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I received a question a number of weeks ago:

“I have been trying to reach a neighbor with the gospel, but he continues to wave his hand and say he doesn’t want to listen to me. What can I do?”

This is a great question and let me thank you for continuing to support His mission to reach out to others. It seems clear that the Lord has put your neighbor on your heart, and it is great to see your persistence in wanting to reach him. May God bless your efforts to His glory!

As to your next steps in following the Lord’s call to reach out, the Bible provides several examples and one significant theme.

“Shake the Dust off Your Feet”

I have often heard this statement offered as an answer to your question. Just. Move. On.

But is that the right path for you?

We must go back to the words of Jesus and the specific situation He was addressing to see if this applies to this situation.

In Matthew 10:1, “Jesus summoned His twelve disciples and gave them authority over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal every kind of disease and every kind of sickness.” It was one of the few times Jesus sent the Twelve out on their own. Jesus instructed them saying:

“Do not go in the way of the Gentiles, and do not enter any city of the Samaritans; but rather go to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. “And as you go, preach, saying, ‘The kingdom of Heaven is at hand.’ “Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, cast out demons. Freely you received, freely give. “Do not acquire gold, or silver, or copper for your money belts, or a bag for your journey, or even two coats, or sandals, or a staff; for the worker is worthy of his support. And whatever city or village you enter, inquire who is worthy in it, and stay at his house until you leave that city. As you enter the house, give it your greeting. If the house is worthy, give it your blessing of peace. But if it is not worthy, take back your blessing of peace. “Whoever does not receive you, nor heed your words, as you go out of that house or that city, shake the dust off your feet. “Truly I say to you, it will be more tolerable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah in the day of judgment than for that city” (Matthew 10:5-15). We see parallel passages in Luke 9 and Mark 6 (Luke 10 also recounts that another 70 were sent out to minister in similar fashion).

Jesus gave the Twelve great power in this targeted mission. They could “heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse lepers, and cast out demons”. That is a lot of authority over the demonic influence and sickness that is a part of the world.

What was the purpose of their mission?

They were to speak to the arrival of the Messiah in saying that the “kingdom of Heaven is at hand.”

Their ministry was also targeted to a specific group of people.  Jesus told them not to go into Gentile or Samaritan villages but to “go to the lost sheep of the house of Israel” as the primary recipient of this good news. His people, the Jews, were looking for the Messiah to come. These disciples were to announce that He was here! As a support of that, they were given the power and the authority that was ascribed to the Messiah:

Isaiah 35:5-6

“The eyes of the blind will be opened, and the ears of the deaf will be unstopped. Then the lame will leap like a deer, and the tongue of the mute will shout for joy.”

The Messiah would be a miracle worker who would completely heal, restoring health, vision, and hearing. A short read through Matthew chapters 8 and 9 tell the story of Jesus performing these miracles.

When John the Baptist was hearing accounts of Jesus’s ministry, he sent his people to go ask Jesus about who He was: “Now when John, while imprisoned, heard of the works of Christ, he sent word by his disciples and said to Him, “Are You the Expected One, or shall we look for someone else?” (Matthew 11:2-3).

Naturally, John the Baptist knew that the Messiah was going to come and that he was called to be the forerunner (John 1:19-23). He wanted to have the encouragement that the Messiah had, in fact, come.

Jesus responded to John’s disciples:

“Jesus answered and said to them, ‘Go and report to John what you hear and see: the BLIND RECEIVE SIGHT and the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, and the POOR HAVE THE GOSPEL PREACHED TO THEM. And blessed is he who does not take offense at Me’” (Matthew 11:4-6).

In short, Jesus said, “I AM the Messiah”.

Jesus sent out His disciples to continue to share that message: “The Messiah is Here!”

He goes on to tell them that they aren’t to take money for their ministry. He said, “freely you received, freely give” (Matthew 10:8). Ministry comes for free. Jesus wanted His disciples to trust Him for their needs. He wanted the message to come without the hindrance of cost. Isaiah wrote about that, too. (Isaiah 55:1-3).

