Gathered Around the Table: Gospel Hospitality


By Morrie Lawing, Executive Director of ONA A


few weeks ago, I was talking with someone in my church who is known for the gift of hospitality. The subject of the holidays came up. She de- scribed how she greatly enjoys this time of year for it is an occasion for her to invite over to her house many who do not have a place to go. Surely—the more I thought about it—this time of year pulls people back to the table. Extended family drive in. Neighbors host open houses. Coworkers who avoid each other all year suddenly bring cookies to the break room. For a few weeks, hospitality becomes normal again—even expected. As we labor together to plant and strengthen churches across North America, I want us to see this annual expectation for what it is: a gift, and an open door.


An Opportunity to Show Grace


Jesus did much of His ministry at tables. He ate with tax collectors and sin- ners until the Pharisees complained (Luke 5:29-32). He revealed Himself to two discouraged disciples on the Emmaus Road “in the breaking of the bread” (Luke 24:35). And the early church, Luke tells us, devoted themselves to fellow- ship and “the breaking of bread… with glad and generous hearts,” so that “the Lord added to their number day by day” (Acts 2:46-47). Table fellowship wasn’t incidental to the early church’s growth. It was one of its ordinary practices. Have you ever noticed how many of the Gospels’ events happen over a


meal? We tend to picture evangelism at a stranger’s doorstep, or a coffee shop conversation with a tract in hand. Those moments matter. But for most of our members, the more natural door the Lord has already opened is the one already  extended family gathered around a turkey or a Christmas ham. Be intentional at these events and strike up a conversation with someone for the purpose of sharing the love of Christ. Romans 12:13 doesn’t leave this to chance—we are to “seek to show hospitality.” Not stumble into it. Seek it out.


What This Could Look Like in Your Church Here’s what that might look like practically. Encourage your members to invite one neighbor, coworker, or newer church family to their table who might otherwise eat alone. Ask your elders to identify the families in your congrega- tion without extended family nearby—new church plants are full of them—and connect them with a household who can host. If your church has a Christmas Eve or Lessons and Carols service, consider hosting a simple gathering at your home afterward with food, so the sanctuary door isn’t the last door a visitor walks through that night. Wouldn’t that be a blessing to someone!


Ordinary Faithfulness, Again I keep coming back to what Rev. James Ritchey described about the young


congregation in Little Rock: their whole strategy has been ordinary faithful- ness: preaching, prayer, and sacrament, with Lord’s Day worship morning and evening. Hospitality belongs in that same category of ordinary faithfulness. It requires no strategic plan, no committee, no line item in the budget. It costs a chair at the table and the willingness to ask, “Would you like to come?”


A Chair Already Set for Us As we enter the Thanksgiving and Christmas season, let us remember that God initiated the true meaning of  and dwelt among us” (John 1:14). He chose to draw near, humbling Himself to share in humanity’s experience so that we might be welcomed into His eternal family. While our hospitality cannot save anyone—only the gospel holds that power—it often serves as the humble doorway through which the gospel enters a heart.


So, Pastors, Elders, and Members


of the ARP: before this season gets away from you, set one more place at your table than you’d planned. You may not see fruit from it before Christmas Day. But you may do more for the Great Commission over a plate of ham than across a dozen strategy meetings. Let this be a mat- ter of prayer for your session and all our members, not just a good idea in an article. Let’s labor together, even over dinner, for the glory of Christ and the good of our neighbor who doesn’t yet know Him.


Planting, Strengthening, and Evangelizing 14 The Associate Reformed Presbyterian


Outreach North America


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