What's My Conversation Seasoned With?

I am currently rereading "The Signature of Jesus" by Brennan Manning. It's an amazing book that's full of grace, yet calls the reader (i.e. me!) to a life that communicates Christ in a no-compromising way. That statement doesn't do justice to the firmness of this author's convictions of how we are to live out Christ's love, yet it's the strongest I can come up with at this moment.

This paragraph caused me to stop and ponder.

"The conversation of most middle-class Americans, we are told, revolves around consumption: what to buy, what was just bought, where to eat, what to eat, the price of the neighbor's house, what's on sale this week, our clothes or someone else's, the best car on the market this year, where to spend a vacation. Apparently we can't stop eating shopping or consuming. Success is measured not in terms of love, wisdom, and maturity, but by the size of one's pile of possessions."

In contrast, Paul says,

"Be wise in the way you act toward outsiders; make the most of every opportunity. Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone." Colossians 4:5-6 (emphasis mine)

Little things, like what am I talking about with my wife, boys, or friends, that make me stop and ponder, "Am I being salt and light? Am I allowing Christ to live through me?" Not to condemn myself, but to make sure that I'm not allowing myself to become complacent.