Together # 22
A Together that Strengthens
A Together that Strengthens
Be Hospitable with One Another
copyright by Dick Wulf, 2018
Continually invite many Christians into your homes and activities to show them that God loves and values them. Integrate them more into the mutual ministry of Christians to one another.
Luke 14:12-14; Rom 12:13; Heb 13:2; l Peter 4:9; Rev 3:20
Hospitality is the essential door to many important spiritual outcomes. The more we Christians are broadly integrated with one another doing the Togethers, the more our transformation into the image of Jesus takes place and the stronger becomes the church.
Contribute to the needs of the saints and seek to show hospitality.
Rom 12:13
Rom 12:13
The stronger Christians are tied to one another, like the rope of a net, the more we can stand strong in doing the will of God in the world. The more solid we are attached to one another, the more we can obey the Scriptures of the Togethers and grow our spirits into the image of Jesus.
In so many cases, it is a tragedy that so many Christians are not strongly connected to at least three other Christians. Some are hardly connected to anyone at all. It is the job of hospitality to continually create ties between more and more believers.
However, we must understand that biblical hospitality is far more than our general idea of occasional entertaining. While just getting together to be friendly is better than nothing, it is inadequate for God’s purpose to conform us to the image of His Son (Romans 8:29).
Hospitality is not merely being friendly to others. Hospitality is extending who you are and your private space to others. It is like opening the arms of your life and giving a welcoming hug.
Hospitality is very important for making all Christians feel a part of the body of Christ as persons, not merely as church members. It is necessary for all Christians to frequently open their homes and activities to a variety of other Christians, especially those not already included or popular. When a Christian friendship group or a Christian family or a Christian married couple takes someone without many close Christian friends into their home for a meal, that person will feel valued and important.
God wants each one of His people to know that he or she is valuable to Him and important for the vitality of the church as a whole. He uses us and our hospitality to get that point across. He must be disappointed that so few of us reach out to those on the fringe of biblical relationships and include them in the ministry of the Togethers.
The instructions in Scripture that we have categorized as the 65 Togethers of Scripture all need obedience by every one of us, not just a few of the most motivated. When hospitality is seen not as entertainment but as ministry, Christians invited into homes will experience moments of true spiritual growth when the exercise of some of the Togethers challenges their spirits toward holiness. They will grow into more involved members of the church. The church in organized worship fellowships, the church in friendships, the church in families, the church in specific neighborhoods, and the church in workplaces will all benefit when biblical hospitality is extended to more than just good friends.
Too many Christians do not feel valued or important. Done with love, which is self-denial for the good of others, hospitality proclaims God’s value of each Christian. It is the more personal hospitality in homes that shows Christians individuals, couples and families that they are important. Loneliness dissolves. Those invited feel worthwhile to others. Christians who feel important to other Christians are empowered to love and good deeds.
Contrast the effect of a family taking another family to lunch after church at a restaurant with inviting them into their home and for a meal and sharing the family’s private space. The first gives those invited a meal, and the cost of love is money. The second gives the intimacy of the warmth of the family’s natural environment. Such love costs the effort of cleaning the house and preparing a meal. It also provides the privacy for more confidential conversation as well as the sharing of the children’s toys and play environment. In some ways dining in a restaurant is more entertainment and sharing a meal in a home is more hospitality.
Hospitality empowers the Togethers of Scripture when relationship is required. Including others where they can see us as we really are, where there is some risk of vulnerability, builds the kind of relationships that are the prerequisite to such Togethers as encouraging one another, hurting with one another, examining one another’s faith, and practically every other Together. We cannot effectively obey most of the Together commands if we have not built safe relationships through hospitality where trust has been proven through inclusion into our private lives.
If every Christian is important enough for Jesus Christ to die for them and bring them into God’s kingdom, then it is insulting God to not extend hospitality to those who need to be drawn into the treasures of the Togethers. Church leadership should make sure God is not treated so lightly that any one member in the church is not included in unplanned, genuine hospitality at least 4 times a year. Warm smiles, polite social interaction in church aisles, and orchestrated church programs of hospitality just won’t do. Every Christian needs significant affirmation from the spontaneous hospitality of a few other Christians to feel worthwhile in the kingdom.
Therefore, this command to be hospitable must be obeyed by everyone, not just more socially outgoing Christians. We must resist the temptation to think of hospitality as a spiritual gift that only a few are empowered to perform. Nor should we relegate hospitality to those with talent in entertaining others in their homes. Hospitality is commanded of us all, and it does not require supernatural power from the Holy Spirit or special talent. Even those who are uncomfortable reaching out to others are under the instruction. God will help them overcome their resistance and go on to deny themselves for the good of others. God is asking us all, socially skilled or not, to extend hospitality and make friendships to power the church. Jesus will be there to help.
In so many cases, it is a tragedy that so many Christians are not strongly connected to at least three other Christians. Some are hardly connected to anyone at all. It is the job of hospitality to continually create ties between more and more believers.
However, we must understand that biblical hospitality is far more than our general idea of occasional entertaining. While just getting together to be friendly is better than nothing, it is inadequate for God’s purpose to conform us to the image of His Son (Romans 8:29).
Hospitality is not merely being friendly to others. Hospitality is extending who you are and your private space to others. It is like opening the arms of your life and giving a welcoming hug.
Hospitality is very important for making all Christians feel a part of the body of Christ as persons, not merely as church members. It is necessary for all Christians to frequently open their homes and activities to a variety of other Christians, especially those not already included or popular. When a Christian friendship group or a Christian family or a Christian married couple takes someone without many close Christian friends into their home for a meal, that person will feel valued and important.
God wants each one of His people to know that he or she is valuable to Him and important for the vitality of the church as a whole. He uses us and our hospitality to get that point across. He must be disappointed that so few of us reach out to those on the fringe of biblical relationships and include them in the ministry of the Togethers.
The instructions in Scripture that we have categorized as the 65 Togethers of Scripture all need obedience by every one of us, not just a few of the most motivated. When hospitality is seen not as entertainment but as ministry, Christians invited into homes will experience moments of true spiritual growth when the exercise of some of the Togethers challenges their spirits toward holiness. They will grow into more involved members of the church. The church in organized worship fellowships, the church in friendships, the church in families, the church in specific neighborhoods, and the church in workplaces will all benefit when biblical hospitality is extended to more than just good friends.
Too many Christians do not feel valued or important. Done with love, which is self-denial for the good of others, hospitality proclaims God’s value of each Christian. It is the more personal hospitality in homes that shows Christians individuals, couples and families that they are important. Loneliness dissolves. Those invited feel worthwhile to others. Christians who feel important to other Christians are empowered to love and good deeds.