When they went into a village, they were to inquire who is worthy in it and they were to stay in that house. They were to enter the house with a warm greeting of peace. If the house was worthy, they were to give the house a blessing. If the house was not worthy, they were to take back the blessing of peace (Matthew 10:11-13). The root Greek word for “worthy” is áksios which means “to properly weigh” with the intent of assessing value. In this context, how the residents of the house weigh in on God’s balance-scale of truth. Is the house filled with believers in Jesus or not? If you’ve entered a house of believers, then, by all means, give them a true blessing of peace because if they believe, they are already recipients of the true peace (John 14:27). If it’s a house without Jesus, then there is no true peace, so take back the blessing. The concept of evaluating a house is like establishing a base of operations in a new mission field. Of course, you would want the house to be open to your mission. You certainly would not setup a base of operations in a house that believed in a manner contrary to your mission!

Then Jesus says, “whoever does not receive you, nor heed your words, as you go out of that house or that city, shake the dust off your feet” (Matthew 10:14). The phrase “shake the dust off your feet” was a Jewish phrase expressing disdain for a location. It was common for Jews to shake the dust off their feet when returning from Gentile regions. John MacArthur writes that this was “a visible protest signifying that they regarded the place as no better than a pagan land.” Jesus would then add that the region would be worse off than Sodom and Gomorrah if they rejected the message (Matthew 10:15).

So, the natural question here is “Does this apply to witnessing to your neighbor or should it be understood solely in the context of the early disciples announcing of the Messiah’s presence in the world?”

Many see the carrying of the gospel to a neighbor and the announcing of the Messiah’s kingdom come to the world as the same mission. All believers should be on mission for Jesus (Matthew 28:18-20). We are to make disciples and to begin by explaining the gospel message and how it applies to the individual we intend to disciple.

Some view this early mission differently, however, calling it the “Limited Commission” specifically targeting a Jewish audience (https://radicallychristian.com/when-to-shake-the-dust-off-your-feet/, for example). The main point being in this view is that Jesus told the disciples NOT to go to Gentile or even Samaritan lands for this mission but to only target the lost sheep of Israel (Matthew 10:5). The contrarian view will cite Acts 1:8 with the explanation that the message only began with Jerusalem as Jesus told the disciples they would “receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon [them]; and shall be His witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth.”

I see a larger theme in this instruction from Jesus, however, that I want to bring to light which is central to His own words about His arrival.

There was a scene in the Gospels where James and John (and their mother according to one account) asked Jesus if they would be able to sit on His left and His right in Glory (Mark 10:35-37). Jesus explains that they are a little bold with this request but tells them that they will indeed suffer as He would but it is not His decision to grant their place in Glory because these positions are for those “whom it has been prepared” (Mark 10:40).

Then Jesus said:

Mark 10:42-45

“You know that those who are recognized as rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them; and their great men exercise authority over them. But it is not this way among you, but whoever wishes to become great among you shall be your servant; and whoever wishes to be first among you shall be slave of all. For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.”

The main point of these statements by Jesus is that there is no place in the Church for a dominating, autocratic leadership style. Jesus said the Gentiles do this, but “it is not that way among you”. The true Church will be different. Humble leadership is the way of the true Church and service to others is the guiding light.

Simply put, greatness in the Kingdom is based on service to others with Jesus being the Supreme example of that intent. He did not come to be served by mankind, but to be a Servant to all, including going to the cross as a ransom for many. If James and John wanted to be first, they needed to be a committed servant (a slave to all).

While many will begin to think of the concept of Servant Leadership in reading these words and begin to think of biblical examples of such leaders (Moses, Peter, etc.), it is not the leader I want to focus on but “the process” followed by the servant. The initial question posed to me was a process question, “What can I do?”

