18  Principles for  Effective Ministry  (10:5-15)

These twelve Jesus sent out after instructing them, saying, “Do not go in the way of the Gentiles, and do not enter any city of the Samaritans; but rather go to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. And as you go, preach, saying, ‘The kingdom of heaven is at hand.’ Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, cast out demons; freely you received, freely give. Do not acquire gold, or silver, or copper for your money belts, or a bag for your journey, or even two tunics, or sandals, or a staff; for the worker is worthy of his support. And into whatever city or village you enter, inquire who is worthy in it; and abide there until you go away. And as you enter the house, give it your greeting. And if the house is worthy, let your greeting of peace come upon it; but if it is not worthy, let your greeting of peace return to you. And whoever does not receive you, nor heed your words, as you go out of that house or that city, shake off the dust of your feet. Truly I say to you, it will be more tolerable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah in the day of judgment, than for that city.” (10:5-15)

After the listing of the apostles, chapter 10 may be divided into three parts. The first section (vv. 5-15) deals with the basic task of ministry, the next section (vv. 16-23) with reaction to ministry, and the last section (vv. 24-42) with the cost of ministry.

The apostles were the original missionaries, trained and sent forth to preach the gospel to a world under God’s judgment, into a harvest that was plentiful but for which the workers were few (Matt. 9:37; cf. 2 Cor. 5:11). The instruction Jesus gave the apostles at this time was for short-term mission work in their own country; but the basic concepts apply to every believer the Lord sends out into ministry. Some of the specifics were restricted to a given time and situation, whereas the principles are broad and universal.

One of the tragedies of contemporary Christianity, and of the church throughout most of its history, is that many of those who purport to represent Jesus Christ either do not represent Him at all or represent Him poorly. Those whom Christ sends out cannot minister faithfully and effectively for Him if they do not understand and follow the principles for ministry that He Himself taught.

Jesus’ purpose for this first apostolic mission was twofold. First, it was for the sake of the lost, to give them opportunity to hear and accept the gospel; and, second, it was for the benefit of the twelve themselves, to give them training in the enterprise of winning souls. Jesus was instructing His disciples how to reproduce disciples.

In Matthew 10:5-15 Jesus articulates eight principles, each of which is a general requirement for effective ministry: a divine commission, a central objective, a clear message, confirming credentials, confident trust, settled commitment, concentration on those who are receptive, and rejection of those who are contemptuous.

A DIVINE COMMISSION

These twelve Jesus sent out after instructing them, saying, (10:5a)

The twelve had not volunteered to become disciples and apostles, nor did they volunteer to minister in Christ’s behalf. They were sovereignly called, commissioned, and sent out by Him. They were under divine orders. What the Lord said of Jeremiah could be said of each of the twelve: “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you” (Jer. 1:5).

From Mark’s parallel passage we learn that Jesus sent the disciples out in pairs (6:7). In that way they would have companionship while beginning a type of work that was new and completely foreign to them. Loneliness is fertile ground for temptation and weakness, and by going out with companions they would be less prone to discouragement, depression, and self-pity. They could encourage one another, hold each other accountable, and take turns ministering, thereby helping to reduce pressure and fatigue. In addition to that, the Old Testament principle of a testimony being confirmed by two or three witnesses (Deut. 19:15) would give added authority to the apostles’ preaching.

This particular time of ministry probably lasted only a few weeks, but it was specially significant, because it was the first time kingdom truth was proclaimed by anyone other than Christ Himself. In fulfillment of the purpose for which Christ had said to each of them, “Follow Me!” He now sent out each of them on their first assignment in His behalf.

God’s calling and sending of His people today is not as direct as that, but it can nevertheless be known. Three criteria can help a believer decide whether or not he is called into the Lord’s service. The first criterion is strong desire. God’s Word reveals that when we delight in Him, He will give us the desires of our heart (Ps. 37:4). The Christian who loves the Lord and wants above all else to please Him is sensitive to His will in ways that an unfaithful believer cannot be. When one’s life is centered on joyous obedience and one’s motive is God-honoring, it is perfectly appropriate to seek a place of ministry in the Lord’s service. Paul says that if a godly man aspires to the office of bishop, or overseer, “it is a fine work he desires to do” (1 Tim. 3:1). The closer we walk with the Lord, the more certain we can be that our desires are His desires.

