Passage Read: Acts 12-13
Meditation Verses: 13:49-51
Thought
This is what Jesus meant in Matthew 10, how to discern a man of peace and those who refuse to receive the Gospel. It's not so mysterious, just preach the Gospel and see who responds and how they respond. The man of peace will receive the message with gladness. Those who reject will do so vigorously. It is clear from this example that one town may have both kinds of people. Those chosen for salvation will welcome the message and the messenger, but in time, those who reject will mount an attack and force the messengers out. Paul and Barnabas do exactly as instructed at that point: They wipe the dust of that town from their feet as a testimony against those who drove them out. But that doesn't affect the salvation of those who welcomed the message. They continue with joy.
Application
This is helpful. A town is not characterized by only one kind of people, but when the haters oppose the Gospel so vigorously as to drive the messengers out, then the dust of the town should be shaken off my feet. As long as there's opportunity to preach and teach the truth, I can remain among a people. But when opposition gets too strong, that is the time to leave, with a testimony against those who hate the Gospel. That goes for a neighborhood or a school or even a church, just as Paul was driven from a synagogue. But he didn't abandon the city until they drove him out.