18 Now when Jesus saw great multitudes around him, he gave the order to depart to the other side.

19 A scribe came, and said to him, “Teacher, I will follow you wherever you go.”

20 Jesus said to him, “The foxes have holes, and the birds of the sky have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.”

21 Another of his disciples said to him, “Lord, allow me first to go and bury my father.”

22 But Jesus said to him, “Follow me, and leave the dead to bury their own dead.”

Matthew 8:18-22 - World English Bible

In Matthew 8, Jesus left Capernaum by boat. Then, a scribe asked to follow him. The Lord answered with a proverb; the Son of Man was constantly on the move, bringing the word of the Kingdom to the people, so he had no home. We're not sure if the proverb was meant to be a warning or a mere statement of fact, but it did have a challenging overtone.

A disciple approached Jesus about family obligations and delayed commitments. "Let me go and bury my father." This statement did not imply the man's father was dead and he had to take emergency leave to properly mourn for him. No, this disciple wanted to return home and tend family business until his father passed away (at an unknown time), then he could return and take up the role of disciple. Jesus presented the man with a challenge; evangelizing trumped family obligations.

The moral is clear: evangelization is not a matter of convenience, but one of priority.

How important is evangelization in your life?