A second criterion is the confirmation of the church. When a person feels a strong desire to preach but does not have the encouragement and support of godly believers who know him well, he should reevaluate the source of his feelings. The Lord uses other believers to confirm His call to individuals. The qualifications for church leaders, given in 1 Timothy 3 and Titus 1 are the standards by which the church is to measure the suitability of a person who desires to minister. Such confirmation is illustrated in what Paul told Timothy: “Do not neglect the spiritual gift within you, which was bestowed upon you through prophetic utterance with the laying on of hands by the presbytery [elders]” (1 Tim. 4:14).

A third criterion for determining God’s call is that of opportunity. When a person has a strong desire to minister and has the encouragement of the godly believers in the church, God will open a clear door of service, just as he did for Paul at Ephesus (1 Cor. 16:9).

The twelve were called and sent out by the direct spoken command of Jesus. His will for them was specific and unmistakable. Parangell, the verb behind instructing, had a number of usages in New Testament times. As a military term it represented the order of an officer to those under his command, an order that required unhesitating and unqualified obedience. As a legal term it was used of an official court summons, the equivalent of a modern subpoena, which to disregard made a person liable to severe punishment. Used ethically, the term represented a moral obligation that was binding on a person of integrity. As a medical term it represented a doctor’s prescription or instruction given to a patient. The word was also used to refer to certain accepted standards or techniques, such as those for writing or oratory.

In every dimension of its use, parangell included the idea of binding a person to make the proper response to an instruction. The soldier was bound to obey the orders of his superiors; a person involved in a legal matter was bound by the court’s orders; a person of integrity was bound by moral principles; a patient was bound to follow his doctor’s instruction if he wanted to get well; and a successful writer or speaker was bound by the standards of his craft. In various forms, the word is used some thirty times in the New Testament.

Jesus used it to direct a leper (Luke 5:14), to command an evil spirit (8:29), to order Jairus and his wife (8:56), and to charge His disciples (9:21). The officers of the Sanhedrin used the term when they commanded Peter and John “not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus” (Acts 4:18), as did some of the believing Pharisees in Jerusalem who insisted that it was necessary “to direct [Christians] to observe the Law of Moses” (Acts 15:5). Paul used the term frequently of his own commands as an apostle (1 Thess. 4:11; 2 Thess. 3:4, 6,10,12; 1 Tim. 6:13) as well as of instruction by other Christian leaders (1 Tim. 1:3; 6:17).

When one realizes his calling is of the Lord, he has no choice but to respond just as a soldier responds to his superior officer or a person in the courtroom responds to the judge. God sets the standards and gives the orders; our responsibility is to obey. God does not require creativity or innovation in His ministers, but He does require obedience and faithfulness (1 Cor. 4:2). The minister is not a chef but a waiter. He is not called to prepare the meal—because God has already done that—but to serve it just as he has received it. Like Paul, every minister is under God’s divine compulsion and should remind himself, “Woe is me if I do not preach the gospel” (1 Cor. 9:16).

In a general sense every believer is commissioned by the Lord and is bound to obey His call to go and present Him to the world. Not every believer is called to be a preacher, teacher, pastor, or missionary; but every believer is called to be Christ’s witness to the world. Jesus Christ has no followers who are not under His order in the Great Commission to “make disciples of all the nations” (Matt. 28:19).

The first and most essential element for ministry is the unqualified understanding that one is sovereignly called, gifted, and empowered by the Lord to do His work in His way. Children of God do not determine their own destiny or mark out their own patterns or plans. They are under divine orders, and their supreme, overarching concern must be to submit to Christ in all things.

A CENTRAL OBJECTIVE

“Do not go in the way of the Gentiles, and do not enter any city of the Samaritans; but rather go to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” (10:5b-6)

The second principle for ministry that emerges indirectly from this passage is that of having a central objective. A ministry that is not focused on certain priority objectives is a ministry doomed to mediocrity. God gives different objectives to different people, and He often changes objectives from time to time and situation to situation, as He did with the apostles. But He never asks a person to do everything in sight. He is a loving and reasonable God, and when we find ourselves frustrated and overworked, we may be trying to do more than He has called us to do or are seeking to do it in our own power. In spite of the great personal effort required in faithful spiritual service (cf. Phil. 2:30; Col. 1:24), when the yoke and load are truly His, Jesus assures us they will be easy and light (Matt. 11:29).

