I am a Jesus pusher!!! “Pea-brain!” What are you doing? Have you stooped so low as to begin name-calling? NO! It is a part of our verse. Remember Jesus begins with a great proposition, “You are the salt of the earth.” In giving us content to this statement, He breaks with the contrast, “but.” The contrast is “if the salt loses its flavor, how shall it be seasoned?” The Greek word “moraino,” translated “loses its flavor” determines the meaning of the phrase. It is used four times as a verb and twelve times as an adjective. “Moraino” is translated “fool” or “foolish” in every instance except in this statement on salt (Matthew 5:13; Luke 14:34). Some other possible translations are “idiot, blockhead, dunce, ignoramus, imbecile, dullard, simpleton, moron, clod, nitwit, dope, ninny, nincompoop, chump, dimwit, dingbat, dipstick, dumbo, dummy dumdum, fathead, numbskull, thickhead, airhead, flake, jughead, jerk, donkey, twit, dork, bozo, turkey, goofball, meatball.”
How can this be right? Jesus would never call anyone such names. At the close of the Sermon on the Mount, He gave a parable. There was a wise man that built his house upon a rock. When the storms came, his house stood firm. There was a “foolish man” (moros) that built his house upon the sand. When the storms came, his house was destroyed (Matthew 7:26). The Greek word “moros” is the noun form of our verb “moraino.” It means, “stupid, silly, or foolish.” It is the word from which we derive the English word “moron.” Jesus relates this to a person who looks like salt, or tries to do what salt does, but is simply not salt. It is the picture of a helpless person not merged with Jesus, but acting as if he is not helpless. Nothing makes sense outside of Jesus. I am a Jesus pusher!!!