The Politically Incorrect Jesus Намуна

Parable of the Fertilizer

In Matthew 5:13-16, Jesus describes His followers as salt and light. Like salt, they’d be a preservative in society. As light, they’d illumine the beauty and presence of God to dispel the darkness that blinds us to all that is good in the world.

When I was a kid, my family lived in a small North Jersey town not far from New York City. Being Italian, we had a very large garden. Every spring, a large amount of fertilizer was delivered to help us prepare the soil for planting. It had quite an aroma, as you could imagine! But it was effective when used properly.

Now, I’m taking liberty with what Jesus said and adding another trait of the Christ-follower’s persona. We are to be like fertilizer, along with salt and light. We are meant to spread throughout the land and nourish the environment so that things can grow and be fruitful. Today, our culture needs more than just preserving. It needs replenishing. Ideally, we as Christians should be known by the way we enrich the world by our presence.

But, take that same fertilizer and store it for too long and it begins to fester and smell. It’s not a pleasant aroma when that happens. Instead of contributing to the overall productivity of the soil, it becomes useless.

So, ask yourself the question. Am I preserving the land? Or do you remain in the saltshaker clumped together with the rest of the salt? You know what happens then. The longer it stays in that shaker, the harder it is to shake loose.

Is your light pleasant to be around? Or is it blinding? Just what are you illuminating anyway?

And, finally, are you acting like fertilizer? Spreading out to enrich the land—or stockpiling yourself with other believers?

By the way, what’s that I smell? Just thought I’d ask.

Question: How are you spreading the love of Christ throughout your land to enrich those around you?