The Great Commission was Christ’s broad, general order to proclaim the gospel to the whole world, but in carrying out that commission the apostles would be given specific gifts and specific ministries. Yet at this particular time in Christ’s plan for proclaiming the gospel and for preparing the apostles, His objective was especially narrow and limited.

In the way of and any city of represent two Greek possessive genitives. The apostles were not to go into any way, or area, belonging to Gentiles or into any city that belonged to Samaritans. In other words, they were not at this time to proclaim the kingdom message of salvation to non-Jewish people.

That this was a temporary command is seen not only from the clear call of the Great Commission but from the fact that Jesus had already ministered both to Gentiles and to Samaritans. He had healed the Gentile centurion’s servant (Matt. 8:5-13) and had first revealed Himself publicly as the Messiah to the Samaritan woman of Sychar, who believed in Him herself and led other Samaritans to saving faith (John 4:7-42).

The redemption of the whole world had always been in God’s plan. He did not call Abraham in order that only he and his descendants, the Hebrew people, would be blessed but that through those descendants “all the families of the earth shall be blessed” (Gen. 12:3). God’s chosen people, like His only begotten Son, were called to be a light to the Gentile nations to draw them to His righteousness and to “bring salvation to the end of the earth” (Acts 13:47; cf. Isa. 42:6; 49:6; 60:3; 62:1-2). From the beginning, Israel was not called simply to receive, but also to be the channel of, God’s blessing. The covenant people were to be a witnessing people to the rest of the world, that is, to Gentiles.

The Samaritans were especially despised by Jews, because they were half-breeds, neither true Jews nor true Gentiles. But Jesus always showed kindness to Samaritans, even to the woman from Sychar who was living in adultery. And in His parable of neighborly love, a Samaritan was favorably portrayed as the epitome of godly compassion. In Christ’s last words to the apostles before His ascension, He specifically names Samaria as a field of ministry (Acts 1:8).

There are perhaps three reasons that Jesus chose to restrict the apostles’ ministry at this time to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. First was the Jews’ special place in God’s plan. They were God’s chosen people, the people of the covenants, the promises, and the law John the Baptist preached primarily to fellow Jews, “saying, ‘Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand’” (Matt. 3:1-2), and Jesus began His own ministry with the same declaration to the same people (4:17). As He explained to the Samaritan woman, “Salvation is from the Jews” (John 4:22); that is, it came to the Jews first and, through them, comes to the rest of the world, just as God had promised Abraham. Israel, represented by “Jerusalem, and . . . Judea,” was the launching point for taking the gospel to “Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth” (Acts 1:8). Even Paul, the apostle to the Gentiles, always began a new ministry in the local synagogue whenever he was able (see Acts 9:20; 13:5; 18:4; 19:8). Jews were the first to hear the gospel and the first to preach the gospel.

Had the apostles gone first to the Samaritans and Gentiles, the Jews would have been very reluctant to listen to them, because they would have perceived the apostles as bearers of a pagan religion. Although they had greatly distorted and disobeyed God’s revelation, the Jews were right in their belief that His revelation to them was unique and that they had a unique role in His plan of redemption.

Second, Jesus sent the apostles to preach first to Jews because they were barely up to the task of witnessing effectively to their own people—much less of witnessing to Gentiles and Samaritans, whose cultures and ways they little understood and greatly despised. Even after Pentecost, Peter was not convinced the gospel was for Gentiles. The Lord had to persuade him through a special vision and by firsthand witness of the Spirit’s work in Cornelius and his household (Acts 10). Peter’s prejudice was so strong that many years later he, along with Barnabas and other Jewish Christians, broke fellowship with their Gentile brothers in Christ, “fearing the party of the circumcision” (Gal. 2:12-13), who taught that Gentiles had to become Jewish proselytes before they could become Christians.

Except for Cornelius and his household, the Ethiopian eunuch, and a few others, the gospel had little impact on the Gentile world until the Lord raised up Paul. Although a former Pharisee and a “Hebrew of Hebrews” (Phil. 3:5), this apostle had grown up in Tarsus, a Gentile city, and was learned in Gentile literature, religion, and culture.

Third, Jesus probably restricted the apostles’ first ministry to the Jews for the practical reason that the twelve needed a special point of attack, a limited and familiar field in which they could concentrate their fledgling efforts. An unfocused ministry is a shallow ministry. The effective worker for Jesus Christ puts his primary energy and effort into the task the Lord has assigned him. He is concerned for all of the Lord’s work, but he does not try to do it all himself.

