Shaking the Dust Off
Often after we have had difficulties in San Francisco, Christians will ask me, “Why don’t you shake the dust off your feet and go somewhere else?” At times I have felt like doing this. But first I knew I must study the scriptures, to see exactly what they taught on this subject. In Matthew 10, Jesus sent out his apostles to the cities and towns of Israel. And in Luke 10, He sent out seventy of his closest disciples, giving them similar instructions: “Into whatsoever city you enter, and they receive you not, go your way out into the streets of the same, and say, Even the very dust of your city, which cleaves on us, we do wipe off against you.” In Matthew 10, He also gives these instructions: “When they persecute you in this city, flee to another.”
If the disciples ever shook the dust off their feet, we never hear about it. Instead, we are told that the seventy returned with joy, saying “Lord, even the devils are subject unto us through thy name.” In Luke 10, Jesus associates “shaking the dust off your feet” with the judgment He pronounces on Chorazin, Bethsaida, and Capernaum which saw His miracles but refused to believe. Even though Jesus pronounced judgment on Capernaum in Luke 10 and Matthew 11, He and His disciples returned there later (Matt. 17:24). Jesus was not eager to give up on any city.
In the book of Acts, we see several cases in which believers were faced with persecution and fled to another city. In some cases, they returned after the persecution ended. I do not see an example of “shaking the dust off your feet” except perhaps in Acts 18:6. In Corinth, when the Jews “opposed themselves and blasphemed” Paul “shook his clothes and said unto them, Your blood be upon your own heads; I am clean: from henceforth I will go to the Gentiles.” But the next thing we hear is that Crispus, the chief ruler of the synagogue, believed. Paul certainly did not stop ministering to the Jews, and most of the rest of Acts documents his efforts to do so. Paul got frustrated by the opposition of many Jews, but he was not about to give up on them.
What then does it mean to “shake the dust off our feet?” Jesus is saying that we are not to waste our time. If people have heard the gospel and rejected it, go somewhere else. “Don’t cast your pearls before swine.” Yet we all know of people who reject the gospel for many years, but end up getting saved. There are parents who have prayed for their children for over 50 years before they came to Jesus. God is certainly longsuffering with us, not willing that any should perish. Also, there are many people who have had considerable exposure to Christianity but never understood the message.
I believe there are many people in San Francisco who have never heard the gospel and others who have heard it only in a distorted way. Many San Franciscans who do not understand English have never heard the gospel in their own language. And many youth grew up in non-Christian and anti-Christian homes and never heard the gospel. There are also hundreds of thousands of Bay Area residents who shop and work in this city. Tens of thousands of students and immigrants (legal and illegal) come here from all over the world every year. Millions of tourists from other parts of the U.S. and around the world visit this city each year. Certainly all these people have not heard and rejected the gospel!
When should we “shake the dust off our feet?” Some of you live in small towns and suburbs. You and the other Christians in town have witnessed to everyone. Nobody seems even remotely interested in the gospel. Perhaps it’s time to move elsewhere. Many of our towns and suburbs have a lot more Christians than are needed to evangelize these places. Meanwhile, our large cities have very few Christians and multitudes of unsaved people who have never clearly heard the gospel.
Maybe you’ve witnessed to everyone at work for several years and there is no response. It might be time to find a job where there are more opportunities to witness. We certainly need to be led by the Lord in this. There are times when God would have us sow into an area for many years with little visible response. At other times, He will lead us to move on. God may some day tell us it is time to leave San Francisco. Until that time, we will seek to be faithful to reach everyone we can for Jesus.
Ministry News
For the past few months, I have been telling you about the difficulties we have had getting permits for our outdoor rallies. On September 8 I received a letter from the Park Department telling us our Union Square outreach on September 10 had been canceled. I called them the next day and learned that the Mayor’s office scheduled “Brazil Day” at Union Square that day. Even though our permit was issued on June 1, they apparently could cancel it at the last minute. I had to call Tom Burnowski from Shiloh Christian Fellowship in Oakland, who was scheduled to minister that day. He had to tell all the musicians and the dance group, which had spent many hours preparing for this outreach and had cleared their schedules to be there. This had never happened to us before in 18 years of getting permits from the Park Department.
