“Shake off the Dust from your Feet.”

“If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault, between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have gained your brother. But if he does not listen, take one or two others along with you, that every charge may be established by the evidence of two or three witnesses. If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church. And if he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector.” (Matthew 18:15-17 ESV)

How difficult a thing when a loved one is in the grip of the enemy. We have all seen it, and our loved ones have seen it in us. We do as Jesus instructed and forgive, seven times, seventy times, or as many times as needed. (Matt 18:22) But there are times when the level of control of Satan becomes vile. We see our loved one verbally attacking us and others—unholy and destructive attacks on parents, or a destructive hatred towards the innocence of a child.

We can do nothing to change a person; only God can change a heart. We do as we are taught, we forgive, but we no longer participate in the life of that person. Jesus instructed the apostles that when we have confronted a brother or sister in their sins, including brethren, and they refuse to listen, there is nothing more we can do. When they are not a part of a church, that confrontation can never take place.

Jesus used the examples of the Gentle and the tax collector. First-century Jews did not associate with Gentiles, a door the New Covenant opened. The tax collector was despised. Collaborators with the Romans, they became wealthy by overtaxing and exploiting their fellow citizens. The twisted heart of a loved one is just as offensive to us as these examples were to the first-century Jews.

There is no love in one who hate a brother or sister. Those consumed by hate become selfish and vengeful; everything revolves around them, and everything is an offense. We are examples of the power of the gospel, but it will fall on deaf ears until the Lord decides otherwise. In 1 John 2, the apostle wrote, “Whoever says he is in the light and hates his brother is still in darkness. Whoever loves his brother abides in the light, and in him there is no cause for stumbling. But whoever hates his brother is in the darkness and walks in the darkness, and does not know where he is going, because the darkness has blinded his eyes.” (vv 9-11). We may see this profession of faith, the invoking of the name of the Lord or Christianity itself in the empty heart of our brother or sister and know that only darkness exists. It is heartbreaking, but it is clear as the light that from the heart of one chosen by the Lord that they are not a part of the light.

So, what do we do? We do as Christ instructed, “shake off the dust from our feet.” (Luke 10:14) Shaking the dust from one’s feet conveys the same idea as “I wash my hands of it.” Shaking off the dust from one's feet is a symbolic gesture that signifies one has done all that can be done in a situation and therefore carries no further responsibility for it. If God opens the heart of this person and they return to you with remorse, then accept them, for a true heart of God will seek to make all wrongs right, just as Luke wrote of Zacchaeus (19:1-10), who said: “Behold, Lord, the half of my goods I give to the poor. And if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I restore it fourfold.” And Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, since he also is a son of Abraham. For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.”

Let us not underestimate the power of prayer. Pray for those in darkness that the Lord would reveal Himself to them. Pray that their dungeon will be filled with light and their chains will fall off.[1] Our prayers are not in vain, for the Lord hears and answers.

If you are in darkness and do not know the Lord, I urge you to seek Him now. Each of us, at our appointed time, will stand before Christ; make sure you know Him as your Savior. The time is now, do not delay.

Grace and Peace.

[1] Charles Wesley, And Can It Be That I Should Gain, Hymn written 1738.