“Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone.” Colossians 4:6
By itself, this verse is really good advice. But it gets even better when we take it in context. Paul is talking to the church in Colossae about being wise towards those outside the faith, those who don’t know God. He has asked them to pray for him to be able to spread the news about Jesus Christ, even though he’s actually under house arrest at the time. So if he can expect to be able to share the good news, surely those in Colossae who are able to freely move about and interact with others will be able to share it even more. Therefore, he’s telling them how to go about it.
First, he says we are to speak with grace. What does it mean to speak with grace? We are to be loving and kind. Not just to the one to whom we are speaking, but to everyone. I recently said something to someone about a third person that was less than complimentary. I assumed this person would agree with me, only to find they agreed with the third person. I was so embarrassed, as I should have been. Even if they had agreed with me, that gave me no right to say what I did about anyone. My conversation was not full of grace! I would like to be able to excuse myself by thinking that I only need to use grace when talking to someone about Jesus. But the Bible doesn’t let me off the hook that easily. It says that our conversation should always be full of grace.
We’re then told that our conversation should be seasoned with salt. What does that mean? There are really two issues about salt. It is a preservative and also a seasoning. The properties of preservation would have been well known to the original readers of this letter since they didn’t have things like refrigerators and freezers. They needed salt to keep their food from rotting. What about our conversation? Is it such that it keeps others from rotting? Or do we slide into discussing those parts of the world and culture that only lead to division, or to drawing others away from Christ? Do we laugh at another’s off-color joke? Do we pass on gossip we hear? Do we insist on proving the other person wrong regarding a non-essential issue on which we disagree? These are all ways in which we can allow our conversation to lead to rot rather than preservation.
We’re much more familiar with salt as a seasoning. And it’s okay to season our conversation as long as we’re seasoning it with the right things and in the right amount. I recently heard someone say that no one wants a bowl of salt seasoned with popcorn. In the same way, we need to be cautious that when we’re talking with others, we’re not beating them over the head with the Bible or condemning them of their sin. That’s not our job. We can leave that to the Holy Spirit. Or job is to add just enough seasoning to our graceful conversation to not only make it palatable, but enjoyable. This doesn’t mean we ignore sin, especially if God is prompting us to talk about it. But it does mean that if we do bring it up, we speak the truth in love.
Some people – okay, lots of people – are intimidated by the though of talking to non-believers about Jesus. We often hear people say that they wouldn’t know what to say, or they’re afraid the person will ask a question for which they don’t have an answer. According to this verse, we don’t need to worry about that. If our conversation is always full of grace, and if our conversation preserves instead of rots, and if we use just enough “salt” to season our conversation, the rest will take care of itself. I don’t think most non-believers are kept from Christ because of theological issues with the Bible. Rather, they just haven’t been told what Jesus has done in your life and in mine. Theological arguments will leave them cold. But sharing our own personal stories will draw them to the Savior we love and Who loves them. And they’ll be drawn to Him because they’ve seen his grace and love in their conversations with you and with me.