Contrast the effect of a family taking another family to lunch after church at a restaurant with inviting them into their home and for a meal and sharing the family’s private space. The first gives those invited a meal, and the cost of love is money. The second gives the intimacy of the warmth of the family’s natural environment. Such love costs the effort of cleaning the house and preparing a meal. It also provides the privacy for more confidential conversation as well as the sharing of the children’s toys and play environment. In some ways dining in a restaurant is more entertainment and sharing a meal in a home is more hospitality.
Hospitality empowers the Togethers of Scripture when relationship is required. Including others where they can see us as we really are, where there is some risk of vulnerability, builds the kind of relationships that are the prerequisite to such Togethers as encouraging one another, hurting with one another, examining one another’s faith, and practically every other Together. We cannot effectively obey most of the Together commands if we have not built safe relationships through hospitality where trust has been proven through inclusion into our private lives.
If every Christian is important enough for Jesus Christ to die for them and bring them into God’s kingdom, then it is insulting God to not extend hospitality to those who need to be drawn into the treasures of the Togethers. Church leadership should make sure God is not treated so lightly that any one member in the church is not included in unplanned, genuine hospitality at least 4 times a year. Warm smiles, polite social interaction in church aisles, and orchestrated church programs of hospitality just won’t do. Every Christian needs significant affirmation from the spontaneous hospitality of a few other Christians to feel worthwhile in the kingdom.
Therefore, this command to be hospitable must be obeyed by everyone, not just more socially outgoing Christians. We must resist the temptation to think of hospitality as a spiritual gift that only a few are empowered to perform. Nor should we relegate hospitality to those with talent in entertaining others in their homes. Hospitality is commanded of us all, and it does not require supernatural power from the Holy Spirit or special talent. Even those who are uncomfortable reaching out to others are under the instruction. God will help them overcome their resistance and go on to deny themselves for the good of others. God is asking us all, socially skilled or not, to extend hospitality and make friendships to power the church. Jesus will be there to help.
For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them.”
Matt 18:20
Matt 18:20
Sometimes hospitality must be extended outside of the home. When it becomes clear this is the only possible way, love and acceptance will be strongly felt. Where a spouse is an unbeliever, hospitality in the home might not be the best place. Married adults or those with children at home might require hospitality in a restaurant or on a fishing trip for one-on-one hospitality with other female or male Christians. The opportunity for deeper conversation is the key. As merely going to a movie might not allow much time for more than just simple relationship, sitting and talking in the car might be almost as good as bringing another person into the home.
In addition to home hospitality, there can be great results for the kingdom of God in inviting people into personal experiences as long as transparency and the ministry of the Togethers are available. Christian friendship groups, Christian families and Christian couples can invite people to go along in activities where just being together (“hanging out”) is the object. Here we are not talking about very special intimate events like college graduation ceremonies, retirement parties, and the like which should be reserved for family and very close friends. But, picnics, fishing trips, garden shows, playground outings with little guys and gals, and trips to the zoo qualify as hospitality that includes others into our private lives.
It might help to separate hospitality from those deeper friendships we have as individuals, families and couples. If hospitality is seen as inviting others into deeper friendship, those with enough or too many close friendships already will resist extending hospitality. They do not have room for more close friends. However, these Christians can provide hospitality to help others develop needed friendships. It would be extremely valuable if they would find two, three or four individuals without solid Christian Inner Circles of friends of their own. Then, they can invite them into their home more than once so that spiritually-vital friendships can have a chance to develop. Finding good, faithful friends is almost as difficult as finding someone to marry, and help is usually needed.
Therefore, Christian leaders should make it clear in their teaching that hospitality is a duty, not an optional pleasure. To treat this assignment from the Lord superficially is to hold back the church. So few Christians practice biblical hospitality that it can be increased many times over.
The command is to give hospitality, not necessarily to receive it. Christians may find that those to whom they have shown hospitality will not return the favor. If the attention is on doing God’s work through hospitality, it is enough that they served and glorified the Lord through obedience.
For example, a married couple inviting ten people into their home and not being invited back does not need to hurt. Many Christians may need to be invited into five separate homes before they begin to understand that they are important enough to extend hospitality themselves. They may need to feel that people enjoy them. That might take five invitations by five different people, families, friendship groups, and/or married couples. They may need five experiences of hospitality to become comfortable with the whole idea. Or they may need to learn what to do in being hospitable and require five different examples from which to create their own style.
In conclusion, to build a strong presence of Christianity in our faithless culture, we Christians need to spread a wide net of hospitality to one another. We must not limit hospitality to those Christians we like or are drawn toward. We need to see that every Christian is wrapped in hospitality and empowered for ministry through the Togethers.
Opportunity to Become More and More Like Jesus Christ
In addition to home hospitality, there can be great results for the kingdom of God in inviting people into personal experiences as long as transparency and the ministry of the Togethers are available. Christian friendship groups, Christian families and Christian couples can invite people to go along in activities where just being together (“hanging out”) is the object. Here we are not talking about very special intimate events like college graduation ceremonies, retirement parties, and the like which should be reserved for family and very close friends. But, picnics, fishing trips, garden shows, playground outings with little guys and gals, and trips to the zoo qualify as hospitality that includes others into our private lives.
It might help to separate hospitality from those deeper friendships we have as individuals, families and couples. If hospitality is seen as inviting others into deeper friendship, those with enough or too many close friendships already will resist extending hospitality. They do not have room for more close friends. However, these Christians can provide hospitality to help others develop needed friendships. It would be extremely valuable if they would find two, three or four individuals without solid Christian Inner Circles of friends of their own. Then, they can invite them into their home more than once so that spiritually-vital friendships can have a chance to develop. Finding good, faithful friends is almost as difficult as finding someone to marry, and help is usually needed.
Therefore, Christian leaders should make it clear in their teaching that hospitality is a duty, not an optional pleasure. To treat this assignment from the Lord superficially is to hold back the church. So few Christians practice biblical hospitality that it can be increased many times over.
The command is to give hospitality, not necessarily to receive it. Christians may find that those to whom they have shown hospitality will not return the favor. If the attention is on doing God’s work through hospitality, it is enough that they served and glorified the Lord through obedience.
For example, a married couple inviting ten people into their home and not being invited back does not need to hurt. Many Christians may need to be invited into five separate homes before they begin to understand that they are important enough to extend hospitality themselves. They may need to feel that people enjoy them. That might take five invitations by five different people, families, friendship groups, and/or married couples. They may need five experiences of hospitality to become comfortable with the whole idea. Or they may need to learn what to do in being hospitable and require five different examples from which to create their own style.
