Under the spotlight in the Trade Center building at the Flathead County Fairgrounds, former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee encouraged folks to be "the salt of the earth” — in the sense of preserving the world from decay.

He spoke at the Stillwater Christian School’s annual banquet, “For Such a Time As This.” The well-attended fundraising event included dinner and musical entertainment from Stillwater’s Concert Choir and Jazz Band.

Before his speech, Huckabee even donned a bass guitar and played along with the student jazz ensemble.

He opened with jokes about buffets before praising the teachings of Christian-based schools like Stillwater. He said that people can act as salt to stave off an increasingly dangerous world, noting that when Jesus referred to his followers as the salt of the earth, he was referring to salt as a preservative that halts decay.

It’s a rapidly changing world out there, he said, full of vulgarity and people making money in “various stages of undress.”

The heart of his faith-infused speech was that Christians are the “salt of the earth” that battles indecency and evil.

“The only solution for a world that’s rotting is it needs a preservative,” he said.

Huckabee spoke in a series of stories, capped with metaphors that tied to his central theme. He told about a time when his son turned down their home freezer so that all the food inside melted. When the Huckabees determined that they couldn’t just re-freeze the food, they invited a group of friends and held a dinner party to utilize the goods.

He said it made for a great evening to cook the food that way. The moral was that life, like the food in the story, should be used wisely.

“When we’re dealing with perishables, we either use it or we lose it,” he said.

Huckabee took unapologetic stands against same-sex marriage and abortion during his speech, saying these are just a few issues the current generation of students will grow up experiencing. It is a “very, very rotting decadent world,” he said.

He called on the students to be the next generation of role models. He also called the audience to be the salt that preserves the Christian way of life.

“Tonight, what you do here in this event has the opportunity to help shape America and the world,” Huckabee said, “because we do not defeat evil by running from it.”

To cap the evening, the former governor and television show host fielded a few questions from David Fetveit, a board member for Stillwater.

When asked about Israel’s recent election, Huckabee reinforced his support for the country’s re-elected leader, Benjamin Netanyahu. And of course, what public event would be complete without an inquiry about a run for the presidency? He joked about a potential announcement, but ultimately gave no indication one way or the other.

“My timetable is still the spring,” he said, “which doesn’t start until the 21st.”

Reach reporter Matt Hudson at 758-4459 or by email at mhudson@dailyinterlake.com.