Serve First

Jesus established a pattern in His ministry that is evident from looking at the Gospels: He served first, and then spoke His message.  He met the needs of the people first, and then He had a forum for communicating the reason why He served. If you look through Luke’s Gospel, for example, we read of Jesus healing the Centurion’s servant (Luke 7:1-10) which generated a sizeable crowd following Him (Luke 7:11). Jesus then interacts with a woman in Nain around a funeral procession for her son. Jesus felt compassion for her (Luke 7:13), tells her not to weep, and proceeds to raise her son from the dead. This opened the door for Him to speak about the Kingdom (Luke 7:40-50; 8:1-19).

In Luke 8:26-56, we see Jesus healing people, rescuing a man from demon possession, and raising a girl from the dead which is followed by the opportunity for Jesus to speak further.

In John’s Gospel, we see the account of Jesus feeding the five thousand (John 6:1-14) which allowed Him to speak to the people following Him (John 6:26-40) and then specifically to the Jews (John 6:41-58).

In these examples, Jesus served first, and then He spoke.

A quote attributed to President Theodore Roosevelt comes to mind: “People don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care.” Another version states that “people will not care what you have to say until they see how much you care for them.”

I remember my daughter and I walking on the streets of downtown Atlanta one day and we were approached by a homeless man looking for food. He walked with us pleading his case for a half a block and was getting more and more agitated with us thinking that we were not going to help him. He stopped walking and loudly said to me, “You’re just like all the others! You don’t care about the little people!” I stopped walking and simply pointed to a sign of a restaurant that was a few feet ahead of us, telling him that we were going to get him some food. Immediately, his countenance changed, he began walking with us in earnest, and was talking about his life’s struggles. When we got to the restaurant and he gave us his order, my daughter went inside to get him some food and he and I began to talk about Jesus. I told him how he and I were a lot alike to which he scoffed. “You have everything,” he said to me, “and I have nothing.” I told him that I was just a beggar like he was. The only difference is that someone told me where the bread was. Clearly, I could have been in his situation if God determined that was to happen. I then told him God will care for him if he is faithful to God. When my daughter returned, the man immediately started to apologize for his earlier behavior and prayed a prayer of thankfulness to God for taking care of him.

We need to serve first and then take the opportunity to speak about Jesus.

Paul wrote to the Philippians:

“Therefore, if there is any encouragement in Christ, if there is any consolation of love, if there is any fellowship of the Spirit, if any affection and compassion, make my joy complete by being of the same mind, maintaining the same love, united in spirit, intent on one purpose. Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves; do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others.

Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men. Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross” (Philippians 2:1-8).

Regarding one another as more important than yourself involves having an attitude of a servant, that is, having a servant’s heart that results in dedicated service to others.

Returning to our passage where Jesus says to “shake the dust of your feet,” we see a similar theme. Jesus told the disciples to “Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, cast out demons. Freely you received, freely give” (Matthew 10:8). The disciples were to serve the people and then have a standing in the people’s minds such that they could share the message of the Messiah.

Therefore, I see shaking the dust off your feet as a last and final resort after exhausting all attempts at serving them. Through continual service to your neighbor, you will find that the gospel message will come alive, and you will have a credible standing with them.

Pray to the Lord and ask, “How can I serve my neighbor?“

Perhaps you can mow their lawn, tend to their flowers, or bring over a plate of cookies just because. Maybe you could invite them over for a meal or offer to babysit their children so that the parents can have a night out. How about sending a card to them in the mail just to say that you appreciate them or if you know that someone has had a recent birthday?

None of this assures that they will accept your kindness, your message about Jesus, or Jesus’s free offer of salvation, of course, but your faithful commitment to Jesus’s pattern will ensure that one day you will hear from our Lord, “Well done, good and faithful servant.”

May the Lord present opportunities to serve our neighbors to glorify our Father in Heaven (Matthew 5:16).

May we who believe in Him be faithful to walk into these good work opportunities laid out in front of us (Ephesians 2:10).

May we continue to be bold in sharing our faith in all these opportunities.

May we and our respective churches commit to be part of the great white harvest in front of us.