In conclusion, to build a strong presence of Christianity in our faithless culture, we Christians need to spread a wide net of hospitality to one another. We must not limit hospitality to those Christians we like or are drawn toward. We need to see that every Christian is wrapped in hospitality and empowered for ministry through the Togethers.
Opportunity to Become More and More Like Jesus Christ
James truly wanted to be more like Jesus. He studied his Bible often. He went to church. He listened to a few sermons a week on his electronic devices. He knew he was too alone with only a couple of friends, so he joined a small group from his church. In time he met a fellow in the group who liked to play soccer and he and Raphael joined a team in the city league.
One day Raphael mentioned that he admired Jesus for being friendly and hospitable to all sorts of people. James immediately realized how unlike Jesus he was, keeping to himself most of the time. He mentioned to Raphael that he had always wanted to be like Jesus but realized he restricted it to only when he was comfortable. This concept that Jesus showed hospitality was discomforting to him. Raphael suggested that he and James could begin inviting other soccer players to one of their apartments for food and conversation after games. Raphael said he would offer his place first because he was a little more comfortable with the whole thing. James would host the second gathering. |
For Jesus, hospitality was a theater for service. Likewise, for us every time we invite people into our homes or enter their homes the Togethers guide us to many forms of service which will be spiritually enhancing.
Jesus invited people to Himself.
Jesus invited people to Himself.
“Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”
Matt 11:28-30
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And, Jesus accepts invitations to come into the homes and lives of others,
“Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me.”
Rev 3:20
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Jesus was rarely alone. His life was open wide to others. His closest group of friends were his disciples, whom he personally invited into his life. And there were “the multitudes” with whom He constantly engaged. Then there were special people like Zacchaeus, the socially rejected tax collector whom Jesus invited to climb down out of a tree to be with Him. Jesus’ openness to include others transformed many whose spirits were cut off from God.
We Christians can do the same. By opening our lives to others through hospitality and also accepting the hospitality of others, we can be like Jesus and serve the needs of others. We can offer the good news of Jesus Christ when we extend hospitality to unbelievers. We can minister through the Togethers to those believers who come into our homes.
Many Christians do not extend invitations until the house is cleaned and in perfect order, a fancy meal is planned, and everyone in the family knows how they are to behave. The result is that hospitality hardly ever happens.
But, Jesus-type hospitality is spontaneous and responds to people’s needs. His type of hospitality is not a well-orchestrated special event. Jesus included people with Himself as He was. And, even if He had a nice home out of which to operate, it would have its doors wide open any time of day, no matter if he had just swept the floor or not.
Hospitality is so essential to biblical relationships that it must be far more than entertainment, even if fun is a part of the time together. There are spiritual things to do at some point during the fellowship. Every little bit of implementing various Togethers is important for the Holy Spirit to use in transforming everyone a little more into the image of Jesus. By including relevant Togethers to hospitality, God is worshiped, Satan can be defeated, and some preparation for heaven can transpire.
After “love”, “availability” is the key word in hospitality. We must be aware that fun and entertainment can squeeze out availability for the things that count more. Biblical hospitality is centered on God and His transforming work through Christian relationships. This will lead to some of the time during hospitality used for helping one another advance into the image of Jesus. For example, if couples play Scrabble, someone who condemns himself or herself for losing should come away having been helped to see that there was something he or she did that was far more important than doing well in the game, his or her spiritual contributions. Perhaps the person ministered to someone through one of the Togethers or told of a difficult situation at work that she or he handled the way Jesus would have, with forgiveness and compassion.
When the living room is filled with Christians and unbelievers, then hospitality would likely take two directions. Christians would testify in a friendly way of life with Christ in their daily lives with the hope that the non-Christians might see the transforming power of Jesus. But, the believers would still make the occasional spiritual contribution to one another of a Together and empower the promise of Jesus regarding their identity with Him.
We Christians can do the same. By opening our lives to others through hospitality and also accepting the hospitality of others, we can be like Jesus and serve the needs of others. We can offer the good news of Jesus Christ when we extend hospitality to unbelievers. We can minister through the Togethers to those believers who come into our homes.
Many Christians do not extend invitations until the house is cleaned and in perfect order, a fancy meal is planned, and everyone in the family knows how they are to behave. The result is that hospitality hardly ever happens.
But, Jesus-type hospitality is spontaneous and responds to people’s needs. His type of hospitality is not a well-orchestrated special event. Jesus included people with Himself as He was. And, even if He had a nice home out of which to operate, it would have its doors wide open any time of day, no matter if he had just swept the floor or not.
Hospitality is so essential to biblical relationships that it must be far more than entertainment, even if fun is a part of the time together. There are spiritual things to do at some point during the fellowship. Every little bit of implementing various Togethers is important for the Holy Spirit to use in transforming everyone a little more into the image of Jesus. By including relevant Togethers to hospitality, God is worshiped, Satan can be defeated, and some preparation for heaven can transpire.
After “love”, “availability” is the key word in hospitality. We must be aware that fun and entertainment can squeeze out availability for the things that count more. Biblical hospitality is centered on God and His transforming work through Christian relationships. This will lead to some of the time during hospitality used for helping one another advance into the image of Jesus. For example, if couples play Scrabble, someone who condemns himself or herself for losing should come away having been helped to see that there was something he or she did that was far more important than doing well in the game, his or her spiritual contributions. Perhaps the person ministered to someone through one of the Togethers or told of a difficult situation at work that she or he handled the way Jesus would have, with forgiveness and compassion.
When the living room is filled with Christians and unbelievers, then hospitality would likely take two directions. Christians would testify in a friendly way of life with Christ in their daily lives with the hope that the non-Christians might see the transforming power of Jesus. But, the believers would still make the occasional spiritual contribution to one another of a Together and empower the promise of Jesus regarding their identity with Him.
“By this all people will know that you are my disciples,
if you have love for one another.”
John 13:35
if you have love for one another.”
John 13:35
If in such mixed spiritual company an unbeliever is unhappy with losing at Scrabble or makes negative comments about himself or herself, he or she can be told that the Bible says that many things are more important than knowing a lot of words. But, if it is a Christian, another Christian can comment with authority that the importance of walking with Christ, not playing games, is of eternal value. In this way, the unbeliever is shown a better way to view life from God’s viewpoint, but the Christian is helped in his or her sanctification, which will show the unbeliever how Christians extend love to one another.
Also consider that there is“exclusive hospitality” and “inclusive hospitality”.
Exclusive hospitality occurs when Christians who are close invite one another into their lives on a regular basis. Good friends get together at one another’s homes often, and it is exclusive in that they do not invite others to join them. Families who are friends do things together in one another’s homes. And married couples have other couples with whom they get together regularly. Jesus practiced inclusive hospitality when He drew aside only with His disciples.