Jesus’ own earthly ministry was limited. He did not travel outside Palestine, and His ministry to Gentiles and Samaritans was incidental when compared to His ministry to the Jews. He did not have preaching missions in Gentile territory, and He ministered to Samaritans only as He passed through their land while traveling between the Jewish regions of Judea and Galilee. All of His public teaching and preaching and the vast majority of His miraculous works were done among the Jews. To the Canaanite woman from the district of Tyre and Sidon, Jesus said, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel” (Matt. 15:24). As already pointed out, His personal ministry to others besides Jews and His commands to take the gospel into all the world show that “only to … Israel” referred to the primary objective of His work at that time. The gospel was not generally taken to non-Jews until it was first fully presented to God’s chosen people (cf. Rom. 1:16).

Jesus was now giving a limited command to His apostles that was valid only for that time and place in His divine plan of world redemption. But the command illustrates a principle that is valid for every ministry in every time and place—namely, that God gives His people clear, specific objectives for service and ministry.

Self-styled messiahs are always egotists who expect to win the world immediately. Their ministry often seeks to be so vast that it becomes all breadth and no depth, like a lake a mile across and an inch deep.

A CLEAR MESSAGE

And as you go, preach, saying, “The kingdom of heaven is at hand.” (10:7)

The third precept for effective ministry illustrated here is that of having a clear message. Many people fail to understand and receive the gospel because they have not heard it clearly presented.

Some years ago a fellow pastor who was sitting next to me on a plane took a small piece of paper and began writing on it until it was completely covered. When he handed it to me and asked me what it said, I could hardly distinguish a single letter. “Well, what was the first word I wrote?” he asked; and I had to confess again that I had no idea. Then he showed me what he had done. He gave me another small, blank piece of paper and told me to write “Christ” on it. On top of that first word and all over the rest of the paper I was then told to write “Baptist, Presbyterian, Methodist, Episcopal, Pentecostal, dispensational, fundamental, evangelical, liberal, Protestant,” and perhaps a dozen more such terms. His point was clear: the simple gospel of Jesus Christ is sometimes so encumbered with secondary matters and human interpretations that the world has no idea what its central message is.

Not only the world but many believers are confused about Christianity because preachers and teachers digress from the gospel of the kingdom into every sort of secondary cause and emphasis. Satan’s surest way of making the gospel impotent is simply to keep it from being understood. When the gospel is clouded with political, cultural, social, economic, environmental, ecclesiastical, and other such causes, its message is muddled and its power is diluted.

The message Jesus gave the apostles to preach was simply stated: The kingdom of heaven is at hand. Obviously they were to elaborate and explain what that meant, but the basic truth was unmistakable.

In Scripture, the kingdom of heaven can be viewed in three aspects. First, it is manifest in conversion, when a person enters the sovereign rule of God by trusting in Christ for salvation (cf. Matt. 18:3). Second, it is manifest in consecration, as believers live out the divine principles of God’s revelation by obedience to His Word. “The kingdom of God is . . . righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit” (Rom. 14:17). Third, the kingdom will be seen in its glorious millennial form when Christ returns to earth to establish and rule it in person and then sets up His eternal kingdom (Matt. 25:31; Acts 3:19-21; Rev 11:15; 20:4).

The central message of the kingdom is the message about the King. By definition, a kingdom is the domain ruled by a king, its sovereign. But the essence of a kingdom is not the geographical area but the actual ruling of the king, the administration of his will over the citizens of the kingdom. The kingdom of heaven is above all the domain of God’s lordship, where He rules by His divine will. All of Jesus’ teaching—from His public instruction of the multitudes in the Sermon on the Mount through His private instruction to the twelve disciples at the Last Supper and for forty days after His resurrection—was teaching the truths and principles of life in God’s kingdom.

The gospel of the kingdom has many practical ramifications, social as well as personal. But until its central message of God’s sovereign provision for man’s salvation is clearly understood, accepted, and obeyed, trying to apply it to any other area of life is both disobedient to Christ’s command and futile. The gospel transforms society only as it transforms individuals.

