Gene’s Daily Scriptural Postings

Trusting God with His Mission: Luke 10:1-20

Focus Passage: Luke 10:1-20 (NCV)

During Jesus’ ministry, He wanted to teach His disciples how to travel and do ministry following His return to heaven. While I don’t believe the disciples understood this reason at the time Jesus send them out on a mission trip, I believe they realized this later on.

Within Jesus’ send-off message to His followers, He describes how they should travel and how they should act. Luke tells us that Jesus instructed them to: “Don’t carry a purse, a bag, or sandals, and don’t waste time talking with people on the road. Before you go into a house, say, ‘Peace be with this house.’ If peace-loving people live there, your blessing of peace will stay with them, but if not, then your blessing will come back to you. Stay in the same house, eating and drinking what the people there give you. A worker should be given his pay. Don’t move from house to house.” (v. 4-7)

As I read this, I wonder if Jesus’ instructions to these disciples carry over to today. If I head out on a mission trip, should I avoid taking any money, any supplies, and not even a change of clothes? Also, if I am welcomed into a home, should I stay there until I’ve worn out my welcome and they kick me out?

Part of me takes this portion of Jesus’ instructions and attributes it to the time period and culture of the first century, but even as I do this, there are several things in this passage that are themes that apply to ministry an every point in history.

First, Jesus told His followers to not waste time talking with people on the road as they traveled. This does not mean that we should avoid God directed encounters with people, but it does mean that we should be extra intentional about what we spend time talking about. When we have a conversation with a stranger, while we might not want to immediately dive into deep theological matters, we should be extra intentional about the focus of our conversation and let God’s love shine through our words.

Next Jesus instructs His followers to bless the places they stay with a message of peace. This is done on the front end, before we really know the hosts, managers, or owners of the places we are staying. This teaches me to first assume love, acceptance, and peace from others instead of approaching a situation with the expectation of hostility or defensiveness. We are able to create the mood of our conversations through the expectations we bring to our interactions with others. God knows that our blessing will return to us if the person we offered it to rejects it, so we are called to freely bless those who are willing to help, because this is what God is like.

Thirdly, Jesus tells His followers to stay in the same house and accept the hospitality we receive. In today’s culture, I believe this means staying in one place as long as possible to give the impression of stability and certainty in those who hear about us. Staying in one place also helps people who hear about our ministry find us when they come looking. A restaurant that is constantly moving from place to place is likely to lose as many customers as it gains, and it is very hard on the managers and staff. A restaurant that has been at a certain place for a really long time implies that it is successful, well managed, and well liked. Our ministries should be consistent, stable, and long-term – and we should make it easy for God to send people our way by having a consistent location.

While some of Jesus’ instructions to His followers is redirected later on in Jesus’ ministry, the thing we should always remember, regardless of the point in history we live, is that we must depend 100% on God for help with the mission He has called us to. While He has challenged us to work and share His message with others, He wants us to depend on Him for help, direction, guidance, and strength to carry through with His work.

This thought was inspired by studying the Walking With Jesus “Reflective Bible Study” package. To discover insights like this in your own study time, click here and give Reflective Bible Study a try today!

Read this article on the web on it's official page: Trusting God with His Mission: Luke 10:1-20