As Jesus preached his Sermon on the Mount, he turned to his disciples and said, "You are the salt of the earth." Salt, in New Testament times, was seen as something that kept the world from spoiling and becoming tasteless. "Pass the salt," Jesus said, in effect, to them.

Today’s Christian should pass the salt to an increasingly tasteless world. What the world needs is an ever-expanding number of salty characters - salty Christians who stimulate the spiritual appetites of everyone who comes into contact with them.

Jesus Christ was no passive patsy. He engendered…