By
Allen White
These twelve Jesus sent out with the
following instructions: “Do not go among the Gentiles or enter any town of the
Samaritans. Go rather to the lost sheep of Israel. As you go, proclaim this
message: ‘The kingdom of heaven has come near.’ Heal the sick, raise the dead,
cleanse those who have leprosy, drive out demons. Freely you have received;
freely give. Matthew 10:5-8
In sending out His
disciples to serve, Jesus instructed them to avoid the Gentiles (non-Jews) and
the Samaritans (half Jews). He only wanted His disciples to seek out the “lost
sheep of Israel.” This flies in the face of other parts of Scripture. Why would
Jesus intentionally ignore people who needed saving? Did He have something
against them?
This was the first
step in a multi-part strategy. His last words to His disciples instructed them
to witness in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria and the uttermost parts of the earth (Acts 1:8). The easiest group for His Jewish disciples to reach were Jews.
The Jews were
expecting the Messiah. They had some context about the message of the Gospel.
The Gentiles and even the Samaritans would have been a harder sell at this
point.
As Jesus began
building the church, He knew that the twelve needed to multiply in order to get
to the uttermost parts of the earth. The Jews, having a context for the Gospel
message, were the low hanging fruit, if you will.
In time, the
Gentiles and Samaritans would receive the Gospel. Jesus, Himself, shared with a
Samaritan woman (John 4). When the Roman centurion came to Him, Jesus said that He saw no greater
faith in all of Israel (Matthew 8:5-13).
Following Jesus’
model, we should start serving right where we are with the people we know.
Don’t get me wrong. I have nothing against mission trips. My first mission trip
took me to Hong Kong for a summer when I was 19-years-old. But, sometimes we’re
overly focused on serving “over there” to the point of ignoring who’s around
us.
Who’s in your life
that has a need? Who’s making bad choices? Who needs encouragement? Who do you
need to love enough by telling them they’re acting like a knucklehead?
Do you know your
neighbors? Do they need help? I wouldn’t start the conversation with the Four
Spiritual Laws or the Romans Road. Start by building a relationship. They may
be Jews or Gentiles or even Samaritans. That’s not the point. If they are
nearby and you can relate to them, then that’s your “Jerusalem.”
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