Today’s reading is from Acts 13.

49The word of the Lord spread through the whole region. 50But the Jews incited the God-fearing women of high standing and the leading men of the city. They stirred up persecution against Paul and Barnabas, and expelled them from their region. 51So they shook the dust from their feet in protest against them and went to Iconium. 52And the disciples were filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit.

Verse 51. “So they shook the dust from their feet in protest against them and went to Iconium.” To shake the dust from your feet, from what I understand, was to leave that city behind you. You weren’t going to leave that town with even dust from their roads on you.

But there’s more to this. Notice it says that Paul and Barnabas were expelled before they left. They didn’t leave willingly, they were sent out. Only after they were told, “don’t come back” did they say “we won’t, and we won’t even take the dust from your roads with us.”

It’s important that we give an honest effort in sharing the love of Jesus with others. Sometimes we can do that through practical means, like Crash, and sometimes it’s through other means, like talking. We will come up against trouble, Jesus told us this. But we can’t quit just because we meet some resistance.

If a group of people, or a town says, “your beliefs anger us; get out,” my advice, taken from the Bible, would be this. Walk to the edge of town, take off your Skechers, beat ‘em together a few times to make sure any sand, soil, grit, grime or grub from that town is off you, put your shoes back on, give that town a smile and a wave, and seek clearer skies.

As baffling as it might be, it just means that, sometimes, we gotta look a little harder for someone to hear the Good News we have to share.

[tags]acts 13, paul, barnabas, jesus, preaching, smile, joy, persecution, dust[/tags]