CONFIRMING CREDENTIALS

Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, cast out demons; freely you received, freely give. (10:8)

The fourth principle of ministry presented here is that of confirming credentials. Doctors, lawyers, and other professionals prominently display the diplomas and other documents that certify their qualifications and authority to practice. In a far more important way, those who represent Christ must have credentials that confirm their divine mission and message. Jesus gave confirming signs for His own ministry, and now He calls the apostles to demonstrate their authority by performing similar signs and wonders.

Because the twelve had no formal training and were obviously not part of the established Jewish religious leadership, which was dominated by the scribes, Pharisees, Sadducees, and priests; because they were not even itinerant rabbis like Jesus; and because there was no New Testament to confirm their message, and most Jews had a distorted understanding even of their own Scriptures, the Old Testament, they had to have a special means of confirming their preaching and teaching.

“The signs of a true apostle,” Paul declared, are “signs and wonders and miracles” (2 Cor. 12:12). It was with those evidential signs that Jesus empowered the apostles as He sent them out on their first mission to preach to “the lost sheep of the house of Israel.”

The blind man healed in Jerusalem immediately recognized Jesus’ power to heal as proof He was from God. He told the unbelieving Pharisees, “Well, here is an amazing thing, that you do not know where He is from, and yet He opened my eyes. We know that God does not hear sinners; but if anyone is God-fearing, and does His will, He hears him. Since the beginning of time it has never been heard that anyone opened the eyes of a person born blind. If this man were not from God, He could do nothing” (John 9:30-33).

The signs, wonders, and miracles Jesus commanded the apostles to perform were not for the purpose of simply demonstrating raw supernatural power. Jesus did not tell the apostles, for example, to disappear and reappear, to move the Temple from one place to another, or any such thing. The miracles they performed created wonder and demonstrated the character of God and the nature of His kingdom.

The first of the miraculous credential was the ability to heal the sick and cleanse the leper. Jesus did not want the people simply to know God’s power, but to know that He offered His power to help them. The miracles were signs pointing to God’s compassion and mercy. They demonstrated the sympathetic heart of God, who cares for the suffering, the hurting, the afflicted, and the needy. The future kingdom coming to earth will bring the removal of disease and the restoration of broken bodies, just as God’s Word had predicted (Isa. 29:18; 35:5-6; 42:7). Thus these miracles not only revealed the nature of God but predicted the millennium.

When John was imprisoned and sent his disciples to ask Jesus if He were truly the Messiah, Jesus answered, “Go and report to John what you hear and see: the blind receive sight and the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear, and the dead are raised up, and the poor have the gospel preached to them” (Matt. 11:4-5). Jesus knew John would recognize those miracles as the confirming marks of God’s Messiah and God’s kingdom.

Though such apostolic miracles ceased with termination of the apostles’ work, those who genuinely represent Jesus Christ still give themselves to the sick, the suffering, the downtrodden, and the needy of every sort. The Christian leader who spends all of his time and effort working with those who are healthy and well-to-do either is not sent by God or is not fully faithful to his calling. Every person needs the gospel and every believer continues to need God’s help and provision, but God has compassion for those who are in great need.

The Old Testament made that truth clear. “The needy will not always be forgotten, nor the hope of the afflicted perish forever,” David wrote (Ps. 9:18). “ ‘Because of the devastation of the afflicted, because of the groaning of the needy, now I will arise,’ says the Lord; ‘I will set him in the safety for which he longs’” (Ps. 12:5). Again David wrote, “All my bones will say, ‘Lord, who is like Thee, who delivers the afflicted from him who is too strong for him, and the afflicted and the needy from him who robs him?’” (Ps. 35:10), and “I know that the Lord will maintain the cause of the afflicted, and justice for the poor” (Ps. 140:12). “The afflicted and needy are seeking water,” God declared through Isaiah, “but there is none, and their tongue is parched with thirst; I, the Lord, will answer them Myself, as the God of Israel I will not forsake them” (Isa. 41:17). God is the refuge of the afflicted (Ps. 14:6).

By contrast, the world and its representatives have little compassion. The godless person “oppresses the poor and needy, commits robbery, does not restore a pledge” (Ezek. 18:12). He persecutes the poor (Ps. 10:2), puts heavy burdens on them and defrauds them (Amos 5:11; 8:5-6, grinds them down (Isa. 3:15), and devours them (Hab. 3:14). The world has little use for the afflicted. What concern there is comes as the residual fruit of Christian influence on society.

