Daily Bible Reading 29th October 2026 // Luke 14:34-35
34 “Salt is good, but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored? 35 It is of no use either for the soil or for the manure pile. It is thrown away. He who has ears to hear, let him hear.”
The parable of the salt that has lost its savour underlines a threefold function given to those who are Christ's disciples. Salt preserves against corruption; salt gives flavour to food; salt helps to fertilise the land. Jesus' followers 'are called to be the salt of society preservative, seasoning, fertiliser; and there is no room in their ranks for those who lack the distinctive qualities of discipleship, any more than there is room in the kitchen cupboard for savourless salt, which like other rubbish in the east is thrown out into the street.' There is much here for us to consider. The notion of preservation against corruption presupposes that in itself the world has, within itself, the seeds of decay and corruption. The world through sin has 'gone bad', and there is, therefore, no depth morally or spiritually, to which it might not sink. To prevent this, to stay this process, Christ has left His Church in the world, to act as a moral disinfectant. This both defines and indicates the limitations of the Church's work in the world. For salt will not indefinitely prevent decay, and not even the presence of the Church in society will ultimately prevent the final moral disintegration of the world. This should give the lie very decisively to the idea that the Church's task is to win the world for Christ, to Christianise society. This world is death-doomed; it refuses to bow the knee to Christ. The presence of the Church is meant to be a stay against the over-quick corruption of the world, so that Christ, through His Church, might call out a people for His Name. This 'negative' influence is therefore seen to be a very important and integral part of Christian testimony. And where the distinctive qualities of discipleship are lacking, that testimony is not borne.