Inclusive hospitality is when Christian friendships, families and marriages invite new people into their homes or for special activities. Jesus included those with whom He did not have a regular, reoccurring relationship.
Two mothers who are friends get together often when their kids are in school. That is valuable exclusive hospitality for many reasons. But, when those two women invite another mother to join them once or twice, that is inclusive hospitality. When Jesus included a non-regular person, it was to get to know them briefly to see if He could help with their needs. The exclusive relationship of the two moms who are friends leads to deeper mutual ministry, while the two of them inviting another for occasional inclusion is more like outreach ministry.
There is great value to the church in hospitality to those outside of our own Christian Inner Circles. Yet, it is such inclusive hospitality that is too seldom extended. In organized churches, the fear of cliques should be dealt with by teaching close friendship groups to show hospitality to those who seem to be without a close friendship group of their own with people in the church. Sermons should be practical and teach those without a close friendship group in the church to not expect to break into more long-standing friendship groups, but to let those groups show them hospitality so that they can meet others and establish their own group of friends. Jesus was closer to Peter, James and John than the other disciples, so we know that it is okay to have closest friends and include others who are not going to be so close.
There are people who are lonely. There are people who are not sure they are worthwhile. More “two-or-three-with-Jesus friendship groups” should invite those people not sure they are acceptable or likeable to a hospitality event. There they can then show the necessity of ministering to one another through the various Togethers. They can be shown that they have many things to offer others. Then they can be encouraged to develop their own spiritual friendships in which they can walk together with Jesus.
There are families who yearn to be included with other families once in a while. Exclusive relationships of one to three families can execute a large picnic and include two or more families who do not have strong connections to other families. The intention of the hospitality picnic (that they might meet families who would enjoy doing things with their family) can be explained so that those families would not count on being included into the Inner Circle of the sponsoring families. If, then, the hospitality families keep bringing the other families together during the picnic, there will be less chance for misunderstanding.
The same could be done by a few couples in a Christian Inner Circle to benefit other couples who need to make couple friendships. Again, the intention of inviting two or three couples into their hospitality for the purpose of perhaps them building friendships should be made known. Doing so reduces the potential for disappointment and hurt.
Hospitality is often resisted for fear that everyone invited will want to become a friend, for which there is likely not sufficient time. Again, the answer to this is for biblical hospitality to be taught and motives clearly explained. There is nothing to be ashamed of in telling people that they are being invited so that they can make friends and that the hosts already have enough close friendships. Making it clear that hospitality is extended for biblical reasons and not social need right up front reduces the risk of expectations that will likely end up hurtful.
What the church cannot afford to do is resist hospitality for fear of becoming entrapped in too many friendships. For example, perhaps a family recognizes that Jesus extended himself to the poor and downtrodden. The family wants to be similarly open to other families that are not so popular or so financially well off. That family can make it a ministry to once a month invite a poorer family for a meal and evening of fun if it is explained that the host family does this to get to know and serve others, not to make new friendships. They can then encourage those invited to find people like themselves who need to be more connected to other Christians.
Jesus invited a wide variety of people into His presence. By doing likewise through our Christian friendships, families and marriages, we become more like Jesus. If we do not often include others at the significant level of hospitality, our spirits are not so like Jesus.
Opportunity to Worship God
Also consider that there is“exclusive hospitality” and “inclusive hospitality”.
Exclusive hospitality occurs when Christians who are close invite one another into their lives on a regular basis. Good friends get together at one another’s homes often, and it is exclusive in that they do not invite others to join them. Families who are friends do things together in one another’s homes. And married couples have other couples with whom they get together regularly. Jesus practiced inclusive hospitality when He drew aside only with His disciples.
Inclusive hospitality is when Christian friendships, families and marriages invite new people into their homes or for special activities. Jesus included those with whom He did not have a regular, reoccurring relationship.
Two mothers who are friends get together often when their kids are in school. That is valuable exclusive hospitality for many reasons. But, when those two women invite another mother to join them once or twice, that is inclusive hospitality. When Jesus included a non-regular person, it was to get to know them briefly to see if He could help with their needs. The exclusive relationship of the two moms who are friends leads to deeper mutual ministry, while the two of them inviting another for occasional inclusion is more like outreach ministry.
There is great value to the church in hospitality to those outside of our own Christian Inner Circles. Yet, it is such inclusive hospitality that is too seldom extended. In organized churches, the fear of cliques should be dealt with by teaching close friendship groups to show hospitality to those who seem to be without a close friendship group of their own with people in the church. Sermons should be practical and teach those without a close friendship group in the church to not expect to break into more long-standing friendship groups, but to let those groups show them hospitality so that they can meet others and establish their own group of friends. Jesus was closer to Peter, James and John than the other disciples, so we know that it is okay to have closest friends and include others who are not going to be so close.
There are people who are lonely. There are people who are not sure they are worthwhile. More “two-or-three-with-Jesus friendship groups” should invite those people not sure they are acceptable or likeable to a hospitality event. There they can then show the necessity of ministering to one another through the various Togethers. They can be shown that they have many things to offer others. Then they can be encouraged to develop their own spiritual friendships in which they can walk together with Jesus.
There are families who yearn to be included with other families once in a while. Exclusive relationships of one to three families can execute a large picnic and include two or more families who do not have strong connections to other families. The intention of the hospitality picnic (that they might meet families who would enjoy doing things with their family) can be explained so that those families would not count on being included into the Inner Circle of the sponsoring families. If, then, the hospitality families keep bringing the other families together during the picnic, there will be less chance for misunderstanding.
The same could be done by a few couples in a Christian Inner Circle to benefit other couples who need to make couple friendships. Again, the intention of inviting two or three couples into their hospitality for the purpose of perhaps them building friendships should be made known. Doing so reduces the potential for disappointment and hurt.
Hospitality is often resisted for fear that everyone invited will want to become a friend, for which there is likely not sufficient time. Again, the answer to this is for biblical hospitality to be taught and motives clearly explained. There is nothing to be ashamed of in telling people that they are being invited so that they can make friends and that the hosts already have enough close friendships. Making it clear that hospitality is extended for biblical reasons and not social need right up front reduces the risk of expectations that will likely end up hurtful.
What the church cannot afford to do is resist hospitality for fear of becoming entrapped in too many friendships. For example, perhaps a family recognizes that Jesus extended himself to the poor and downtrodden. The family wants to be similarly open to other families that are not so popular or so financially well off. That family can make it a ministry to once a month invite a poorer family for a meal and evening of fun if it is explained that the host family does this to get to know and serve others, not to make new friendships. They can then encourage those invited to find people like themselves who need to be more connected to other Christians.
