Yesterday, I talked about the fear of man. Sometimes the fear of man can cause us to be disobedient to what God calls us to as believers. We have a myriad of excuses and are very sophisticated so we fool ourselves into thinking we are not actually being disobedient. We need to focus on the joy of obedience and knowing that God always equips us where he calls us. I love my husband's mantra, "Fear none (except God), serve all". One way we can serve others is through hospitality. Here is a post from Nicole Whitacre, on the girltalk blog, on God's commandment to be hospitable.
“When most Christians hear about their responsibility to practice hospitality, they can think up an amazing number of creative excuses to explain why they cannot be hospitable. Yet Christians are commanded to be hospitable.” Alexander StrauchRead the whole thing here.
Our budget is too tight.
Our home is too small.
We don’t have a couch.
We don’t have a dishwasher.
The painter’s plastic hanging in the middle of our living room isn’t very attractive.
I’m not good at this.
It’s been a long week and I’m tired.
I’ve used all of these excuses to apply for hospitality exemptions. But Scripture has denied all my claims. The Bible is clear about who is to show hospitality: all Christians. By God’s grace, that includes me.
All Christians--not just the rich, or the creative, or the organized, or the gourmet cooks, or the outgoing personalities or the ones with lots of free time. All Christians.
1 comment:
Challenging. I believe God has really been doing some work on my heart in this matter recently. I have used all of those excuses...most often the "I don't have time" excuse. What a sad excuse in light of Christ's example and call to love people (not just when it is convenient for me and my schedule). I think hospitality is undervalued in the church. I believe hospitality builds bridges with nonbelievers and unifies us in authentic community as Christ followers. It's a beautiful thing.
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