Luke 9

Luke 9

“He (Jesus) commissioned them to preach the news of God’s kingdom and heal the sick. He said, ‘Don’t load yourselves up with equipment. Keep it simple; you are the equipment. And no luxury inns-- get a modest place and be content there until you leave. If you’re not welcomed, leave town. Don’t make a scene. Shrug your shoulders and move on. (Luke 9:1-5 the Message)”

I learn two things from this passage. 1) Don’t think you have to have everything in place before you embark on a journey for Christ. These guys packed light, didn’t waste their money on staying at the Hilton and just WENT! So often, we think if we don’t have the money, if we don’t have the equipment, if we don’t have the contacts, etc, we can’t go out and serve. This is simply not true. He will provide everything needed for ministry if we will just GO out and DO IT!!! Letting finances prevent us from ministering is another way of tripping on money and falling into sin because we are trusting the money to help us do more good than we trust God to do. If we stay in a modest place, we’re going to relate to the people better than if we stay at the Hilton. This is funny because some friends and I have actually stayed at the Hilton for one nights layover on a short term missions trip to India. Now, the Hilton in India is pennies compared to staying at a hotel in the States and it was a once in a lifetime chance for us to be able to afford something so fun so of course we jumped at the chance. If you’re one of the friends who was on that trip with me and reading this right now, I’m not judging you! Its just funny to think back to that time and then read this passage. Actually, a couple short term trips I’ve been on had us staying in crazily, nice hotels. Modest is definitely a relative term and some of the people on the trip were amazingly nice Christian folks who just happened to make a lot of money. In their mind, these hotels were modest, but in my mind we were staying in the land of luxury. According to this passage, I think we should do our best to stay in a modest place according to the standards of the culture we are visiting. We don’t have to stay in a dangerous slum, but the 5 star resort with an indoor pool, fitness center and spa might not give us as many opportunities to meet the same people that say a modest hostel would have.

2)If you’re not welcomed by folks in a place that you’re sharing, move on-- aka if the fish aren’t biting at this creek, find a different creek! I have struggled with finding the balance between preaching the gospel regardless of what others think of me and facing slander and being ostracized by those who hate to hear or even discuss a different world-view than their own. Maybe you’ve experienced something similar:I’ve had admins on a blog kick me off for simply posting statistics proving the health risks of abortion for women verses following through with a pregnancy. While I made no moral or judging statements, the women on this website sensed something in opposition to their world-view and called my posts inflammatory and inappropriate! A few women on the site however, contacted me personally off-site asking for advice or thanking me for those posts. I was able to encourage one gal to try joining a local church for support. The rest of the fish in that creek weren’t biting so I moved on.

It is a little scary when faced with opposition,but my prayer for us all is that we can continue to share the truth with gentleness and respect in the face of ridicule or maybe even persecution someday. I hope I only care what Christ thinks of me, but at the same time it is still a challenge to share with people who can be very hurtful and negative with their words and actions. Sometimes I’m a wimp and sometimes I’m a lion. I hope as life goes on, I become more lion and less wimp.