worship." In Romans 12:1ff we are taught that every disciple is to be a sacrifice for God. It is worth printing a few of those verses here: Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God–which is your spiritual worship. Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is–His good, pleasing and perfect will.

We do not want our living sacrifices to God to be spoiled and it isn’t something that we must hurry to sprinkle with a dab of salt. The sacrifice is us; the salt is us. Saint Frances of Assisi is reported to have said, "Preach constantly; if necessary use words." We don’t have to wake up and resolve to be, or to do, or to say something better this day, because: If anyone is in Christ he is a new creation. The old has gone, the new has come. 2 Cor. 5:17

Faith is active to produce good fruit. One of my ‘modern’ day heros of the Faith, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, has said it well: "The call of Christ makes those who respond to it the salt of the earth in their total existence."

I’ll post another, and hopefully shorter blog, to present more about Dietrich Bonhoeffer, the man that spoke God’s Word, lived God’s Word and died being God’s Word. I’m not saying this man was sinless. No, but maybe we can be encouraged by the faith of one of our almost contemporary disciple brothers. In Bonhoeffer’s total existence he has given us a practical application of what it meant for a man of Faith to be "salt of the earth."