Acts 2:42; 46-47
They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.
As Matt and I began this new year, we were encouraged to start “dreaming” again. We had been working so hard to save and restore our marriage, it had been a really long time since we had conversations of our dreams for the future. A lot had changed in our hearts and priorities through our journey and our dreams started to reflect those changes. One of the biggest desires is to have a home that practices radical hospitality as we disciple our children and our community around us.
Once we understood this dream, it helped us shape the type of home we are looking for. It’s not about having a big, fancy house but more about having a space to gather. We want our boys to have freedom to invite friends over, host small groups from church, and have a place for our extended family and friends to celebrate life together. As we continue to commit the surrender of our vision for the future, it has been amazing to see how God has worked in our hearts and unified us in our desires.
I wanted to use the scripture in Acts 2 again this week to show how hospitality played a huge role in the growth of the early Church. Last week we talked about living in the present with a healthy community that met often to grow deeper in the faith, encourage each other, and held one another accountable. With these intentional practices of the early Church, Christian hospitality naturally followed. They ate together, met in homes, enjoyed one another’s company, and grew.
I believe this is the core to many of our individual desires. Acceptance, belonging, and companionship. What is heart breaking is this is not the reputation of the Church. However, if we individually heal our past wounds and intentionally cultivate our own healthy community, we can dream this for our future and the future of others. We can invite others into our community with warm, Christian hospitality and show them the love of Jesus.
It is important to make a distinction between hospitality and hosting. Hosting is stressful. Hosting requires us to have a clean, prefect house, the perfect menu, and a flawless, Instagram worthy presentation. Hosting can lead to insecurity, comparison, and it is cold and prickly. Hospitality, on the other hand, is warm, inviting, inclusive, casual, and nurturing. Hospitality is moving over the laundry basket, getting a mug from the dishwasher, and hearing the heart of a friend. Hospitality should leave us feeling accepted as we are, where we are in life.
Jesus lived this way when He was here on earth. He shared meals with notorious sinners (Matthew 9:10-17 & Luke 5:29-39), washed the feet of his disciples (John 13:1-17), and let the children come to Him while teaching (Matthew 19:14). It is in His presence we are accepted, belong, and have companionship. As followers of Jesus, we are called to do the same for others.
When we practice genuine, Christian hospitality, we create strength in a community of believers that keeps us from breaking. We experience healing, growth, accountability, and acceptance. We live honestly and openly not hiding our secrets and shame. We can lean on one another when we are weak and share in our resources when our friends are in need. We can cooperate with each other as we raise up the next generation to live differently as citizens of Heaven. Our children will be able to recognize that Christian community is good and healthy while embracing it for themselves and being equipped to intentionally cultivate it for the generations to come.
I pray the work we do now to heal the past, live the present, and dream the future will positively impact not only those around us, but for future generations. We do not have to be victims of society, simply going with the flow of culture. We can stand firm on Truth and hold fast to the practices of the early Church. After all, they knew a little bit about going against empty religion, destructive traditions, and expectations to be accepted in culture.
Additional Resources:
- I encourage you to read the book of Acts. There is so much we can learn from the early Church and how they handled being the minority in society and enduring persecution.
- The Gospel Comes with a House Key: Practicing Radical Ordinary Hospitality in Our Post–Christian World by Rosaria Butterfield
- Bread and Wine: A Love Letter to Life Around the Table with Recipes by Shauna Niequist