Jesus invited a wide variety of people into His presence. By doing likewise through our Christian friendships, families and marriages, we become more like Jesus. If we do not often include others at the significant level of hospitality, our spirits are not so like Jesus.
Opportunity to Worship God
The Smith family has a lot of fun together. Their family nights and weekend activities are very important to them. Then 3rd grader Johnnie asked if he could bring a friend along on next Saturday’s trip to the zoo.
The family baulked at this because they had always gone to the zoo only as a family. Johnnie persisted and brought up that Jesus sometimes brought people along with Him and his disciples. God used Johnnie for the family’s spiritual growth, and the Holy Spirit moved the family to want to be hospitable like Jesus. They began including others regularly, but not every time. Eventually they came to understand such hospitality was worship because they would be reflecting to God the Father His own reaching out and including people in His kingdom. They would give God “worship in action”, every bit as important as other forms of worship. Oh, by the way, each of the four Smith kids had a friend along on the zoo trip. |
No one can open their arms as wide as God does to welcome people to Himself. Therefore, to whatever extent we allow the Holy Spirit to stretch out our arms to take others more deeply into our lives through hospitality, we worship because we reflect back to God something of His own character.
After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands, and crying out with a loud voice, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!”
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Rev 7:9-10
Note that this Together of hospitality in the way of worship is not to welcome unbelievers into our homes, although that is part of many other Togethers. God does not welcome unbelievers into heaven, His home, so we must restrict this aspect of hospitality as worship to Christians with one another.
Even now God invites our spirits to abide in his heaven. If He opens His pearly gates to us, so we should open doors to our homes.
Even now God invites our spirits to abide in his heaven. If He opens His pearly gates to us, so we should open doors to our homes.
And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus.
Eph 2:6-7
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We must not limit hospitality to our closest Christian friends if we want to reflect in worship the wider love of God through hospitality. Christians must include many different kinds of believers into their hospitality to be truly like God and so worship. Hospitality to less popular people is a reflection of Jesus’ hospitality shown in the gospels.
“When you give a dinner or a banquet, do not invite your friends or your brothers or your relatives or rich neighbors, lest they also invite you in return and you be repaid. But when you give a feast, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, and you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you. For you will be repaid at the resurrection of the just.”
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Luke 14:12-14
So often in the Bible we see God the Father and Jesus reaching out to the poor, the disabled, the disenfranchised, even the despised. Treating the less fortunate well and making sure they are treated fairly is a prerequisite for the acceptance by God of our worship (Amos 5). Watching out for struggling Christians begins with hospitality where injustice and other needs can come to light. Such hospitality is like God who invites us to come to Him and tell him our troubles. Therefore, it mirrors God’s own character and is very valuable worship.
Hospitality should be extended by individuals, but it is most dynamic when offered by Christian friendship groups, families, and couples. When more than one wants someone to be with them, it means more. More people had to agree to include the one invited, and that makes the hospitality instill a greater feeling of being valuable. Plus, with additional believers present, more dynamic spiritual interaction will take place, especially if the hosts are dedicated to the Scriptural instruction of the Togethers. All three persons of the one and only God extend hospitality to us. Hospitality by friendship groups, families, and marriages echo God’s “three-Persons-in-one-God” hospitality.
We should be watching out for Christians with whom we have had little fellowship so that we can invite them into our homes. There are people on the fringes of all but the smallest churches. Our neighborhoods have Christians we can meet and have into our homes. And, there are Christians at our workplaces who need to feel the impact of true, Christian hospitality. The benefits of inter-Christian hospitality are broad when there is a diversity of believers. The great variety of the Togethers presents a mixture of possibilities for spiritual development. There is also the wide variety of scriptural application of those Togethers because many people of different circumstances are available.
God has given us hearts and resources for hospitality in community. When we offer hospitality through our Christian friendships, families and marriages, we worship God by reflecting back to Him his very character as one who invites mere sinful mortals to know Him and enter into His marvelous kingdom.
How Used in Battle to Defeat Evil and Satan
Hospitality should be extended by individuals, but it is most dynamic when offered by Christian friendship groups, families, and couples. When more than one wants someone to be with them, it means more. More people had to agree to include the one invited, and that makes the hospitality instill a greater feeling of being valuable. Plus, with additional believers present, more dynamic spiritual interaction will take place, especially if the hosts are dedicated to the Scriptural instruction of the Togethers. All three persons of the one and only God extend hospitality to us. Hospitality by friendship groups, families, and marriages echo God’s “three-Persons-in-one-God” hospitality.
We should be watching out for Christians with whom we have had little fellowship so that we can invite them into our homes. There are people on the fringes of all but the smallest churches. Our neighborhoods have Christians we can meet and have into our homes. And, there are Christians at our workplaces who need to feel the impact of true, Christian hospitality. The benefits of inter-Christian hospitality are broad when there is a diversity of believers. The great variety of the Togethers presents a mixture of possibilities for spiritual development. There is also the wide variety of scriptural application of those Togethers because many people of different circumstances are available.
God has given us hearts and resources for hospitality in community. When we offer hospitality through our Christian friendships, families and marriages, we worship God by reflecting back to Him his very character as one who invites mere sinful mortals to know Him and enter into His marvelous kingdom.
How Used in Battle to Defeat Evil and Satan
Ryan and Melanie are in their early fifties. They are empty-nesters, their grown children either gone off to college or living out of town. With more time on their hands, the two of them are always looking for someone who is left out of Christian hospitality. This is not hard because their church is full of unconnected people and very few church members obey the biblical command for hospitality. Sadly, those who do entertain tend to invite the more popular and outgoing people in the church.
Ryan and Melanie ask someone to have dinner with them at their home every other Friday evening. They considered having people over after church on Sunday, but decided that would look a little too much like church culture and not be personal enough to help guests feel truly valued. In the last few months Melanie and Ryan have been inviting an elderly woman they saw coming to church alone for many weeks. A month later they noticed another woman in the same age range alone, so they invited them both to their home at the same time, hoping that perhaps the two ladies could form a friendship. Then there was the single parent family who came to church dressed in hand-me-down clothes that didn’t quite fit properly. They had a great time hosting this mother and three children. Melanie’s merciful concern got the mother to mention some of the family’s unmet needs, and Ryan notified the church deacons who made funds available. Now, if the pastor would just notice what Ryan and Melanie are doing to defeat Satan, perhaps he would encourage more obedience to the command to be hospitable from the pulpit. Especially if he would show how it defeats the evils of loneliness and poor self-image as God’s empowered servants. |
From his strategy in the Garden of Eden, it has been clear that Satan’s strongest move is to isolate people. He talked to Eve alone. He tempted Jesus when He was alone. Since biblical hospitality strongly connects Christians to one another, it is a primary defense against the devil.
