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How to Be Salt in a Hipster World

In the fifth chapter of the book of Matthew, Jesus laid out some pretty clear guidelines for how we future Christians should walk our walk and make a difference in a struggling and dying world. And He gave us some subtle thumps upside the head, too—just in case we were to start thinking that blending in  with our culture might be the more prudent course.

“You are the salt of the earth,” Jesus said while sitting on a mountainside with his disciples. “But if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled under people’s feet.”

Ouch. For us Christians, that can feel like quite a slapdown. Let’s face it, we already feel like a class of perpetual outsiders: the kids in school who never get to sit at the popular table and chat up the jocks and cheerleaders. Who wants to be salty all the time? Besides, “Why will anybody listen if we’re not cool, too?” we reason.

So, just in case you’ve been wrestling with some of those thoughts—and think tasteless-salt and hidden-light analogies are a little too old-school harsh—the comedy duo John Crist and Aaron Chewning have taken a more grin-worthy approach to illustrating our plight. Take a look at what they suggest is necessary to become successful pastoral salt in this hipster world.