Shake off the Dust

When Jesus sent out the twelve apostles to preach to the house of Israel, He included this instruction: “And when ye come into an house, salute it. And if the house be worthy, let your peace come upon it: but if it be not worthy, let your peace return to you. And whosoever shall not receive you, nor hear your words, when ye depart out of that house or city, shake off the dust of your feet. Verily I say unto you, It shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrha in the day of judgment, than for that city” (Matthew 10:12-15). Luke’s version puts it this way: “And whatsoever house ye enter into, there abide, and thence depart. And whosoever will not receive you, when ye go out of that city, shake off the very dust from your feet for a testimony against them” (Luke 9:4-5). He said something similar to the seventy as they went forth to preach: “But into whatsoever city ye enter, and they receive you not, go your ways out into the streets of the same, and say, Even the very dust of your city, which cleaveth on us, we do wipe off against you: notwithstanding be ye sure of this, that the kingdom of God is come nigh unto you. But I say unto you, that it shall be more tolerable in that day for Sodom, than for that city” (Luke 10:10-12). The Savior reiterated this multiple times in our dispensation. He said to Joseph and Oliver: “And in whatsoever place ye shall enter, and they receive you not in my name, ye shall leave a cursing instead of a blessing, by casting off the dust of your feet against them as a testimony, and cleansing your feet by the wayside” (Doctrine and Covenants 24:15). To the elders returning from Zion to Kirtland, the Savior said, “Thou shalt speedily return, proclaiming my word among the congregations of the wicked, not in haste, neither in wrath nor with strife. And shake off the dust of thy feet against those who receive thee not, not in their presence, lest thou provoke them, but in secret; and wash thy feet, as a testimony against them in the day of judgment” (Doctrine and Covenants 60:14-15). And then again to the elders who would preach His gospel, the Savior said, “And in whatsoever house ye enter, and they receive you, leave your blessing upon that house. And in whatsoever house ye enter, and they receive you not, ye shall depart speedily from that house, and shake off the dust of your feet as a testimony against them. And you shall be filled with joy and gladness; and know this, that in the day of judgment you shall be judges of that house, and condemn them; And it shall be more tolerable for the heathen in the day of judgment, than for that house” (Doctrine and Covenants 75:19-22). From these references we can see that the practice was not to be done as a means to provoke the people unreceptive to the missionaries—it was not done in front of them. Rather, it was not for them but as a testimony to God by the missionaries that they had been rejected. And it appears to me that it was not meant for the casual rejection of a passerby who didn’t want to stop and hear the message of the missionaries, but it was for those who accepted the missionaries into their homes and then chose not to receive them. That to me indicates that they listened, understood, presumably felt the Spirit, and then still rejected the message of the Savior.  

We have one instance recorded where missionaries actually did this that perhaps help us see the severity of the rejection that was required to elicit it. Paul and Barnabas went to Antioch in Pisidia where they preached in the synagogue to the children of Israel. After Paul’s bold testimony of the Savior, “the Gentiles besought that these words might be preached to them the next sabbath.” This they did, but instead of also receiving Paul’s words, of which the Holy Ghost surely bore powerful witness, the Jews “were filled with envy” and spoke against Paul and Barnabas. At that Point Paul boldly declared, “It was necessary that the word of God should first have been spoken to you: but seeing ye put it from you, and judge yourselves unworthy of everlasting life, lo, we turn to the Gentiles.” Luke recorded the Jews’ response: “The Jews stirred up the devout and honourable women, and the chief men of the city, and raised persecution against Paul and Barnabas, and expelled them out of their coasts. But they shook off the dust of their feet against them, and came unto Iconium” (Acts 13:42, 46, 50-51). This was a serious rejection by the covenant people of God, and those who should have known their God rejected Him when the Gentiles received the same message. That was the kind of attitude that elicited the missionaries to follow the Savior’s injunction to wipe off the dust of their feet as a sign that they had done their best to preach the gospel to these Jews and were rejected.

In our day, to my knowledge, missionaries in the Church do not participate in this practice. I don’t know all the reasons, but I believe that in general our testimonies that we bear are enough of a witness to the Lord that we have sought to share the message of Jesus Christ with others, even when they reject it. He said in another revelation, “Nevertheless, ye are blessed, for the testimony which ye have borne is recorded in heaven for the angels to look upon” (Doctrine and Covenants 62:3). We don’t need to wipe off the dust of our feet to ensure that our testimony we bear is recorded in heaven, and we can be content to know that the Lord will be the final Judge of all. Our role is only to open our mouths and bear our witness the best we can.