Pure As the Salt of the Earth (Matthew 5:13)

*(Best with Sr. High, but still works with Jr. High)

*Note to Youth Leader: This isn’t meant to be word-for-word, for every student will be different, have different experiences, and will respond differently. I set this up as a means of getting kids back on track and helping them realize the cruciality of being pure for Christ. However, I’ve also used this lesson to teach and promote evangelism. So look it over and put your own spin on it as needed.

Matthew 5:13

“You are the salt of the earth, but if slat has lost its taste, how can its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything, but is thrown out and trampled under foot.”

Materials Needed:

• 3 glasses (or enough small cups for each student to have 3 each)
• Warm water
• Salt
• Sand (I would often buy clean, sanitized sand from a craft store like Michael’s or Hobby Lobby)
• Table (or bar, counter, etc.)
• Song: “The Beautiful Letdown” (by Switchfoot) – Optional, to play towards the end
• Bible (of course!)

Preparation:

• Fill each glass with warm water
  • 1st glass = plain water
  • 2nd glass = salty water (warm water mixed with salt)
  • 3rd glass = sandy water (warm water mixed with sand)
• *You may want to go with just 3 glasses, because it’s usually really tough to get the kids to drink the salty water, and especially the sandy water

Activity:

1. Line up the students by the group of glasses
2. Have each student taste the water from each glass.
3. After each glass, ask them about the taste.

Plain water: “How’s it taste?” (plain, nothing significant?)
Salty water: notice of taste immediately? (huge difference)
Sandy water: The usual answer is that it’s similar to the plain water, only now with grains of sand crunching between their teeth.

• Worse than 1st cup
• Avoid, worse off than in beginning
• Saltiness is gone, sandy water?

Read Matthew 5:13
“You are the salt of the earth. But what good is salt if it has lost its flavor? Can you make it salty again? It will be thrown out and trampled underfoot as worthless.

Discussion #1:

• Jesus: said that you are the salt of the earth. What do you think He meant by that?
• The point of the sandy water was to represent salt when it loses its flavor. What was that like?
• What do you think that represents in the life of a Christian?
• What causes one to lose their “saltiness”?
• What causes you to stand out from the plain & sandy?

Explanation:

Salt came from the dead sea.
It would sometimes lose its taste due to impurities.
If salt loses its flavor due to impurities, then it’s of no use.
–> Thrown away, because it’s now useless.

So how can one lose their saltiness? By being impure.
If you become impure, and lose your flavor due to your impurities, then you’re of no use to the Kingdom of God.
–> thrown away because you’re now useless.

What are some impurities that might infect our lives and could make us impure?

• Getting drunk (?)
• Sex outside of marriage (?)
• Illegal drugs (?)
• Fights (?)
• Cussing (?)
• Gender inclusiveness (transgender, homosexuality, etc.)
• Gossip
• Justifying sin for our own desires
• Judging God as unfair because of His expectations of us
• Doing what we want when it’s against God’s desires for us
• Following with the times’ beliefs nor the cultures’ beliefs
• Trying to find loopholes
• Picking and choosing what we want/don’t want to follow in the Bible
• Allowing impurities to affect our purity
• ….

Why do people continue to complain about what God wants from them?
Jesus is very clear about what He expects from us:

• Be salty
• Be Pure
• Represent Him
• Represent Kingdom-people
• Be a nation of priests
• Share Jesus with others
• Spread the Good News
• Live pure, righteous lives
• Put our faith and trust in God
• Be a people of God
• Be a Kingdom people
• Show mercy
• Be pure in heart
• Be peacemakers
• Be patient
• Be kind to others
• Love our enemies
• Be humble, yet wise
• Be Holy
• ……

“You are the salt of the earth. But what good is salt if it has lost its flavor? Can you make it salty again? It will be thrown out and trampled underfoot as worthless.

The whole world is looking at you, whether you like it or not.
Will you keep your saltiness in this impure world, or will you allow its impurities to take it away?
You gained this saltiness when you accepted Jesus and became His.
If you wish to remain His, you need to remove all the impurities from your life. But it’s up to you, which you want to be. But you can’t be both.

Salty water, or sandy water?

Close in prayer (you may wish to let the students pray on their own, or have leaders throughout the room for students to go to for prayer.

 

(if you brought the switchfoot song, or anything else slow and similar in theme, now would be a good time to begin playing it).