Let your speech be alway with grace, seasoned with salt, that ye may know how ye ought to answer every man. Colossians 4:6
I had baked a tiny bit of soda bread in the frying pan, to eat with our lunchtime soup. As we began our lunch, I took my first bit of the bread and was immediately disappointed. I had forgotten to add the salt! We ate the bread, but we did not relish it as usual, because it did not taste right. We know that there are some foods that absolutely require salt in order to make them palatable, although perhaps not as many as we think. Many years ago, I stopped putting salt on my tomatoes and discovered that most tomatoes, unless they come from the United States, actually have plenty of taste on their own without adding salt. However, the salt shaker is almost always found on our tables because of its ability to make food taste better. But how does salt improve our speech, as our text suggests?
A local radio talk show host had such an abrasive personality that he had people calling just to complain about his attitude. But people called, and people listened, and the advertisers loved the program. When that talk show host left to take a job elsewhere, he was replaced by a soft-spoken man who had compliments and kind words for everybody. He was well liked, but the audience rating dropped badly; he just wasn’t interesting enough. His speech was not seasoned with salt. We all know how some people are boring to listen to, even if we like the subject, while other people hold our attention because of the way that they talk. Their speech is seasoned with salt. When we share the Gospel, or when we discuss the Scriptures, and when speakers open the Word during our meetings, God would have such speech presented in an interesting and engaging manner. Otherwise, people will just be turned off. We need to have interesting and truthful information to present, and be prepared to present it fervently and confidently. But there is another component that should always be there too, as our text declares: grace.
God is not honoured when Christians berate and bad-mouth other Christians, or even non Christians. Language that is abusive or nasty in any way should not come from us, ever. Consider the Lord Jesus, how He was always gracious in His conversations, gentle in His rebukes, and kind in His responses to those who would question or challenge Him. We need to keep that in mind whenever we are tempted to engage in debates on spiritual matters. A gracious manner will always be a better testimony than a belligerent tone.
We need to be prepared if we are to have our speech seasoned with salt. We need to be gracious if we are to reach the hearts of our listeners. -Jim MacIntosh