The lesson of the 72

1 The Lord now chose seventy-two[a] other disciples and sent them ahead in pairs to all the towns and places he planned to visit. 2 These were his instructions to them: “The harvest is great, but the workers are few. So pray to the Lord who is in charge of the harvest; ask him to send more workers into his fields. 3 Now go, and remember that I am sending you out as lambs among wolves. 4 Don’t take any money with you, nor a traveler’s bag, nor an extra pair of sandals. And don’t stop to greet anyone on the road.



5 “Whenever you enter someone’s home, first say, ‘May God’s peace be on this house.’ 6 If those who live there are peaceful, the blessing will stand; if they are not, the blessing will return to you. 7 Don’t move around from home to home. Stay in one place, eating and drinking what they provide. Don’t hesitate to accept hospitality, because those who work deserve their pay.


8 “If you enter a town and it welcomes you, eat whatever is set before you. 9 Heal the sick, and tell them, ‘The Kingdom of God is near you now.’ 10 But if a town refuses to welcome you, go out into its streets and say, 11 ‘We wipe even the dust of your town from our feet to show that we have abandoned you to your fate. And know this—the Kingdom of God is near!’ 12 I assure you, even wicked Sodom will be better off than such a town on judgment day.


13 “What sorrow awaits you, Korazin and Bethsaida! For if the miracles I did in you had been done in wicked Tyre and Sidon, their people would have repented of their sins long ago, clothing themselves in burlap and throwing ashes on their heads to show their remorse. 14 Yes, Tyre and Sidon will be better off on judgment day than you. 15 And you people of Capernaum, will you be honored in heaven? No, you will go down to the place of the dead.[b]”


16 Then he said to the disciples, “Anyone who accepts your message is also accepting me. And anyone who rejects you is rejecting me. And anyone who rejects me is rejecting God, who sent me.”


17 When the seventy-two disciples returned, they joyfully reported to him, “Lord, even the demons obey us when we use your name!”

18 “Yes,” he told them, “I saw Satan fall from heaven like lightning! 19 Look, I have given you authority over all the power of the enemy, and you can walk among snakes and scorpions and crush them. Nothing will injure you. 20 But don’t rejoice because evil spirits obey you; rejoice because your names are registered in heaven.”

Pay attention to what Christ said to the disciples he sent out.  He told them basically that there were going to be those who accepted them and those who did not.  Perhaps a reference to the 70%?  In any case, you see that He told them not to lose hope due to the ones who rejected him.  He also told them to focus on those that accepted them, and to build relationships with them and explain how the Kingdom is at hand. 
For the ones who did not accept them it was going to be brief.  He told them not to waste time on them, but to quickly move on. 
 
I think sometimes we get caught up in the long term stress of trying to change the thoughts of those who reject us, and it becomes a stumbling block to us, as we keep a won/lost record.  We wont give up.  Jesus told these guys to give up fast and move on.  He would deal with the consequences.  We have to let go sometimes, so that we do not miss the opportunities that await us among the willing.
 
Does this mean we give up on witnessing to those who mean a lot to us?  Of course not, but we cannot let the challenges there discourage us with those out there we can influence.  We stay the course because we love them, not because we feel like a failure if we don't persuade them.  Sounds easy doesn't it, but when we fail with those we love, it can be devastating, can't it? 
 
Feel bad if you must, but don't quit!  The seventy-two experienced such a joy in their successes, that they came back worshiping and praising God!  HANG IN THERE! Thoughts?

You guys are killing me!

So you know this is a blog right?  Sometimes I have something interesting to say, but not often.  A lot of what is going on this blog is supposed to spur you to have some sort of reaction.  I am not here to entertain you I am here to provoke, to encourage, to challenge.  Basically to annoy you the same way this idea annoys me. 
In most if not all cases, you guys have much more clever observations on this subject of relating and explaining to different groups of people.
I need you to participate to make this worth all of you being part of the audience.  Teach me back!

AAAAHHHHHH! Too many nice people around!

So I am at a sports conference in Chicago.  All around me are representatives from professional sports teams, and various non-profits from around the world who are looking for funding sponsors, spokespersons to talk about them in the press, and overall just some good ideas on how to use sports to impact the culture.

For the most part, the people who came together have similar presence - very nice, very talkative and interesting.  So they all find ways to meet, and to share ideas and to get to know each other better.  Remember, I am most likely to be an introvert, but try to stretch myself to talk to those who might be willing to communicate with me.  But there were too many.  I found myself closing off, seeing that they could take care of each other without me.  Wow it was so easy to back off and just watch. 

I don't know if I had anything valuable to add, but I certainly had very little motivation to try.  The self motivation needed just sank away with the people all around me getting along so well.

So I guess the short thought on this is what do I do in this situation?  I don't feel like talking, and everyone is engaged, but there are needs that my organization has that can be met by these people.  DO you think the solution is to break into the conversation groups already forming, or what?