False prophets have no mercy or compassion but rather use and abuse people to their own selfish advantage. Jesus warned about “the scribes who like to walk around in long robes, and like respectful greetings in the market places, and chief seats in the synagogues, and places of honor at banquets” but “who devour widows’ houses” (Mark 12:38-40).

Christians who are thoroughly orthodox in doctrine and sound in moral character often show little compassion for the poor, the sick, and the afflicted. In such cases they are ineffective and inconsistent representatives of Jesus Christ, despite their sound doctrine and high morals, because they lack an important credential that should mark the servant of Christ.

The second apostolic credential was the power to raise the dead and cast out demons. Here the apostles are enabled to manifest God’s power even in bringing the dead back to life and in invading and conquering the unseen demonic kingdom of darkness.

Such gifts of miraculous powers were restricted to the apostolic age, and no believer today manifests such supernatural apostolic credentials. But though it is shown in less dramatic and physically awesome ways, the mark of divine power still validates the work of those God sends out to do His will. The ministry of the true servant of Christ is characterized by God’s power in redeeming lives, giving divine spiritual understanding, and bringing spiritual growth. Through the faithful witness even of the least-gifted believer the gospel has unleashed power to raise the spiritually dead to life and to shatter the work of demons and of Satan himself.

The third confirming credential was obedience to Christ’s admonition, freely you received, freely give. The apostles were given their miraculous power from God, and they were to use it without thought of personal gain or advantage. It was God’s power, not theirs, and it was to be used for His glory, not their prosperity. The faithful servant of Jesus Christ is marked by unselfishness.

Exorcists were common among the Jews of Jesus’ day, and many of them made a lucrative living purporting to cast out demons. People who were demon possessed or had loved ones who were possessed were willing to pay almost any price for deliverance, and there were plenty of charlatans willing to take advantage of their desperation. People would also pay whatever they could for physical healing, and many became like the woman with the hemorrhage, who “had endured much at the hands of many physicians, and had spent all that she had and was not helped at all” (Mark 5:26).

The apostles could have become immensely wealthy had they charged for healing, raising the dead, and casting out demons. Simon the magician had visions of such wealth as he saw the dramatic miracles being performed in Samaria by Philip. When Peter and John came up there and began laying their hands on the believers that they might receive the Holy Spirit, Simon “offered them money, saying, ‘Give this authority to me as well, so that everyone on whom I lay my hands may receive the Holy Spirit.’ But Peter said to him, ‘May your silver perish with you, because you thought you could obtain the gift of God with money!’” (Acts 8:18-20).

In New Testament times rabbis were bound by Talmudic law to teach for nothing, for the same basic reason Jesus gave the apostles. Moses had been given the law freely by God, and rabbis were not to charge for teaching it. The only exception was for teaching a small child of parents who were shirking their own responsibility for teaching him. The Mishna held that a rabbi was no more to take money for teaching than a judge was to take money for his decision in a court or a witness for his testimony. Rabbi Zedek wrote, “Make not the law a crown wherewith to aggrandize thyself, or a spade wherewith to dig.” The famous Hillel said, “He who makes worldly use of the crown of the law shall waste away, hence thou mayest infer that whosoever desires a profit for himself from the words of the law is helping his own destruction.”

False teachers, on the other hand, put a price on their ministry, because their motive is not to serve either God or men but themselves. Isaiah spoke of such false shepherds of God’s people “who have no understanding; they have all turned to their own way, each one to his unjust gain, to the last one” (Isa. 56:11). Peter says of them that “in their greed they will exploit you with false words”; but, he goes on to say, “their judgment from long ago is not idle, and their destruction is not asleep” (2 Pet. 2:3).

One qualification for elders is that they “shepherd the flock of God . . . not under compulsion, but voluntarily, according to the will of God; and not for sordid gain” (1 Pet. 5:2; cf. Titus 1:7). They are to be “free from the love of money” (1 Tim. 3:3). The pastor who puts a price on his ministry prices himself out of God’s blessing.

The present application of this teaching should be that God’s ministers are to be supported by God’s people, because “the worker is worthy of his support,” as Jesus goes on to say (Matt. 10:10: cf. Luke 10:7). But they are not to put their services out for hire to the highest bidder or demand a given amount they feel they deserve to be paid. It is their responsibility to faithfully minister and the people’s responsibility to faithfully support them. This balance becomes clear in the next element of our Lord’s teaching.

