Thoughts from daily Bible reading for today – June 5, 2020
By Guest Writer: Cassie Pattillo
Share with the Lord’s people who are in need. Practice hospitality. Romans 12:13
I love Pinterest – the recipes, birthday ideas, and classroom resources. However, I also must be wise and careful while I pin. The fun ideas are great, but they can also be a source of ungodly discontentment in my heart. This discontentment can lead to many other sin issues, with one of them being not stewarding the resources (such as my house) God has given me for his glory. Christians are commanded to show hospitality (Romans 12:13). Unfortunately, this is a command many believers shy away from. There’s many reasons for this, but I believe our desire for Pinterest-perfect is definitely one of them.
Does hospitality really have to be Pinterest-perfect?
Our culture makes “hospitality” and “entertaining” interchangeable words, when in reality, they’re not. I believe many of us don’t obey the hospitality command because we’re actually thinking of entertaining.
Ultimately, entertaining is for the glory of self and is about impressing our guests. If our aim is to impress others, then we feel the pressure to have the newest decor line from Target and a 5-star worthy meal. Dear friends, Scripture never calls us to have a spotless home. It never calls us to throw birthday parties so extravagant it puts ourselves and wallets under stress.
Scripture simply calls us to: “Offer hospitality to one another without grumbling.” (1 Peter 4:9).
Biblical hospitality is what Rosaria Butterfield calls, “radically-ordinary hospitality.” While entertaining focuses on self, biblical hospitality focuses on others. When we’re participating in the hospitality God calls us to, the mindset is no longer, “How can I make myself look good?,” but “How can I make others feel loved?”
In The Gospel Comes With a House Key, Rosaria says hospitality is, “using your Christian home in a daily way that seeks to make strangers neighbors, and neighbors family of God.” I believe Satan gives this “Pinterest-perfect” lie, because using our homes as embassies for Christ is absolutely against what he wants. Satan tempts us to live for the glory of self. He reminds us our recipes aren’t fancy or our walls need a fresh coat of paint, and we shrink back from the hospitality God commands. When we replace this lie with truth, there’s beautiful freedom. When I view my home as a gift from God to steward for his Kingdom (and not mine), the pressure is lifted. When using this gift is about loving others well instead of making myself look good, I don’t worry so much about the juice stain on my couch.
This world isn’t our home. Our money and possessions will one day fade. The question is, will we use these fading things for the unfading glory of God? Will we use them to build our kingdom that will one day crumble, or God’s Kingdom that’s eternal? May we open our hearts, homes, and grocery lists in radically ordinary ways, so others will see the radical love of Christ!
“Lydia, a dealer in purple cloth. She was a worshiper of God. The Lord opened her heart to respond to Paul’s message. When she and the members of her household were baptized, she invited us to her home. “If you consider me a believer in the Lord,” she said, “come and stay at my house.” And she persuaded us” (Acts 16:14-15).
Prayer
Heavenly Father, grow my heart of hospitality to be for loving others, not impressing others, in Jesus’ name. Amen.
Application
Consider the Journeywoman podcast: Hospitality in the Midst of a Crisis
Related Reading
2 Kings 4:10; Job 31:32; 1 Timothy 3:2, 5:10; Hebrews 13:2
Here is a helpful resource during these days of grief, sorrow and uncertainty: A Little Book of Comfort
Post/Tweet today
Hospitality is not, “How can I make myself look good?,” but “How can I make others feel loved?” #WisdomHunters #hospitality #truth #Jesus
Worship Resource
9 minute video: Elevation Worship:
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