Hospitality is essential to defeating Satan on two counts. First, hospitality leaves less believers alone and vulnerable, and, thus, more protected from the devil’s influences. Second, biblical hospitality goes beyond entertainment and fun to deep inclusion in one another’s lives to open up the application of the many Togethers, each of which defeats the devil in one way or another.
Unfortunately, only a small percentage of potential Christian hospitality actually occurs. Only a very small number of believers invite others into their homes at least once a month, not counting friendship gatherings for entertainment. For God to provide so many aspects of His love through the biblical hospitality of His people, at least 80% of a church should be bringing Christians other than their closest friends into their homes.
Most Christians believe that going to church services is the fulfillment of their faith, when it really is supposed to be the means of spurring on living for God through Scriptural obedience. Since hospitality is the gateway into mutual ministry through the Togethers, it is disastrous that Christians see hospitality as little more than fun. Preaching must proclaim the biblical purposes of hospitality.
People like to be comfortable by being around people very much like themselves. However, such limited Christian interaction retards spiritual growth. Minimizing the outreach of hospitality is a sure way to weaken the church and give ground to our enemy Satan.
Hospitality fights evil and defeats Satan who works to inhibit Christians from knowing their value in Christ. Hospitality received from many sources, Christian friendship groups, Christian families and Christian marriages, can battle lack of self-respect and build confidence to serve God. Jesus came to destroy the works of the devil and He needs every one of us to know we are valuable to other Christians and needed by them. Hospitality that includes even a small bit of ministry to one another shows invited Christians that they have something to offer in relationships with other Christians.
Hospitality is necessary to create the settings where the Togethers of Scripture can be obeyed. Hospitality empowers relationships that deliver acceptance, affirmation, strength, encouragement and love. All of these defeat Satan and evil. And the list of spiritual advantages that can erupt from biblical hospitality in homes could be a hundred times longer.
How in the Sinful Environment this Together Prepares Us for Heaven
Hospitality is essential to defeating Satan on two counts. First, hospitality leaves less believers alone and vulnerable, and, thus, more protected from the devil’s influences. Second, biblical hospitality goes beyond entertainment and fun to deep inclusion in one another’s lives to open up the application of the many Togethers, each of which defeats the devil in one way or another.
Unfortunately, only a small percentage of potential Christian hospitality actually occurs. Only a very small number of believers invite others into their homes at least once a month, not counting friendship gatherings for entertainment. For God to provide so many aspects of His love through the biblical hospitality of His people, at least 80% of a church should be bringing Christians other than their closest friends into their homes.
Most Christians believe that going to church services is the fulfillment of their faith, when it really is supposed to be the means of spurring on living for God through Scriptural obedience. Since hospitality is the gateway into mutual ministry through the Togethers, it is disastrous that Christians see hospitality as little more than fun. Preaching must proclaim the biblical purposes of hospitality.
People like to be comfortable by being around people very much like themselves. However, such limited Christian interaction retards spiritual growth. Minimizing the outreach of hospitality is a sure way to weaken the church and give ground to our enemy Satan.
Hospitality fights evil and defeats Satan who works to inhibit Christians from knowing their value in Christ. Hospitality received from many sources, Christian friendship groups, Christian families and Christian marriages, can battle lack of self-respect and build confidence to serve God. Jesus came to destroy the works of the devil and He needs every one of us to know we are valuable to other Christians and needed by them. Hospitality that includes even a small bit of ministry to one another shows invited Christians that they have something to offer in relationships with other Christians.
Hospitality is necessary to create the settings where the Togethers of Scripture can be obeyed. Hospitality empowers relationships that deliver acceptance, affirmation, strength, encouragement and love. All of these defeat Satan and evil. And the list of spiritual advantages that can erupt from biblical hospitality in homes could be a hundred times longer.
How in the Sinful Environment this Together Prepares Us for Heaven
Wendy and her good friend Lucy go to the same public high school and are both Christians. Unknowingly, they are doing something that will prepare them for heaven in ways not considered by most believers.
Wendy and Lucy are going around to all sorts of kids at school and inviting them to eat lunch with them the next day. They enjoy getting to know girls and boys of different races, different interests, and different economic groups. They do not realize that they are getting ready to appreciate all of the thousands of different people from all nationalities and centuries with whom they will fellowship in heaven. Lucy and Wendy love Jesus, are secure in their friendship, and have very positive attitudes. Since they are not anxious, most kids agree to eat lunch with them. Everyone knows they are just being friendly, not inviting them to be best friends. Sure, some are jealous of them, but ridicule doesn’t affect them because all that matters is that God is happy with them. They are undeterred when they get turned down because there is always someone else, and they have each other to eat with if nothing works out. What do they do with boyfriends? Well, those guys just have to join in their fun. In this situation, “Girls rule!” |
The kingdom of heaven is about relationships, with God and with the other citizens of eternal society. The fantastic thing is that we can prepare for those relationships now and begin our lives in heaven with advanced abilities with people through hospitality. Hospitality provides the setting for most of the Togethers, each one empowering biblical relationships for changing our spirits to be like Jesus and serve God, as well as benefit ourselves in heaven.
Hospitality extended to a wide variety of Christian individuals, couples and families will create the need for more spiritual growth through the various Togethers. Without obeying the instruction to show hospitality and open our lives and homes, Christians will cut themselves off from a vast variety of opportunities to extend and receive love through the Togethers.
One hospitable event might require growth in living as citizens of heaven because the Christians invited over were too attached to this world and its values. To deal with such spiritual deficiency, the hosts would have to emphasize living as aliens on a mission to this ungodly planet with values, desires and ways of dealing with people that are radically different from those of the world.
Another incident of hospitality might require turning away from concern for self because something will come up that demands looking out for another’s good. Perhaps it will become clear to the hosts that the guests have a need for deeper understanding of the gospel so they can witness appropriately to dear relatives hostile to faith.
A third Together is to see that each one does his or her part in the work of God. The hosts will recognize that God has equipped one or more of the guests to do something very important for the advance of God’s love in the world. This will require growth in the host’s spirits to act to help another see that he or she is needed in the work of God and to also recognize the eternal rewards available from living a bit more for God.
Obedience to biblical hospitality gets us used to relationships with people who are different from us and will get us ready for heaven where the great majority of people will not be like us. Heaven would be boring if throughout eternity our relationships were with only 100 people like ourselves.
If we really want to get ready for the variety of relationships in heaven, let us invite Christians into our homes from different cultures and economic means. The stranger the better if we want to be able to enjoy sitting and talking in heaven to a Mongol believer from the year 600. God has created many different kinds of people. We want to recognize God’s creativity in the types of people around us. This is necessary for us to appreciate the different kinds of people we will have as friends in heaven.
