You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt has become tasteless, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot by people. ^[1]

~Jesus (Matthew 5:13)

Jesus is citing a known proverbial saying on impossibilities to describe an equally impossible characteristic of his disciples and our value at work. As we go out into the corporate world as salt, we must recognize that the proof of the reality of our profession is our lives. Do our colleagues see us as a necessary seasoning to our work mission? Do they seek us out because of the value we add?

• True disciples cannot lose what has made them disciples, because they have become changed persons, made new by the life of the kingdom of heaven bring faith in Jesus to the workplace.
• However, imposter disciples, who simply try to put on the flavoring of the kingdom life, will be revealed in the fire of the corporate environment.
• Their salt is only an external flavoring, not a personal change. Others, at work, will see it.
• This imposter cannot be made salty again because he or she never had that kingdom life in the first place.

Jesus’ next statement drives home the seriousness of the issue: “It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled by men.” The response to imposter disciples is rejection and judgment by co-workers for whom they are to have value. Imposters will be known for what they are. They have nothing to offer the corporate world because they are no different from their co-workers. So, the world turns on them for their arrogant hypocrisy. The challenge is for professing disciples to examine their nature and to confess honestly whether they have been transformed by the life of the kingdom of God. If not, we have lost our value to Jesus in the corporate marketplace [Source: Wilkins, M. J. (2004). Matthew (p. 214). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House]

^[1] New American Standard Bible. (2020). (Mt 5:13). La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation.