Episode 3: You Can't Be Salt If You Taste Like the World

What if someone followed you for seven days—would they see Jesus or just another algorithm-approved life? We’re taking a hard look at why the church often tastes like the world it’s trying to reach, and how to recover the sharp, preserving edge of salt and the honest clarity of light. No legalism. No hiding. Just a call to live set apart with love and courage in a culture that rewards compromise.

We unpack Jesus’ teaching on salt and light and connect it to everyday choices around entertainment, speech, relationships, money, and online habits. Then we trace three sobering case studies—Lot, Samson, and Solomon—to show how compromise grows quietly until it costs almost everything. From there, we get practical with six countercultural habits for 2026: guard your diet of content, choose a wise circle, clean up your words, practice integrity at work, flee sexual immorality, and love people enough to tell the truth. The aim isn’t to win arguments; it’s to become distinct enough that people can actually find their way to God.

This conversation stays grounded in Scripture and insists on the balance Jesus modeled: friend of sinners, yet utterly unlike sin. We talk about how to engage parties without drunkenness, serve without celebrating what destroys, and speak clearly without contempt. We also name the stakes for the next generation, who are reading our lives more closely than our posts. If we choose comfort and brand over conviction and obedience, they’ll assume faith is empty. If we choose holiness with humility, they’ll want what we have.

If this message stirred you, share it with someone who needs courage to live different. Subscribe, leave a review, and tell us: what boundary will you draw this week so your life tastes like salt again?

Chapters

• 0:00 Tempo: 120.0
• 0:38 Marker 1

Transcript

SPEAKER_03: 0:07

Let me ask you something.

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If someone followed you around for a week, watched what you watch, listened to what you listened to, heard how you talk, saw how you spend your time, would they know you're a Christian? Be honest. Or would you look exactly like everyone else? Here's the uncomfortable truth. The church looks exactly like the world right now. We dress the same, we talk the same, we consume the same content, we watch the same shows, we laugh at the same jokes, we chase the same dreams, we handle relationships the same way, we respond to conflict the same way. And then we wonder why the world isn't interested in what we have. Here's why. You can't be salt if you taste like the world. You can't be light if you look exactly like the darkness. You can't call people out of something if you're still in it. Jesus said, You are the salt of the earth. But what good is salt if it has lost its flavor? It will be thrown out and trampled underfoot as worthless. Worthless. That's what he called the salt that doesn't taste different. We've decided that being relevant means looking exactly like culture. We've confused loving people with accepting everything they do. We've traded holiness for likability, and it's killing the church. Believers watch the same shows filled with blasphemy and immorality. Date like the world, talk like the world, chase money like the world, celebrate what God calls sin because we don't want to be intolerant. We stay silent when we should speak because we're afraid of being canceled, and the next generation is watching. They're watching how you respond. They're watching what you compromise. They're watching whether your faith actually changes anything. And if they see you living exactly like the world, they're going to assume Jesus doesn't matter. This is the God Chaser Podcast with Evan Evans, and this is episode three of Closer When It's Crumbling. We're talking about holiness, separation, being different, not legalism, not self-righteousness, not building walls and hiding from the world, but actually being set apart in a culture that's falling apart. We're going to look at what Jesus actually said about salt and light. We're going to examine the cost of compromise through Lot, Samson, and Solomon. We're going to give you practical ways to live holy in 2026 without becoming a self-righteous Pharisee. And we're going to answer the question: how do you engage the world without becoming like it? Because Jesus was called a friend of sinners, but he never became like them. That's the model. Engage, love, serve, but stay separate. The world doesn't need another version of itself. It needs Jesus. And it will only see him if you look different. This is episode three. You can't be salt if you taste like the world. Let's get uncomfortable. Matthew chapter 5, verse 13 to 16. You're 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. You're the light of the world, like a city on a hilltop that cannot be hidden. No one lights a lamp and then puts it under a basket. Instead, a lamp is placed on a stand, where it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your good deeds shine out for all to see, so that every one will praise your heavenly Father. You are the salt of the earth. You are the light of the world. Not you should be, you are. But here's the question. If you are salt, why doesn't anyone taste the difference? If you're light, why can't anyone see you in the darkness? What salt does? Salt does two things. It preserves and it flavors. In Jesus' day, they use salt to keep meat from rotting. It stopped decay. That's what you're supposed to do in culture. Stop the decay, preserve what's good, push back against corruption. Salt also changes the taste of food. You can't add salt to something and have it taste the same. That's what you're supposed to do in relationships. Change the atmosphere, shift the conversation, make people taste something different when they're around you. But what happens when salt loses its flavor? Jesus said it's thrown out and trampled underfoot as worthless. Worthless. That's harsh. But that's what Jesus said. If you don't taste different than the world, you're worthless as salt. What light does? Light does one thing. It exposes what's hidden in darkness. When you turn on a light in a dark room, you see everything clearly. That's what you're supposed to do. Expose lies, reveal truth, show people what they can't see in the darkness. But if your light looks exactly like the darkness around you, what's the point? John chapter 1, verse 5 says, The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness can never extinguish it. Can never extinguish it. But here's what I'm seeing. The darkness isn't extinguishing the light. The light is choosing to dim itself so it doesn't offend the darkness. And that's not what Jesus called us to do. Here's what the world wants from you. Blend in. Fit in. Don't make anyone uncomfortable. Don't be weird. Don't be extreme. Don't judge. Don't create division. Just be normal. And the church has bought it. We've decided that being relevant means looking exactly like the culture. We've confused loving people with accepting everything they do. We've traded holiness for likability, and it's killing us. Romans chapter 12, verse 2 says, Don't copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God's will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect. Don't copy the behavior and customs of this world. That's not a suggestion. That's a command. But we've decided that looking different is offensive, that standing out is arrogant, that calling sin is judgmental. So we've compromised, we've blended, we've assimilated, and now nobody can tell the difference between believers and unbelievers. What assimilation looks like. Let me give you some examples in entertainment. Believers watch the same shows as everyone else, the same movies, the same content, shows filled with blasphemy, sexual immorality, graphic violence, and godlessness, and we justify it by saying, it's just entertainment. It doesn't affect me. Really? Then why does Philippians chapter 4, verse 8 say, fix your thoughts on what is true and honorable and right and pure and lovely and admirable? You can't fill your mind with trash and expect your life to produce fruit. In relationships, believers date like the world, live together before marriage, sleep together because we're in love, divorce for convenience, remarry without biblical grounds. And when someone points it out, we say, Don't judge me. God is love. Yeah, God is love. And because he loves you, he gave you boundaries to protect you. Hebrews chapter 13, verse 4 says, Give honor to marriage and remain faithful to one another in marriage. God will surely judge people who are immoral and those who commit adultery. God will surely judge. Not maybe, surely, in language. Believers curse like the world, talk like the world, joke like the world. And we say it's just words. God cares about my heart. James chapter 3, verse 10 says, and so blessing and cursing come pouring out of the same mouth. Surely, my brothers and sisters, this is not right. Not right. Your mouth reveals what's in your heart. In priorities. Believers chase money like the world, status like the world, success like the world. We're more concerned about building our brand than building the kingdom. More worried about followers on Instagram than souls in eternity. More obsessed with comfort than with obedience. Matthew chapter 6, verse 24 says, No one can serve two masters, for you will hate one and love the other. You will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and be enslaved to money. You cannot serve both, but we're trying, and it's destroying us. In response to culture, believers celebrate what God calls sin because we don't want to be intolerant. We applaud what Scripture condemns because we don't want to lose friends. We stay silent when we should speak because we're afraid of being canceled. Isaiah chapter 5, verse 20 says, What's sorrow for those who say that evil is good and good is evil, that dark is light and light is dark, that bitter is sweet and sweet is bitter. Sorrow. That's what's coming for those who call evil good. And we're doing it every single day. God's plan, separation. So what's God's plan? Separation, not isolation, not building walls and hiding from the world, but separation. Being in the world, but not of the world. Second Corinthians chapter six, verse 17 to 18 says, Therefore, come out from among unbelievers and separate yourselves from them, says the Lord. Don't touch their filthy things, and I will welcome you, and I will be your father, and you will be my sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty. Come out, separate yourselves. That's God speaking, not me. God. You are royal priests, a holy nation, God's very own possession. As a result, you can show others the goodness of God, for he called you out of the darkness into his wonderful light. You are not like that. You're chosen, you're royal, you're holy, you're his possession. And you were called out of darkness, not to blend back in with it, out of it. What separation actually means. Let me be clear about what I'm not saying. I'm not saying become a hermit and never talk to unbelievers. Jesus ate with tax collectors and sinners. He engaged with the world, but he never became the world. He went to their parties, but he didn't get drunk. He talked to prostitutes, but he didn't sleep with them. He spent time with sinners, but he called them to repentance. That's the model. Engage, love, serve, but stay separate. Separation means you don't participate in sin even when everyone around you does. You don't laugh at jokes that mock God. You don't consume content that corrupts your soul. You don't compromise your convictions for acceptance. You don't stay silent when truth needs to be spoken. You don't celebrate what God calls sin. It means you look different. You sound different. You live different. And yes, that will make you weird. That will make you uncomfortable. That will cost you friendships, but it will also make you useful to God. The cost of compromise. Let me show you what happens when God's people compromise. The story of Lot. Lot was Abraham's nephew, a righteous man, according to 2 Peter 2, verse 7. But he made one critical mistake. He pitched his tent towards Sodom. Genesis chapter 13, verse 12 says, Abram settled in the land of Canaan, and Lot moved his tents to a place near Sodom and settled among the cities of the plain, near Sodom. Not in it, near it. But by Genesis chapter 14, he's living in Sodom. And by Genesis chapter 19, he's sitting at the gate of Sodom, which means he's a leader in the city. He assimilated. And what happened? He lost everything. His wife looked back at Sodom and turned into a pillar of salt. His daughters got him drunk and committed incest with him. His entire legacy was destroyed because he compromised. He started near sin. Then he moved into sin. Then he became a leader in sin. That's what compromise does. It never stays where you think it will. The story of Samson. And he broke every single one. He touched a dead lion, he drank at a feast, he slept with prostitutes, he told Delilah his secret and lost his strength. Judges chapter sixteen, verse twenty says, Then she cried out, Samson, the Philistines have come to capture you. When he woke up, he thought, I will do as before and shake myself free. But he didn't realize the Lord had left him. He didn't realize the Lord had left him. That's the scariest sentence in the Bible. He was so compromised that he didn't even notice when God's presence left. That's what happens when you blur the line between holy and profane. You stop being able to tell the difference. Most of them weren't Israelites. They turned his heart. The man who built God's temple ended up worshiping false gods. Why? Because he compromised. He thought he could have intimacy with people who didn't share his faith and it wouldn't affect him. It destroyed him. What holiness actually looks like. So what does holiness look like in 2026? Let me give you practical examples. One, you guard what you consume. You don't watch everything everyone else watches. You don't listen to everything everyone else listens to. You don't scroll through everything everyone else scrolls through. You ask yourself, does this draw me closer to God or further from Him? And if it's pulling you away, you cut it off. Matthew chapter 5, verse 29 says, So if your eye, even your good eye, causes you to lust, gouge it out, and throw it away, it is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell. That's extreme language on purpose. Jesus is saying, Whatever causes you to sin, get rid of it. Don't negotiate with it. Don't manage it. Get rid of it. Practical application. Unfollow accounts that post content you know is corrupting you. Cancel subscriptions to streaming services if you can't control what you watch. Delete apps that waste your time or feed your flesh. Stop listening to music that glorifies sin. I'm not saying never watch TV or never use social media. I'm saying guard your heart. Because everything you consume shapes who you become. Two, you choose your circle carefully. Proverbs 13, verse 20 says, Walk with the wise and become wise. Associate with fools and get in trouble. Your circle determines your future. If everyone around you is compromising, you will too. If everyone around you is lukewarm, you will be too. If everyone around you mocks holiness, you'll eventually join them. First Corinthians chapter 15, verse 33 says, Don't be fooled by those who say such things, for bad company corrupts good character. Company corrupts good character, not influences, not affects, corrupts. Practical application. Find believers who are more serious about God than you are. Distance yourself from friends who constantly pull you towards sin. Stop spending time with people who mock your faith. Surround yourself with people who challenge you to grow. Does that mean you never talk to unbelievers? No. But your closest circle, the people who have the most influence on you, need to be believers who are chasing God harder than you are. 3. You speak differently. Ephesians chapter 4, verse 29 says, Don't use foul or abusive language. Let everything you say be good and helpful, so that your words will be an encouragement to those who hear them. Your words matter. You don't curse because everyone else does. You don't gossip because everyone else is talking about it. You don't tear people down because it's just a joke. Colossians chapter 4, verse 6 says, Let your conversation be gracious and attractive so that you will have the right response for everyone. Gracious and attractive. Not crude, not harsh, not mocking. Practical application. Stop using God's name as a curse word. Stop making sexual jokes. Stop participating in gossip. Speak life even when everyone else is speaking death. 4. You live with integrity. You don't lie to get ahead. You don't cheat to win. You don't cut corners because everyone else does. Proverbs 11, verse 3 says, Honesty guides good people. Dishonesty destroys treacherous people. Proverbs 10 verse 9 says, People with integrity walk safely, but those who follow crooked paths will be exposed. Practical application. Do what you said you'd do, even when it costs you. Tell the truth, even when a lie would be easier. Honor your commitments, even when you don't feel like it. Work with excellence, even when no one's watching. That's what holiness looks like in the marketplace. 5. You flee sexual immorality. Not manage it, not minimize it. Flee it. First Corinthians chapter 6, verse 18 says, run from sexual sin. No other sin so clearly affects the body as this one does. For sexual immorality is a sin against your own body. Run from it. That means no sex before marriage, no porn, no dating people you are not willing to marry, no compromising in relationships. I know that sounds extreme. I know culture says this is old-fashioned. But Hebrews chapter 13, verse 4 says, give honor to marriage and remain faithful to one another in marriage. God will surely judge people who are immoral and those who commit adultery. God will surely judge. Not maybe, surely. Practical application. Set boundaries in relationships before emotions take over. Delete apps and accounts that lead you into temptation. Get accountability for your thought life and online activity. Honor marriage, yours or someone else's, at all costs. 6. You love people enough to tell them the truth. Holiness doesn't mean you withdraw from sinners, it means you love them enough to tell them the truth. Jesus loved people. He ate with them. He served them. He healed them. But he also called them to repentance. John chapter 8, verse 11 says, Then Jesus stood up again and said to the woman, Where are your accusers? Didn't even one of them condemn you? No, Lord, she said. And Jesus said, Neither do I. Go and sin no more. Neither do I condemn you. Go and sin no more. Love and truth, not one or the other. Both. Practical application. Don't celebrate sin to make people feel accepted. Don't stay silent when someone you love is destroying themselves. Speak truth with compassion, not condemnation. Point people to Jesus, not just away from sin. Now let me say something important. Holiness without love is just self-righteousness. If you're separating yourself from the world so you can feel superior, you've missed the whole point. Jesus was separate, but he was also called a friend of sinners. How? Because he loved them. He served them. He gave his life for them. But he never became like them. That's the balance. You can love people deeply without participating in their sin. You can serve people sacrificially without compromising your convictions. You can be present in their lives without being like them. 1 Corinthians chapter 5, verse 9 to 10 says, When I wrote to you before, I told you not to associate with people who indulge in sexual sin. But I wasn't talking about unbelievers who indulge in sexual sin or are greedy or cheat people or worship idols. You would have to leave this world to avoid people like that. You would have to leave this world so you don't isolate. You engage, but you engage as salt, as light. Not as someone who looks just like them. Holiness isn't about rules, it's about relationship. God isn't asking you to be different because he's a cosmic killjoy who wants to take away your fun. He's asking you to be different because he knows what's best for you. He knows that sin destroys. He knows that compromise corrupts. He knows that blending in will leave you empty. So he's calling you out, not to isolate you, to protect you. 1 Peter. Chapter 1, verse 15 to 16 says, But now you must be holy in everything you do, just as God who chose you is holy. For the scriptures say, You must be holy because I am holy. Because I am holy. That's the reason. Not because you're better than anyone else, because he is holy. And if you belong to him, you should look like him. Why this matters for the next generation? Let me bring this home. Your kids are watching. The generation coming behind you is watching. And if they see you living exactly like the world, they're going to assume faith doesn't matter. They're going to assume Jesus doesn't change anything. They're going to walk away because they don't see anything in you worth following. But if they see you living differently, if they see you making hard choices because of your convictions, if they see you willing to be weird for the sake of Jesus, they'll want what you have. For he issued his laws to Jacob. He gave his instructions to Israel. He commanded our ancestors to teach them to their children, so the next generation might know them, even the children not yet born, and they in turn will teach their own children. So each generation should set its hope anew on God, not forgetting his glorious miracles and obeying his commands. So each generation should set its hope anew on God. That happens when they see God in you, when they see you living differently, speaking differently, choosing differently, not perfectly, but intentionally. That's what makes them want Jesus. Here's what God promises to those who separate themselves. Don't touch their filthy things, and I will welcome you, and I will be your father, and you will be my sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty. I will welcome you, I will be your father, you will be my sons and daughters. That's the promise. Intimacy with God, identity as his child, the fullness of relationship with him, but it requires separation. You can't have intimacy with God and with the world. James chapter 4, verse 4 says, You adulterers, don't you realize that friendship with the world makes you an enemy of God? I say it again. If you want to be a friend of the world, you make yourself an enemy of God. That's harsh, but that's what Scripture says. Choose. You can't have both. So here's my challenge to you. Look at your life honestly. If someone followed you around for a week, watch what you watch, listen to what you listened to, heard how you talk, saw how you spend your time, would they know you're a Christian? Or would you look exactly like everyone else? If your social media disappeared tomorrow, would anyone know you follow Jesus? If your co-workers were asked to describe you, would holy be anywhere on the list? If your kids were asked what matters most to you, would they say God, or would they say comfort or success or entertainment? Be honest, because you can't be salt if you taste like the world. You can't be light if you look like the darkness, and the world doesn't need another version of itself. It needs Jesus, and it will only see him if you look different. Next week, we're talking about prayer, but not the kind of prayer you're used to. Episode 4. Prayer like your life depends on it, because it does. We're going to talk about moving from routine prayer to desperate prayer, from casual conversations with God to wrestling with Him until you get an answer. Because the believers who survived persecution didn't pray polite prayers once a week. They prayed like their life depended on it. Because it did. So join me next week. It's time to stop playing at prayer and start praying like we mean it. Thanks for listening to the God Chaser Podcast. If this episode challenged you, share it with someone who needs to hear it. And remember, you can't be salt if you taste like the world. It's time to look different, sound different, and live different. I'm ever never used to come to you next week.

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