For most of us living in an urban environment, there is quite a bit of variety in the Christians available to us. We should get to know them through hospitality. But, if the people around us are too much like us, perhaps we can find a Christian in another country who would like to develop an online friendship.
If in heaven we are going to understand at the level of empathy thousands of marvelous stories of being rescued by the love and intervention of Christ, we must this side of death experience first hand the struggles of others. Do we want to be limited to only understanding struggles common to our position in life? To understand suffering that will not come our way, we might hear about it if we invite believers not like us into our homes. We can ask people into our homes and share life experiences now for better understanding of the endless wonderful stories of God’s rescue we will hear in heaven during all eternity.
It all boils down to this: we need to practice a wide range of hospitality now here on earth if we want the best enjoyment of people in heaven. And, we need to do it joyfully. If we want to prepare for the kind of hospitality acceptable in heaven, we must work at seeing it as an enjoyable opportunity, not a troublesome biblical responsibility.
Hospitality extended to a wide variety of Christian individuals, couples and families will create the need for more spiritual growth through the various Togethers. Without obeying the instruction to show hospitality and open our lives and homes, Christians will cut themselves off from a vast variety of opportunities to extend and receive love through the Togethers.
One hospitable event might require growth in living as citizens of heaven because the Christians invited over were too attached to this world and its values. To deal with such spiritual deficiency, the hosts would have to emphasize living as aliens on a mission to this ungodly planet with values, desires and ways of dealing with people that are radically different from those of the world.
Another incident of hospitality might require turning away from concern for self because something will come up that demands looking out for another’s good. Perhaps it will become clear to the hosts that the guests have a need for deeper understanding of the gospel so they can witness appropriately to dear relatives hostile to faith.
A third Together is to see that each one does his or her part in the work of God. The hosts will recognize that God has equipped one or more of the guests to do something very important for the advance of God’s love in the world. This will require growth in the host’s spirits to act to help another see that he or she is needed in the work of God and to also recognize the eternal rewards available from living a bit more for God.
Obedience to biblical hospitality gets us used to relationships with people who are different from us and will get us ready for heaven where the great majority of people will not be like us. Heaven would be boring if throughout eternity our relationships were with only 100 people like ourselves.
If we really want to get ready for the variety of relationships in heaven, let us invite Christians into our homes from different cultures and economic means. The stranger the better if we want to be able to enjoy sitting and talking in heaven to a Mongol believer from the year 600. God has created many different kinds of people. We want to recognize God’s creativity in the types of people around us. This is necessary for us to appreciate the different kinds of people we will have as friends in heaven.
For most of us living in an urban environment, there is quite a bit of variety in the Christians available to us. We should get to know them through hospitality. But, if the people around us are too much like us, perhaps we can find a Christian in another country who would like to develop an online friendship.
If in heaven we are going to understand at the level of empathy thousands of marvelous stories of being rescued by the love and intervention of Christ, we must this side of death experience first hand the struggles of others. Do we want to be limited to only understanding struggles common to our position in life? To understand suffering that will not come our way, we might hear about it if we invite believers not like us into our homes. We can ask people into our homes and share life experiences now for better understanding of the endless wonderful stories of God’s rescue we will hear in heaven during all eternity.
It all boils down to this: we need to practice a wide range of hospitality now here on earth if we want the best enjoyment of people in heaven. And, we need to do it joyfully. If we want to prepare for the kind of hospitality acceptable in heaven, we must work at seeing it as an enjoyable opportunity, not a troublesome biblical responsibility.
Show hospitality to one another without grumbling.
1 Peter 4:9
1 Peter 4:9
Let’s exercise a lot of hospitality now to be more able to appreciate the eternal myriad of unending relationships coming just down life’s road – just after death.
How this Together Can Make it Really Good in Heaven
How this Together Can Make it Really Good in Heaven
By the time Gertrude left the nursing home in New York City for heaven, she had reached out to many other residents, first in her assisted living facility and then in the nursing home. Although she was Jewish by ethnic group and Christian by faith, she found everyone more accepting now that their health was failing.
In the nursing home, Gertrude invited different people to eat with her, come to her room to visit, or meet in the common room. And she even went to the rooms of those who were bedridden. She met and showed hospitality to people of many different ethnic backgrounds. Now in heaven, Gertrude is perfectly healthy and having the time of her life. She is prepared to enjoy all the different kinds of people, from all centuries, from all tribes and nations that ever existed, dressed the way they dressed back on earth. Most others do not seem to enjoy the variety of people at the level she is able. Fortunately, they don’t know what they are missing and are happy nonetheless. Yet, Gertrude tries her best to teach them to be interested and excited about the uniqueness of all the very different born-again people. It is her assigned reward in heaven to serve God in this way. |
Although heaven’s physical characteristics will be fantastic, it is relationships that will be the most exciting. How marvelous will it be to love and interact with so many different people from so many different cultures across the centuries, people whom God has loved and rescued. We will be fascinated by learning about lives lived in different circumstances with different traditions and ways of looking at things.
Are we not amazed now when we hear of God’s saving someone’s life, when death or disaster probability was more likely? Think of the many healings Jesus performed that we learn of in the gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. Aren’t they exciting? Don’t we wish we could hear of more such miracles?
Well, in heaven we are going to hear thousands, no, millions of such true stories of God’s grace. And it will never get boring. Hearing each story from the person herself or himself, possibly with angels adding in unperceived details, will keep our eyes wide with wonder. That is, if we have prepared for such interest in people different from ourselves.
And then there is this surprise in the Bible about hospitality, one that is hard to understand, but wonderful to imagine. Biblical hospitality might just bring an angel into our homes now.
Are we not amazed now when we hear of God’s saving someone’s life, when death or disaster probability was more likely? Think of the many healings Jesus performed that we learn of in the gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. Aren’t they exciting? Don’t we wish we could hear of more such miracles?
Well, in heaven we are going to hear thousands, no, millions of such true stories of God’s grace. And it will never get boring. Hearing each story from the person herself or himself, possibly with angels adding in unperceived details, will keep our eyes wide with wonder. That is, if we have prepared for such interest in people different from ourselves.
And then there is this surprise in the Bible about hospitality, one that is hard to understand, but wonderful to imagine. Biblical hospitality might just bring an angel into our homes now.
Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers,
for thereby some have entertained angels unawares.
Heb 13:2
for thereby some have entertained angels unawares.
