Salty, Not Sweet

Have you ever heard the saying “kill ‘em with kindness” or “you catch more flies with honey”? Well, how about this one: “Let your speech be gracious, seasoned with salt.”

Ok that last one really isn’t a saying; it’s Colossians 4:6.

“Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you should answer each person”

Recently, I have been working through a study called “Everyday Evangelism: Pursuing Hearts, not arguments” by Preston Perry. It’s caused me to reflect a little bit on my work here in our ministry, how I got here, and what I’ve recently been learning about myself.

The first question that comes to mind is what in the world does Paul mean when he says “seasoned with salt?” I certainly like salty things, but I’m more of a sweet-and-salty kind of girl (specifically Debrand milk chocolate sea salt caramels, but that’s not the point). I had my study Bible out today while I was studying, and in the notes section it says, “our words should be tasty and encourage more dialogue.” Sometimes, we say someone is salty when they might be upset or bitter about something. That’s certainly not what Paul meant in this letter, but I’m sure they didn’t refer to people as salty in Paul’s time. My mind went from being salty to the sayings I remember hearing when I was younger, facing someone or something I knew I didn’t want to do: “kill ‘em with kindness” and “you catch more flies with honey.” Now, I’m not saying these sayings are wrong, and they proved to be useful in my teen and young adult era, but when I think about the difference between sweet and salty, I have one thing that comes to mind. Sweet, on the surface, can seem kind, compassionate, and respectful, but it can also be self-serving. We could use “kill ‘em with kindness” to get what we want, but it usually only serves us. Salty, on the other hand, I think, requires maturity and humility. Also, in the context of Paul calling us to be salty, I think it’s important to know that sharing the Gospel with people doesn’t serve us.

I started this book because I know evangelism isn’t my gift, but I also know I have been on the other side of someone evangelizing to me, and how that changed my life. I have shared my testimony in past blogs, so I won’t go into full detail, but on my first trip to San Juan in 2019, I wasn’t actively going to church or pursuing a relationship with Jesus. Only after friends shared the Gospel with me and invited me to church did I accept Christ, and my life changed. So you might say I see our ministry here a little differently than others. I’m sure many of our teams have people from all kinds of faith backgrounds; in fact, I’m certain we do. So, if you ask me, while our ministry is focused on sharing the Gospel here in the DR, I also know that God can use a trip like this to change someone’s life. Here is my shameless plug for any trip leaders. If you have someone asking to come on your team that maybe isn’t a believer, but there isn’t a big red flag, let ‘em! Your yes just might change their life. Anyways, again, back to what I was talking about.

Another reason I wanted to read this study is that I’m sure a lot of people feel the same way I do: that they aren’t gifted at sharing the Gospel. We always send people out to do home visits with Pastor Enol. Still, if you aren’t prepared to share, when he says, “And this girl wants to share with you,” and you have absolutely nothing to say (don’t worry, I’m quoting this from experience), you might come back from the day feeling like you missed your opportunity. So, I’m hoping this study will encourage me in evangelism and help me encourage everyone who comes through our door to serve and share. Maybe it will even give me a few tips on how to better equip our teams before Monday morning better.

The last reason I wanted to read this book is the people I interact with every day. People in my community here in San Juan, in my neighborhood, or even at work. Not every person I interact with here is a believer, or maybe they are just starting to feel the nudge from the Holy Spirit. I want to know how I can better encourage those people. One thing that is mentioned in this study by Preston is a story about a man who led him to Jesus, but he mentions more than anything how that man, living his life honestly, encouraged Preston to seek Jesus. I want to be that for the people I interact with every day; I want people to see that my life isn’t perfect; I make mistakes. But I also get to keep showing up the next day by God’s grace to serve another day. I also really want people to see my heart for them, because if we don’t truly care for the people we are trying to share the Gospel with, our intentions might be in the wrong place. This part actually leads me back to a few blogs where I shared my holistic calling statement (I’ll share mine again).

Before I accomplish anything, I am an adopted member of God’s family, an image bearer of God, a free servant. Because this is true, I want to live a life of joy and freedom, without judgment. From that place, God may be inviting me to faithfully cultivate community by welcoming people, advocating for them, and empowering them.

“Cultivating community by welcoming people,” it’s not a coincidence; that phrase is in my statement. People welcomed me, and I’m passionate about making sure we welcome others. The truth is, you might work next to someone all week who needs your prayers and encouragement to seek God. So, I try to remember that it’s not just the people we travel to care for that need our salty words; it’s still people in our own communities. And showing them our hearts, and really taking the time to hear theirs, might be the biggest thing we can do before we even try to tell them about Jesus.

So my friends, stay salty (but in the good way!)

As far as life updates go, I made it safely back to San Juan, then decided I wasn’t ready to be back at work, so I rented an Airbnb in Santo Domingo for a few days and got out of town. One thing about being in San Juan is that when I am here, I feel like I have to be working. I’ll spend the next week or so making sure we are ready to go for our last 6-7 barrio teams and the last surgery team of the year. We have more downtime this fall/winter than normal, but I’m going to embrace it because I have seen our January-March schedule, and let’s say I hope I can sleep enough to be ready for it.

While I was home, I was able to get some genetic testing and other scans done out of precaution from my sister’s diagnosis, and everything has come back negative for me, which is great. I spent my last few days at home with my parents and sisters. The back and forth is never easy, and as I’ve said before, when you don’t know when you’ll see your family again, it adds another layer.

My sister starts her radiation therapy in a few weeks; please continue to pray for her during this time. Specifically, that she has minimal skin irritation from the radiation and that her physical and mental health stay strong. Thank you all for continuing to pray for her!

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