GREAT THINGS ENTERPRISE
CLAUDE BLACK
Mark 6:9
Shoes
A story often repeated in motivational seminars describes two salesmen. A shoe company sent the first salesman to a country to set up a distributorship. He wrote back, telling his supervisors that there was no point in pursuing this project because no one in the area wore shoes. Sometime later, the company sent a second salesman to the same area. He wrote back, ordering more shoes, saying no one in the area had shoes.
The evangelist Dwight Moody was the seventh child of a large family. His father died when he was four years old, and his widowed mother had to send some of the children to work for food and lodging, including Dwight. When he was seventeen, he moved to Chicago to work in his uncle’s shoe store. He worked his way up to become a regional shoe salesman, earning a good salary. His uncle required Dwight to attend church. His Sunday school teacher explained the Gospel to Dwight, and he became a believer, marking the start of his evangelical career. It’s not stretching the point to say that Dwight L. Moody got his start via shoes.
Soldiers often double-knot their shoelaces, especially during physical training, field exercises, or deployment. A soldier does not want to be distracted by dangling shoelaces that might cause tripping. He needs to maintain focus, not worry about shoes.
During their first evangelistic journey, Jesus explained the mission to his disciples. They might take a staff, but no bread, provision bag, or money. “But wearing sandals and do not put on two garments.” (Mark 6:9) According to Matthew, the disciples were not to take extra sandals; after all, this was to be a short tour. (Matt. 10:10) Matthew used a more generic term for footwear, referring to anything bound under, which might be translated as “shoe.” So the disciples could wear their sandals, but not take extra footwear.
In his minimalist list, Jesus was concerned about the welfare of his apostles. The soil of the area was rocky and rough, and sandals protected the soles of their feet. What seems like an insignificant statement about shoes or sandals contains an important message about the Father’s care for his children in an often rocky and rough world.
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