Jesus gives the thirty-six laymen evangeliic (i.e., missionaries to their region) pairs some instructions before they go to their mission field. I, like most Christians, am a layman evangelist; that is, I do not receive pay from my local congregation. I can learn some good advice from this on how to obtain a hundredfold crop.
Jesus does not give a detailed plan for which village to visit and when to do so, nor does He tell them which towns to avoid. He simply said, “Every town and place where I am about to go.” (It isn’t a quote, only Luke’s comment.)
First, I must show love and respect to those who accept the good news Jesus taught me. I am to bless them verbally with words of peace. I am to love them as I have been and still am loved. They may or may not accept the mission of grace. I am not to grow angry or seek revenge. Instead, I am to expect to remain a man of peace.
I am to accept where God opens the door by staying where he opens people’s hearts. If a ministry is bearing fruit, then water and fertilize it. Sure, some aspects may be unpleasant for a while, like learning Java and Perl (HTML and CSS were not as bad). Yet, God has appointed me and is working through me. I am blessed.
So keep working in the field that shows eternal kingdom potential. If I receive support from his work then thank God and be blessed. However, in over thirty years of online evangelical ministry, I have never received enough to pay the mission bills let alone eat and drink from offerings. Still, I see many coming every day to read and hear the good news. So, I stay in the house of online ministry, the modern-day tent evangelism. Personally, I believe that tent evangelism is better because it was more personal. However, that type of ministry was my before and my now is as God instructed me through a pastor to begin an online ministry. I am staying in this house now.
