4/21/14

From Gary... Read the signs out there


You can lead a horse to water, but you can't make him eat pizza; a little saying of mine that somehow seems to go along with this sign.  Fact is: Some people do NOT WANT TO BE BOTHERED; they have their minds made up about their lives and just don't want to be bothered with anything new and become antagonistic when confronted . Well, what do you do with such people? Since each person and situation is unique, there is no "one size fits all", answer, but...

Acts, Chapter 18
4 He reasoned in the synagogue every Sabbath, and persuaded Jews and Greeks.  5 But when Silas and Timothy came down from Macedonia, Paul was compelled by the Spirit, testifying to the Jews that Jesus was the Christ.  6 When they opposed him and blasphemed, he shook out his clothing and said to them, “Your blood be on your own heads! I am clean. From now on, I will go to the Gentiles!”

Paul was a very patient man. He endured things for the sake of his Jewish brethren that are almost unbelievable. However, there is a time to let people go their own way and reap the consequences of their actions. By the time of Acts 18, Paul had had enough and it was time to go to the Gentiles.  

Many years earlier, the following account gives us insight as to how Jesus advised dealing with a similar situation...

Mark, Chapter 6
7 He (Jesus) called to himself the twelve, and began to send them out two by two; and he gave them authority over the unclean spirits.  8 He commanded them that they should take nothing for their journey, except a staff only: no bread, no wallet, no money in their purse,  9 but to wear sandals, and not put on two tunics.  10 He said to them, “Wherever you enter into a house, stay there until you depart from there.   11 Whoever will not receive you nor hear you, as you depart from there, shake off the dust that is under your feet for a testimony against them. Assuredly, I tell you, it will be more tolerable for Sodom and Gomorrah in the day of judgment than for that city!”

Please do not misunderstand- I hope that everyone will respond to the Gospel message, but if they repeatedly refuse to listen, then let them alone. I think these two passages provide sufficient examples for this course of action. Sometimes the facts of dealing with our fellow human beings are hard to accept, but life is what it is....