Shake the Dust

Two stories on Shaking the Dust
I have a coworker/friend who is an atheist. Often times we go on walks and talk about theology and philosophy. Although she disagrees with my faith, I can honestly say that I deeply love her and pray often that God will change her heart. I believe God has used our relationship not only for a seed to be planted in her, but also for Him to grow my faith. I remember early on in our relationship, a Christian coworker of mine over heard one of our discussions. He decided to pull me to the side and give me a little one on one coaching. He said something to the effect of, "You know, you don't have to throw your faith at people to get your faith across to them. Sometimes it is better to simply lead by example."
This weighed heavy on my heart. The last thing I wanted to do was, shoving my faith down some ones throat. After this I walked over to my atheist Coworker to make sure that I was not offending her. She reassured me by saying that I was not. She also added that are talks were something she looked forward to, and she felt the need to brush up on her Bible reading so that she would be able to understand my references. Wow, this was exciting news for me.
2nd Story
While at work, I may say things like; thank you Jesus in order to celebrate, or bring up my faith in order to better explain a certain point or give advice. On this particular day another Coworker (who is not an atheist, rather she believes in a god consciousness) expressed to me that she does feel that I shove religion down peoples throats. That hurt. It is never my goal to make others feel uncomfortable or bash them over the head with religion. I had some friends that I discussed this with and they helped me realize that when you have submitted to Christ, He is such a part of you that most of the time everything you do is too Loud, too Righteous, or too Holy. That is what happens when Christ becomes a part of your DNA. Who am I to stoop the conviction that his spirit brings.
So why the title.. Shake the Dust?
In both stories I came to a cross road where I could have stopped because of accusation, judgment, and discouragement, or I could just keep it moving, and Shake the dust.

I was reading in Luke 9 to day, and this is what it says in verse 5; Wherever people don't except you, leave that town and shake the dust off your feet as a warning to them.

You see Christ new that we would run into discouragement. He has always known the possibility of rejection as a response to His Gospel. So, when that time of discouragement comes from anywhere; Friend, stranger, Mother, Father, Sister, or Brother. It is important to understand that Chris has charged us not to wallow in embarrassment when others reject us, or even argue with those who refuse his Gospel. No, His command is to simply Shake the Dust.