CONFIDENT FAITH

Do not acquire gold, or silver, or copper for your money belts, or a bag for your journey, or even two tunics, or sandals, or a staff; for the worker is worthy of his support. (10:9-10)

The fifth principle of ministry practically illustrated in this passage is that of confidently trusting God for whatever is needed. The apostles not only were not to demand payment for their services but were not to amass a great amount of money in advance of their mission. They were not to acquire gold, or silver, or copper for [their] money belts. Those three metals represented the various coinages in use at the time, in descending order of value. They were not to take valuable gold or silver coins or even less valuable copper ones. They were to go out with their money belts empty.

The bag probably refers to a food sack that was commonly carried on a journey, since inns were widely scattered and expensive. The apostles were not even to take a sack lunch.

Nor were they to take extra tunics, or sandals, or a staff. The tunic was an important outer garment that served both as overcoat and blanket. Sandals were necessary to protect the feet from sharp rocks, thorns, and the hot ground. A staff was helpful protection against robbers or wild animals.

The apostles were to go forth with a minimum of clothing and supplies, trusting the Lord to provide whatever else they needed. God Himself established the principle that the worker is worthy of his support, and He will see that it is fulfilled.

The rabbis had followed that principle for many years. One ancient rabbi had written, “He who receives a rabbi into his house or as his guest and lets him have his enjoyment from his possessions, the Scripture ascribes to him as if he had offered the continual offerings.” They rightly believed that God would bless those who provided food, clothing, shelter, and other aid to the teachers of His Word.

“Let the elders who rule well be considered worthy of double honor,” Paul wrote to Timothy, “especially those who work hard at preaching and teaching. For the Scripture says, ‘You shall not muzzle the ox while he is threshing,’ and, ‘The laborer is worthy of his wages’” (1 Tim. 5:17-18). God’s people are to do more than simply provide for their ministers’ bare needs; they are also to honor them with generosity, especially when they are faithfully proclaiming the Word. It is God’s divine plan that those who “proclaim the gospel. . . get their living from the gospel” (1 Cor. 9:14).

Ministers who never demand anything, who never put a price on their work, and who trust the Lord to provide for their needs have the special blessing of knowing that what they do receive is a gift from the Lord, expressive of His loving, generous care.

SETTLED COMMITMENT

And into whatever city or village you enter, inquire who is worthy in it; and abide there until you go away. (10:11)

The sixth principle of ministry Jesus here teaches by implication, and it is in two parts. First, a person is to find a proper place to stay while ministering in a given location, and second, he is to be satisfied to remain there until the work is finished.

Worthy does not mean wealthy or influential but refers to the spiritual and moral character of the host. In whatever city or village the apostles would enter, they were to seek out someone to stay with who was known to be godly, whose integrity and life-style were beyond question in the community. Otherwise the ungodly association would harm both their own spirituality and the effectiveness of their testimony.

Once they found a satisfactory place to stay, they were to abide there until they went away. The minister is not to keep his eye out for better accommodations or even to accept a voluntary offer for better lodging and thus offend his original host. His sole focus should be on his ministry, and his contentment with what he has and where he is staying will itself be a testimony to those to whom he ministers.

Such contentment and humble satisfaction will also benefit the minister’s own spiritual life, because, Paul assures us, “godliness actually is a means of great gain, when accompanied by contentment” (1 Tim. 6:6). In his own ministry Paul had “learned to be content in whatever circumstances” he was in. He knew “how to get along with humble means,. . . to live in prosperity; in any and every circumstance.” He had “learned the secret of being filled and going hungry, both of having abundance and suffering need,” because he had learned that he could do all things through Christ, who strengthened him (Phil. 4:11-13).

CONCENTRATION ON THOSE WHO ARE RECEPTIVE

And as you enter the house, give it your greeting. And if the house is worthy, let your greeting of peace come upon it; (10:12-13a)

The seventh principle of ministry reflected in our Lord’s teaching here is that of concentrating effort on those who are receptive to the gospel.

The house referred to here is not the place where the apostles would lodge but represents the various houses where they would go to minister. A worthy house was one where their witness and work were appreciated and accepted as being from God.

The greeting was the age-old Jewish greeting shlôm, which is usually translated simply as peace but which carries the much deeper meaning of total well-being and wholeness of body, mind, and spirit.

