Our devotional today challenges our comfortability and privilege and urges us to be more authentic in our approach of loving our neighbor. Consider this statement by Robert Cole, “…the Christian values of community and equality are not the easiest standards to hold up when you’re also interested in perpetuating your privileged situation in society through your children and your own behavior”.
I believe that is a good challenge. A major part in loving our neighbor is being willing to humble ourselves, maybe even lose some of our privileges in the process, essentially making sure our neighbor has what we have. We read about how Jesus Christ lived this out in Philippians chapter 2, wherein it says, “Let this mind also be in you”.
HOSPITABLE SPIRITUALITY
We are called to an honest, truthful, and hospitable spirituality. Alan Hirsch notes, “In the Bible, hospitality is just assumed to be a part of life. Living in a culture that valued extended relationships, people inherited a heightened sense of obligation and felt a personal responsibility to give hospitality to both friends and strangers”.
In a meeting the other night I was discussing authentic love with a brother-in-the-faith and something he said really resonated with me. He said, “True love isn’t something we muster up, it’s a natural reaction to wanting the best for someone or something”. What heart do you have for your neighbor? How can you be a better neighbor, friend, brother/sister to those God has sovereignly placed around you?
The other day a deacon at BPBC gave me a cartoon “funny’ that demonstrated an area we often lack authentic hospitality. The cartoon went on to demonstrate someone’s car being broken down in the middle of nowhere, and when they call a friend for help, the friend sends “thoughts and prayers” as a much easier antidote to having to get up and do something. May this frustrated us! May our prayer lives offer the hospitable “faith and works” that we read about in the epistle of James. For more thoughts and consider on this topic of thoughts and prayers, you might consider reading the following link, which is an article written by Gary DeMar, https://garydemar.com/my-thoughts-on-thoughts-and-prayers/
“Pray and work. Prayer is not a substitute for work, and work is not a substitute for prayer.” – Gary DeMar
PERSONAL SPACE
In Untamed, Alan Hirsch goes on to critique the way we have isolated our families and lives. He goes on to explain that the dilemma we seem to have created in this regard in this manner, “…”our” space and those we may “invite” into that space are carefully chosen based on whether they will upset the delicate status quo, inconvenience us, or pose a threat to our perceived safety. In other words, visitors stress us out. And while this is in some sense culturally understandable, the negative results in terms of our spirituality is that the family has effectively become a pernicious idol…Culture has once again trumped our social responsibility”.
Instead of isolating our lives, “Our families and homes should be a place where people can experience a foretaste of heaven, where the church is rightly viewed as a community of the redeemed from all walks of life (Revelation 21).”
A PROPOSED SOLUTION
“…if every Christian household regularly invited a stranger, or a poor person, or a work colleague into their home for a meal with the family once a week, we would literally change the world by eating!”.
We live in a time where we can meet up at the coffee shop, a local restaurant, or a bar (if we are comfortable with that) and talk about life. Rather than keeping our talk about God and His work in our lives and communities to church groups, we should rightly talk about these things in our social and cultural gathering spots as well. I have enjoyed some of the best fellowship in coffee shops, just honestly talking with other saints over a hot black coffee.
At The Blue Point Bible Church we recently started an evening service called “Breaking Bread & Gathering”, which we hope provides the hospitable, comfortable, and authentic gathering we see in Scripture and that many long for. May each of us, and our churches, work toward greater hospitality and being better neighbors.
By His Grace,
Pastor Michael Miano