While I was calling, I asked about the other permits I had requested for October through December. I was told I needed to speak with Joel Robinson, the head of the Park Department. He told me that he had received several calls and letters complaining about our outreaches at Dolores Park, the Embarcadero, and Union Square, saying we were too loud and aggressive, that we were “accosting people crossing the plaza with a bullhorn.” He said we would have to “tone it down” and said he would issue the permits for the Golden Gate Park Bandshell and United Nations Plaza (7th St. and Market) but denied our permit for Union Square (on Christmas eve.) He said our getting future permits depended on whether they continued to receive complaints about us.
I told him we would turn down the sound (even though we have never been found in violation of the noise ordinance). I don’t know of anyone who “accosted people with a bullhorn.” But we cannot keep people from complaining. There will always be some people who don’t like what we are doing and will try to stop us by calling and writing letters, accusing us of various things. This is the second time we have been denied permits based on unproved accusations. (The first was at Dolores Park in July.)
Nonetheless, we still are getting some permits. Please pray that we will continue to get permits for outdoor rallies and will have wisdom in handling this delicate situation. The time could come when all permits will be denied, and we may need to go to court, but I hope we can avoid this.
On the Streets
Union Street (in the Marina District) is one of the most difficult areas we witness at. The street is filled with expensive restaurants and bars and most of the people are rich and intoxicated. Before leaving for Union Street on August 12, we prayed that God would lead us to some people who really wanted to hear about Jesus. That night I spoke with two young men who were really seeking God. One was Catholic and the other was not from a religious home but both were seeking God. Scott Robbins and I spoke with them for about 30 minutes. Another brother spoke with a Jewish man who said he was really interested in Jesus, but his friends pulled him away.
On August 20, the Family Worship Center (Concord) worship group led an outreach at Washington Square Park, in the North Beach area. Their youth drama group along with a drama team from Calvary Temple in Concord also ministered. A large crowd gathered to hear them. Most of the people in the park were youth from various countries in Europe. I spoke with about forty Europeans, most of whom were hostile towards Christianity but seemed to enjoy the music and drama. We also spoke with Mike, who had just gotten out of prison. He had received Christ in prison but didn’t have anywhere to go. Some brothers took him to the Richmond Rescue Mission, which has an excellent discipleship program.
After our permit was denied on September 10, we decided to witness at Powell and Market. We put up our large “Open Your Heart to Jesus” banner. We preached and gave out hundreds of tracts. Steve Styles spoke with a Scientologist who said he never talked to Christians but “you guys are different.” I walked up to Union Square to find out what event was so important that they had to cancel our outreach. Brazil Day was nothing more than another drunken party. People were wearing skimpy clothing and dancing the Lambada, popularized in the movie “Dirty Dancing.” Booths were selling Brazilian beer, which people were drinking in abundance.
Please pray also for those who have responded to tracts this past month: Nancy (age 10, San Francisco), Shirley (San Francisco), Marlene (Pittsburg), and Tim (Portland, OR). Pray for Deon (Rich mond), a Christian who called requesting prayer and follow-up literature. Also pray for Erick, an 18 year old from San Diego. We met him on Haight St. on September 16. He grew up in Christian foster homes and had attended Calvary Chapel for many years. He had just arrived a few hours ago and his money and clothing had been stolen. We took him home and have been ministering to him, seeking to find a place for him to live. Please pray that God will guide him and help him to truly commit his life to Christ.
A Final Word
The following article appeared on the front page of the Oakland Tribune on Sunday September 11: Minneapolis. A minister whose noisy congregation landed him in jail said praising God is no reason to be prosecuted. “It’s been quite embarrassing,” said the Rev. Robert Wesley Hill, who left jail Saturday after making bail. “They went to quite a lot of trouble all because of wor ship.” Neighborhood residents lodged 72 complaints to the city about True Apostolic Assembly Church since August 1992. Some neighbors say they don’t like the singing, preaching and amplified music from the 150 member congregation–especially in summer, when the church windows are open.
What we once called “freedom of speech” is now “noise pollution.” Even our churches are not safe from those who wish to silence the gospel. Our Tape of the Month is Why We Should Witness. This is a message I gave on Sunday morning August 21 at Genesis Worship Center, Pacifica. Come join us for a worship rally on Saturday November 5, November 12 or December 3 from 1-5 PM at the United Nations Plaza at 7th St. and Market (Civic Center BART). Or join our Friday night street outreach. We meet every Friday at 7:30 PM at the Vineyard Church, 7th St. and Harrison, San Francisco. Our freedom to preach the gospel openly may not last long. We must labor while it is day. Night is coming when no one can work.
Yours in His love,
Larry Rosenbaum