The household that gladly received the apostles was to have its greeting of peace confirmed upon it. The implication is that truly receptive listeners were to be ministered to in the fullest way. Their open hearts to the Lord’s work earned them God’s richest blessing. “He who receives a prophet in the name of a prophet,” Jesus explained a short while later, “shall receive a prophet’s reward; and he who receives a righteous man in the name of a righteous man shall receive a righteous man’s reward” (Matt. 10:41).

God does not call his servants to minister only where the gospel is immediately and eagerly received. Many fields of service are extremely resistant to the gospel. But the focus of ministry in any area or circumstance should be on those people who are most receptive. Those who hunger and thirst for righteousness are promised satisfaction (Matt. 5:6), and the faithful minister should give of himself fully and freely in feeding them God’s Word. God’s mandate is that the gospel should be preached first to those who want it most. They not only are the most deserving but are the ones most likely to believe and to win still others to Himself.

REJECTION OF THOSE WHO ARE CONTEMPTUOUS

but if it is not worthy, let your greeting of peace return to you. And whoever does not receive you, nor heed your words, as you go out of that house or that city, shake off the dust of your feet. Truly I say to you, it will be more tolerable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah in the day of judgment, than for that city.’“ (1O:13b-15)

The last principle for ministry shows the reverse side of the previous one, namely, that of not spending undue time on those who persist in rejecting the gospel.

If a house was not worthy, Jesus told the twelve, let your greeting of peace return to you, which was an Oriental expression signifying withdrawal of favor or blessing. It is not that such a household would have a blessing and then lose it, but that the offer of peace was never received and is therefore withdrawn. The greatest blessing of God is worthless for a person who will not accept it. God’s gospel is offered to all the world, and it has power to save all the world, but it is powerless to save or help even a single person who will not have Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior (cf. John 5:40).

The same principle applies to false teachers who come to us. “If anyone comes to you,” John warns, “and does not bring this teaching, do not receive him into your house, and do not give him a greeting; for the one who gives him a greeting participates in his evil deeds” (2 John 10-11).

When a house or a city was contemptuous of the apostles and of the words they taught, as they left that house or city they were to shake off the dust of their feet. When they came back into Israel from a Gentile country, many Jews would literally shake as much dust off their feet as possible in order not to bring pagan soil into their homeland. For the apostles to shake the dust off their feet while leaving a Jewish house or town would be to treat the inhabitants like Gentiles—whom most Jews considered to be out of God’s reach. When the leaders of the synagogue in Pisidia of Antioch drove Paul and Barnabas out of their district, the two men “shook off the dust of their feet in protest against them and went to Iconium” (Acts 13:51). Of the unbelieving Jews there Paul had declared, “It was necessary that the word of God should be spoken to you first; since you repudiate it, and judge yourselves unworthy of eternal life, behold, we are turning to the Gentiles” (v. 46; cf. Matt. 7:6).

It is not that we are to turn away from those who reject the gospel at first hearing or even after several hearings. Had that practice been followed, many believers would not be in the kingdom today. Through Paul, the Lord Himself entreated unbelieving Corinthians to “be reconciled to God” (2 Cor. 5:20). Were God not marvelously patient and longsuffering with fallen mankind, He would have destroyed the world long ago. He is infinitely patient with sinners, Peter tells us, “not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance” (2 Pet. 3:9).

Jesus was not speaking of those who are slow to understand or believe but of those who, after hearing a clear testimony of the gospel and seeing dramatic and irrefutable signs of confirmation, continue to resist and oppose it. When a person’s mind is firmly set against God, we should turn our efforts to others.

When people “have tasted the good word of God and the powers of the age to come, and then have fallen away, it is impossible to renew them again to repentance, since they again crucify to themselves the Son of God, and put Him to open shame” (Heb. 6:5-6). Of such people, Jesus warns, Truly I say to you, it will be more tolerable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah in the day of judgment, than for that city. God utterly destroyed those two ancient cities with brimstone and fire because of their wickedness (Gen. 19:24), and today no certain trace of them has yet been found by archaeologists. But men and women who are contemptuous of the gracious, saving gospel of Jesus Christ face an even worse fate in the day of judgment (cf. Matt. 24:50-51; 25:14-46; 2 Thess. 1:5-10).