Webster's dictionary refers to "witness" in such terms as "testimony ... to act as a witness of ... to give or be evidence of." It is understandable that Jesus would use such metaphors as salt and light when speaking of the Christian witness.

Salt. Salt was a valuable commodity in the ancient world, not uncommonly used as a bartering agent. As insignificant as the reference itself may seem, Jesus was actually dignifying the Church by referring to it in the sense of something rare and precious.

You are familiar with the expression, "That should be taken with a grain of salt." Sometimes things are said to us which are bland, tasteless, or even worse, in bad taste. Salt adds flavor which causes many items which we consume to become more palatable. The remark, "taken with a grain of salt" implies that some tasteless or crude remarks would go down better with a grain of salt. Salt adds flavor or zest. When Jesus commented, "You are the salt of the earth," he was implying that the Christian witness causes even the unfortunate, tasteless things in life to be more palatable. To remove the salt is to remove a prime ingredient to the whole of life itself, leaving it to the crude, base, and tasteless elements to prevail.

Matthew 5:13 continues, "But if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltness be restored? It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trodden under foot by men." Moffett translates the phrase more precisely: "If salt becomes insipid, what can make it salt again?" Insipid is the word. An insipid person is one who stands for nothing, contributes nothing, is dull, unimaginative, shallow, harmless, and a fence-straddler. Jesus encouraged the Church to be salt, avoiding insipidness.

Light. "You are the light of the world" is another familiar reference made in regard to the Christian witness. Indeed, a person does not light a lamp only to put it beneath a bushel where it cannot be seen. It is told that a congregation constructed a new sanctuary in which to worship. It was beautifully constructed, traditionally consistent with symbolic Christian architecture, practical in every consideration and lovely in every detail. Only one thing was omitted. There were no lights. Instead, little niches had been fashioned into the walls and window bases which were to hold candles. Each member was assigned a niche and told that he was to provide the candle for that particular spot. Otherwise, the spot would remain dark. In a very real sense, they were the light, and they got the message. They also understood that they were not only the light of the Church, but the "light of the world."

You and I are challenged to be the salt of the earth and the light of the world. The antithesis of the Christian witness is insipidness and darkness.