Shake the dust off your feet...

I am a frequent vacuum-er. It’s just something I feel like I have to do multiple times a day, due to vinyl flooring, two dogs, and two small humans who bring in dirt and drop crumbs. So. Much. Dirt. So. Many. Crumbs. We do have a doormat, but it serves no other purpose than to collect sand and dirt at the entry as people and canine alike pass over it without wiping their feet (or paws). I picked it up and shook it and it snowed sand and baseball dirt. It did not seem to matter how many times I shook it, dirt kept raining down onto the floor. As I swept (and swept and swept some more), I started thinking about a particular part in the gospel. I had recently been reading Luke, as I try to do every December leading into Christmas, so this stuck out to me:

“If people do not welcome you, leave their town and shake the dust off your feet as a testimony against them.” -Luke 9:5 (NIV)

In this verse, Jesus is talking to his disciples about traveling around from village to village and place to place healing and preaching the gospel. But as I always do, I started thinking about practical applications of this in my life. Many times, I think about the spiritual application to my life, but other times, I think of them in sort of a reverse parable situation. This time, it was the latter.

I am and always have been a pathological people pleaser (thank you Taylor Swift for making me feel like I’m in good company) and I’ve been known to say “yes” when I should say “no,” bend over backwards for other people, stretch outside of my comfort zone and stay in places and situations that I really do not want to be in. I’ve been known to make myself uncomfortable or “tone it down” just to make other people not feel uncomfortable.

I’m nearly 40 years old, yet I continue to show up in these spots because I’m an adult and I think that’s what I’m supposed to do. But why? As I was cleaning, I was thinking, “That is a terrible lesson for my kids.”

The twelve disciples went from town to town with intentions of spreading good news, healing, helping and people were resisting. And unwelcoming. So, instead of forcing the issue, Jesus told them to dust off their feet when they left that town…and they did. I’m sure they didn’t forget what those people said, or how they treated them, but they had other business to attend to. Other people to spread the word to, to heal, to help. They didn’t change their message to be welcomed in, they went in, unapologetically Jesus’ disciples.

I want to be more like them. I hold grudges and my memory is scary good. I wish it wasn’t and I know that’s not something I can change. But I am working on moving on quicker. Not dwelling on things I can’t change. Onto the next. There’s other business to attend to.

But one thing I want to make sure my kids are clear on is this. You may not always be someone’s “cup of tea.” Obviously Jesus’ disciples, or at least their message and who they were representing weren’t some folks’ “cup.” But sometimes, it doesn't matter. No matter if it's hot, iced, with sugar, unsweetened, steeped from a bag, mixed from a powder, poured from concentrate...some people just don't and will never like tea.

Adjust your approach, but never compromise who you are and always remember what you bring to the table. Sometimes you can't wait for others to get up and leave that table, sometimes you have to get up yourself. And that's ok. Shake the dust off your feet, and leave them be. It’s a big world and there’s lots of tables. And plenty of people who love tea.