Drawing the Line.

[TheBear]

"And whoever will not receive you nor hear your words, when you depart from that house or city, shake off the dust from your feet. " Matt 10:14

At what point should we, as Christians, 'shake off the dust' from our feet? How much tolerance is required, before we make such a decision?

John

 

[M.O.G.]

I hear ya loud & clear! I believe 3 times, after that it's a circular arugment. I'm guilty of it.


M.O.G.

 

[Droobie]

The way I see it... it is not you who is the one that can save an unbeliever. There is only one person who can do that. Our job is to at least seed the Word and knowledge. The individual hearing what you have to say makes their own descision to accept or reject. If they want to know more, good... if they don't, then don't worry, move on.

So I would not look at it as a line to be drawn. Spread the Word, seed the knowledge of the Gospels, then move on. God always has a plan and a path for everyone to take. Perhaps the next person who comes along will take that seed and develop it further.. then the next person then the next. It might take 10, 20, or 50 people witnessing before the individual accepts Christ, or they might never accept Christ.

Do not be disheartened when someone isn't dazzled by the words that come out of your mouth and is saved. But be encouraged that you played a part along the way of their Christian walk towards God.

 

[hagiadzo1999]

I agree with droobie! I don't know how many people witnessed to me before I got saved. I don't know how many people invited me to church, how many people invited me to youth group, invited me to some church function, asked to pray with me, before I finally accepted Him. Just remember this. Every time you do these things, or speak a kind word to someone who's hurting, or do a nice thing for someone who has wronged you, you are planting a seed for salvation in that person's heart.

~N~
<><

 

[TheBear]

My question has nothing to do with how many different Christians plant seeds, or anything like that. Agreed, some people recieve the message with the first Christian they encounter. For others, it may take many Christians over several years.
However, my question goes to the individual Christian who is witnessing at the time. They may be the first, or 100th. At what point does the individual Christian shake the dust from their feet? Is it with the first, "I don't want to hear it"? Does the situation almost have to come to blows before the Christian relents? Is there a sign from God? Is there a minimum time limit?

John

 

[Blynn]

Boy this is a tough one.

I am a believer that your words and life can be a witness to an unbeliever. You may be the only Jesus that person ever meets. Yes plant seeds. Yes pray.

Then I guess you get to the point where you are a defender of the faith.

I deal with this situation a lot at work.. Yes I am kind loving and patient with unbelievers. But I do not tolerate using God's name in vain. Or disrepect twords God. Yes they are lost but this is someone who is my life. I think if there comes a point where they decided to reject our message they need to respect our beliefs.

I say God Bless this forum. It is so cool. All are welcome. I love that. I hope many seeds are planted, but we should not tolerate disrepect for our Lord and Savior.

God Bless,
Roberta

 

[Droobie]

On a case by case basis... yes it can be hard determining when to pull back and let someone go on their way. You don't want to be pestering them ad nauseum. I believe that you shouldn't 'corner' someone when it's obvious they do not want to hear.

I remember before I was saved, I was quite amused at people who would come up to me evangelising. The desire to know God will come from within the person, and they will ask for more. People are more receptive to the Word and hearing about the Word when something in them wants/desires to hear.

Perhaps it's not a matter of drawing a line, but your approach or the way you are witnessing.

 

[Dee]

I remember studying this scripture once in a Sunday School lesson. Keep in mind Jesus has sent these apostles to carry the good news. He knows there will be those who will show contempt and total disrespect for them and their message, so He instructs them what they are do do should they encounter such contempt and rejection, so he instructs them not to linger, to shake off the dust and go on. I believe God will let us know when there is no need of further witnessing, He knows their hearts and whether what we are saying at this particular time will be of any benefit to that person. Perhaps He wants us to go at this time to someone who is ready to be more receptive to the Word. We can still be a witness by always showing God's love by the way we lead our lives. So I guess I am saying to shake off the dust when God tells us to. He will let your heart know when to do that. Droobie is right, we only plant the seed, God takes care of the rest. Dee

 

[Blynn]

Hi Dee,

Welcome to the forum

I think you made some excellent points. After all salvation is the Lord's work we are only the instruments that He uses. You are right we should follow His leading. If He says shake off the dust and says go then we should.

I am guilty of sometimes going ahead of God instead of waiting for His instruction.

God Bless,
Roberta

 

[MizDoulos]

Hi, Bear ~ my view on this is that when a person is willing to hear the gospel message, I spend as much time with them as they will allow. Then I pray for their salvation (if I wasn't already) and let the witness of living the Christian life be an extension of our talk. If they see a difference in our lives, they may wish to talk about Christ further. If not, I would not bring up the subject again.

This happened to me once when I used to work many moons ago. He is Jewish with a law degree and a brilliant thinker, to boot! When he saw me with my Bible on my desk (my boss didn't mind), he used to come over frequently and we'd discuss Creationism, among other issues. This friendship opened up a time when I was able to give him the gospel message. I didn't bring up salvation after that unless he wanted to discuss it.

Prayer before witnessing always is a good idea. God will let you know and open up a time when He says, "go for it!" He never fails.

 

[Dee]

Roberta, thanks so much for the welcome. Having one of those, can't sleep nights, so I thought I would check out the site. You make a good point also, as do all who post here. It is wonderful to be able to learn from one another, get and give points of view on a subject and come away feeling informed and welcome. I am going to enjoy participating on this forum. Dee

 

[imallforgod]

I guess my impression was always that the Lord felt that the disciples should take the good news where it was accepted. The acceptance doesn't have to be immediate salvation but rather anything but open denial. I could be wrong though IT's happened before....



I struggle with always feeling that I will never be able or worthy to witness to someone. I'm struggling too much in my own walk to be of any good to anyone else.

 

[solo66 man]

If someone is hostile or antagonistic, I walk. But generally I let the Holy Spirit speak to me, and even if someone is nice, I will know where their heart lies. I have been sitting at a table with
2 or 3 people claiming to be Christians and yet sensed a definite
quenching of the Spirit. It just depends.

At the same time, I have witnessed to one who said we should only bellieve in ourselves, and there is no God, because the condition of the world was so terrible. But the Holy Spirit said keep talking and at least by the time I was done, that person said, "God does love you." To which, my response was "He loves you, too." And it was time to stop.

We are to plant the seed, as you know, and God will take it from
there, as you know. God will either send someone or me or you
to water and next to harvest if the ground is right.
I love the way God works. He takes all the pressure off. He always knows what is needed next.