[Darris McNeely] As a kid, I grew up, and my first job was working in my dad's business. Now, working for my father had advantages and it had disadvantages. I guess the disadvantage was working for my dad, who expected a lot out of me, who wouldn't me off work when I wanted to maybe go out and play baseball or something. He expected me to work because he was a worker, and he just kind of turned the screws down a little bit more on his son because of his expectations of what I had. But I had learned a lot of life lessons from him.

One of the things he used to say about some of his employees was, "He's not worth his salt." Now, I always wondered what that meant. When I was young, my dad didn't pay me anything. But as I grew older, he eventually gave me a wage, an hourly wage. And it wasn't a whole lot, but it was what I had, and I appreciated it very much. But when he would say that about an employee, I would ask myself, "Well, am I worth my salt?" One day, I asked him, "What do you mean?" And he said, "Well, that employee that I have in my business has got to bring in more money than I pay him. Otherwise, it's not worth keeping him on the payroll. He's not a profitable servant, and the business is going to suffer." And I learned I had to produce, and I learned that I had to be, like, worth my salt.

The scripture that, really, that phrase comes from in is Luke Chapter 14, beginning at verse 34. It's a very short parable that Jesus gave. He was talking to His disciples, and He said, "Salt is good. But if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored? It's of no use, either for the soil or for the manure pile. It's thrown away. He who has ears to hear, let him hear."

Now, in Christ's day, their prime source of salt was the Dead Sea. And throughout history, salt has been a very, very valuable commodity, more so in the ancient world, and even into premodern times than what we would think today. People would pay for goods and services in salt. Access to salt would determine whether or not a nation was viable or not. We take it for granted today with our table salt and the abundance that we have. But Christ was making a point that salt is good, but it's got to maintain its use, its taste. And if it can't even be thrown on the compost heap and be useful there, then it is totally something that has no value whatsoever. He says we must have ears to hear and understand.

When it comes to our value to God, when it comes to our value in life, when it comes to even our value to our employer, we've got to be worth our salt, in God's hands, ultimately. He is looking for us as disciples to be worth our salt, to be providing value and benefit, as salt does in right proportions, but paying our way, earning our way. It's a good point to remember, to be worth our salt.

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