Heb 13:2
Note that this possibility only comes from inviting strangers into our homes and lives, not people we know. Also consider that it is unlikely angels will be interested in visiting us for entertainment. So, to keep open the possibility of a special encounter with an angel, let’s invite strangers and make certain our conversations include spiritual exploration.
Hebrews 13:2 implies that we will show hospitality to angels in heaven! Now, that is also something exciting to look forward to.
If God tells us to extend hospitality now to many others, why would He change that way of living in heaven? Without hindrance of sin, hospitality in heaven will be pure joy!
Opportunity for a Closer Relationship with God through Eternity
Hebrews 13:2 implies that we will show hospitality to angels in heaven! Now, that is also something exciting to look forward to.
If God tells us to extend hospitality now to many others, why would He change that way of living in heaven? Without hindrance of sin, hospitality in heaven will be pure joy!
Opportunity for a Closer Relationship with God through Eternity
In heaven Jesus has arranged a small dinner in my home. Seven others have been invited, all from different centuries and ethnic groups. Like told in the Bible where Jesus used other people’s homes for healing people, He is using my home now and He is preparing the meal. He and I are working together, cooking, serving, directing conversation to God’s grace.
I am amazed how close to Jesus I feel. Jesus just told me that because I extended hospitality so often before death and many times since entering heaven, I am qualified to serve with Him today . It is that I opened my life in hospitality to such a wide variety of people back when sin made such gatherings tense because something could go wrong. We shared the joy and fascination of hospitality before heaven, and because of that we share more empathy with each other now. The strong connection with Jesus feels so wonderful. |
Nothing in heaven will be more important than our relationship with God. It stands to reason that the more hospitable we have been before getting to heaven, the more we will be able to have empathy with God who has opened up His heaven to us.
We will be able to understand God’s joy in having us in his Home to the extent we enjoyed having people in our homes, even those who rubbed us the wrong way and disappointed us or offended us. After all, God will be happy having us in heaven, and we will have disappointed and offended Him often.
We can imagine the special joy of having a wayward child reunited with us, separated at last from whatever sin entrapped him or her and now home safe with us at last for Christmas. It will be that way for God when we enter heaven. So, if we want empathy with God in heaven, we will want to offer hospitality to many such wayward souls now. We won’t be able to after death, so now is the time for hospitality to be offered to people beaten up by sin.
Closeness often comes from shared experiences. If we have traveled to Italy, we will feel a closeness whenever we meet someone else who has traveled to Italy. If we have camped in a tent in the wilderness, we will automatically feel a connection with another who has also spent the night outdoors in a tent with wild sounds all around. So, if we want more closeness with our hospitable God, then let’s increase our own hospitality.
Praise & Prayer Regarding this Together
Dear God, You have shown us gracious hospitality that we have not deserved and opened Your arms wide to us. In response to Your love, I and those in my Christian Inner Circle will need Your help to grow our spirits to show hospitality to those You lead us to who are left out of such personal fellowship. Help us to yield to the work of the Holy Spirit for all of us to give You more glory in the way we bring others into our personal space to show them that they are valuable to You, and, therefore, to us.
Please help us all to become more like Jesus and open our lives to others outside of those with whom we regularly associate. In doing so, guide us to hear You tell us how we might serve those we give hospitality.
May our lives worship You more because we invite other Christians into our homes and lives. Like God, give us the opportunities to show hospitality to the poor, disabled, and rejected. Let us feel the joy we give You when we extend such love to the less fortunate. In our Christian Inner Circles, help us to recognize when another believer needs more than one of us to show him or her hospitality.
Make us strong in Your power to defeat the devil by thwarting his strategy to isolate Christians from deeper relationship with one another. Through hospitality extended to those who seem left out of significant Christian fellowship, let us see what Togethers of Scripture are called for to spiritually love those who come into our homes.
Help us all to prepare for heaven by growing more comfortable with all kinds of people through hospitality. We want to go to heaven with spirits already changed to include every other citizen of heaven as You arrange connections and relationships throughout eternity.
We will be able to understand God’s joy in having us in his Home to the extent we enjoyed having people in our homes, even those who rubbed us the wrong way and disappointed us or offended us. After all, God will be happy having us in heaven, and we will have disappointed and offended Him often.
We can imagine the special joy of having a wayward child reunited with us, separated at last from whatever sin entrapped him or her and now home safe with us at last for Christmas. It will be that way for God when we enter heaven. So, if we want empathy with God in heaven, we will want to offer hospitality to many such wayward souls now. We won’t be able to after death, so now is the time for hospitality to be offered to people beaten up by sin.
Closeness often comes from shared experiences. If we have traveled to Italy, we will feel a closeness whenever we meet someone else who has traveled to Italy. If we have camped in a tent in the wilderness, we will automatically feel a connection with another who has also spent the night outdoors in a tent with wild sounds all around. So, if we want more closeness with our hospitable God, then let’s increase our own hospitality.
Praise & Prayer Regarding this Together
Dear God, You have shown us gracious hospitality that we have not deserved and opened Your arms wide to us. In response to Your love, I and those in my Christian Inner Circle will need Your help to grow our spirits to show hospitality to those You lead us to who are left out of such personal fellowship. Help us to yield to the work of the Holy Spirit for all of us to give You more glory in the way we bring others into our personal space to show them that they are valuable to You, and, therefore, to us.
Please help us all to become more like Jesus and open our lives to others outside of those with whom we regularly associate. In doing so, guide us to hear You tell us how we might serve those we give hospitality.
May our lives worship You more because we invite other Christians into our homes and lives. Like God, give us the opportunities to show hospitality to the poor, disabled, and rejected. Let us feel the joy we give You when we extend such love to the less fortunate. In our Christian Inner Circles, help us to recognize when another believer needs more than one of us to show him or her hospitality.
Make us strong in Your power to defeat the devil by thwarting his strategy to isolate Christians from deeper relationship with one another. Through hospitality extended to those who seem left out of significant Christian fellowship, let us see what Togethers of Scripture are called for to spiritually love those who come into our homes.
Help us all to prepare for heaven by growing more comfortable with all kinds of people through hospitality. We want to go to heaven with spirits already changed to include every other citizen of heaven as You arrange connections and relationships throughout eternity.
Ever increasing practice of the Togethers of Scripture will (1) create in you the loving essence of Jesus, (2) give Jesus the kind of love He requested, (3) provide you with the most significant spiritual lifestyle which is attainable only through Christian community, (4) offer significant worship to God by reflecting his own character back to him through your behavior, and (5) bring God’s kingdom to earth as asked for in the Lord’s Prayer. And for heaven, such growing obedience to Scripture now will later (6) qualify you for a more responsible place of service as reward in heaven, and, (7) most important of all, give you greater empathy with God for a closer relationship with Him for all of eternity.