Session #21 — How can I share the gospel through hospitality?

I love this question because it cuts to the heart of evangelism—God's radical approach to hospitality. When God wants to have fellowship with us he doesn't wait for us to visit him (or his church building), he comes to us.

So the Word became human and made his home among us. He was full of unfailing love and faithfulness. And we have seen his glory, the glory of the Father’s one and only Son. (John 1:14 / NLT)

Evangelism is at its essence about relationships—nurturing genuine relationships with others in such a way that our relationship with God spills into those relationships. This means putting ourselves in spaces where others feel at home and at ease. It's about welcoming them into our lives for tea, conversation, and relationships. People often need to feel that they belong before they can believe.

"Henri Nouwen has said that we can offer hospitality only when we have a place or home from which to extend it." (Elizabeth Newman, Untamed Hospitality: Welcoming God and Other Strangers, Brazos Press, 2007, p 33). This doesn't mean we have to become homeowners before we can welcome others. Jesus didn't have a home. He traveled all the time. But he was so comfortable in the space where he was at any given time that he could invite others to join him. Hospitality is about inviting others into your space—your life.

Here are some of my random thoughts on hospitality in our world today:

• It's about our willingness to move slowly as we share bits and pieces of the gospel over time—sometimes years.
  
  
• It's about sharing life together—ordinary things—games, food, conversation...
  
  
• It's about maintaining a "safe place" for outsiders, where they don't feel threatened or uncomfortable.
  For example, before I retired I was the chaplain at Covenant Living of Florida, a retirement community that our church runs. When I retired, my wife Cheryl and I got an apartment in the community.
  One of the many reasons I love this place is that outsiders feel welcome, even though they know it is a church-run community. About half the people who live here are non-believers. About 10 percent of our residents are Jewish.
  Some of our Jewish friends frequently participate in my Saturday morning Bible study. Some people now attend our Sunday chapel services because they feel so welcome in the community, even though they didn't consider themselves church people before moving here. I baptized one woman a few months ago.
  I get to have spiritually rich conversations with non-believers regularly because people feel safe with me. They know I accept them and love them for who they are. I'm hoping many of them will eventually welcome Christ into their lives.
  
  
• It's about letting people see your messes. I often leave our apartment door open and as people walk down the hall they poke their heads in to say "hi." They see how we live with books piled on the floor and disorganized magazines on the table. It is just who we are.
  
  
• Share food and drinks together whenever you can. Even if you don't have a kitchen of your own, meet at a coffee place or have an impromptu picnic on the beach.
  
  
• Take the hospitality to another level by inviting people to join you in an event where some of the gospel is presented—youth group, church service, mission project, camping, feeding homeless people, movie...
  
  
• Learn to have conversations where 90 percent of the talking is your listening. People feel welcome when they can talk with someone who isn't judging them or always trying to give them advice.

Hospitality is an evangelistic habit that will bear long-term fruit for God's kingdom.

Keep on loving each other as brothers and sisters. Don’t forget to show hospitality to strangers, for some who have done this have entertained angels without realizing it! (Hebrews 13:1-2 / NLT)

For this assignment, I'd like you to set three specific goals for extending hospitality to non-believers. For example:

1. I'm going to invite my co-worker Walt from my office to join me for coffee breaks at least three days next week. One of those days I want us to go outside and get coffee from the cart on the street.

2. I'm going to invite our neighbors Ginny and Connie to join us for supper sometime next week. If they ask I'll allow them to bring a pot of rice. I'm also going to invite another friend from church.

3. If any of the conversations with Walt, Ginny, and Connie go well, I want to invite them to join me as I participate in our church's mission to homeless people next month. We're going to make and distribute sandwiches.

Send your three hospitality goals to me in an email at bboydston@piu.edu. This assignment is worth 25 points.