New Wineskins
These twelve Jesus sent out with the following instructions: Matthew 10:5
In Matthew 10, Jesus sends his disciples into a hostile environment where he knew that their message might be rejected. The way he instructed them to be salt and light in a harsh environment is the very same way we need to be salt and light in an increasingly hostile American culture.
1. Travel light. Do not get any gold or silver or copper to take with you in your belts—no bag for the journey or extra shirt or sandals or a staff, for the worker is worth his keep. Matthew 10:9-10 Jesus tells his disciples to pack light. Their mission isn’t to settle in one place but to travel far and wide spreading the gospel. In the same way, we’re reminded that this world isn’t our home. If we get too attached to possessions, perks or a routine in life, we can begin to forget that we’re merely traveling through this world to our ultimate destination in heaven.
2. Search for people of peace. Whatever town or village you enter, search there for some worthy person and stay at their house until you leave. As you enter the home, give it your greeting. If the home is deserving, let your peace rest on it; if it is not, let your peace return to you. Matthew 10:11-13 In a hostile world there will always be people of peace, people who’s hearts are ready to hear and respond to the Word of God. We need to be on the lookout for those who’s hearts are ready to surrender to God.
3. Be as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves. I am sending you out like sheep among wolves. Therefore be as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves. Matthew 10:16 Angrily blasting those that don’t agree with you on social media is not being as shrewd as a snake. We need to find a way to maintain our beliefs while not unnecessarily burning bridges with the lost world around us. You don’t have to sacrifice relationships for your beliefs. You can maintain both. You just have to work a little harder at it.
4. Expect persecution. Be on your guard; you will be handed over to the local councils and be flogged in the synagogues. On my account you will be brought before governors and kings as witnesses to them and to the Gentiles. But when they arrest you, do not worry about what to say or how to say it. At that time you will be given what to say, for it will not be you speaking, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you. Matthew 10:17-20 We should never be surprised at persecution. If we stand up to a pagan worldview, we will be branded as narrow-minded, intolerant bigots for our biblical beliefs. That should never surprise us. We are calling out a society we believe has strayed from God. Persecution is the price we pay for that.
5. Remember your place. The student is not above the teacher, nor a servant above his master. It is enough for students to be like their teachers, and servants like their masters. If the head of the house has been called Beelzebul, how much more the members of his household! Matthew 10:24-25 We are persecuted because Jesus was persecuted. If we ever believe that we’re entitled to a life without persecution, we are putting ourselves above our master. That is dangerous territory for Christians to venture into.
6. Don’t be afraid. So do not be afraid of them, for there is nothing concealed that will not be disclosed, or hidden that will not be made known. What I tell you in the dark, speak in the daylight; what is whispered in your ear, proclaim from the roofs. Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell. Matthew 10:26-28 At the end of the day, the worst they can do to us is kill us. But we will be resurrected, we will live forever, and our eternity is secure in Jesus. Once their greatest threat is declawed, what is left to fear?
7. Remember what’s at stake. Whoever acknowledges me before others, I will also acknowledge before my Father in heaven. But whoever disowns me before others, I will disown before my Father in heaven. Matthew 10:32-33 We are playing for keeps. Eternities are on the line. Christians are not given an ‘opt-out’ button when life gets tough. In the same way we acknowledge Jesus before others, Jesus will acknowledge us before the Father.
8. Know that Jesus’ mission has always been counter cultural. Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. For I have come to turn ‘a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law—a man’s enemies will be the members of his own household.’ Matthew 10:34-36 Our conflict with society isn’t a recent development. From the very beginning Jesus challenged the status quo. A call to follow Jesus has always been a call to be counter cultural.
9. Hope for life. Whoever finds their life will lose it, and whoever loses their life for my sake will find it. Matthew 10:39 In the midst of all this Jesus promises that we will find life. We will tap into the very purpose for which we were created, and we will experience the fellowship with Almighty God that transcends anything else on this planet. When we surrender our lives for Jesus, we find the life we’ve been looking for the whole time.
10. Above all else, love. And if anyone gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones who is my disciple, truly I tell you, that person will certainly not lose their reward. Matthew 10:42 Jesus finishes his instructions with a command of kindness to those in need. A call to live in an increasingly hostile world isn’t a call to match hostility with hostility. It’s a call to love the least and the lost into the Kingdom. Never forget that.
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