The Blog

Hindrances to Hospitality

As we continue to focus on what it means to be a church that is welcoming to our friends and neighbors, we want to keep pointing you to a great book called The Simplest Way To Change the World: Biblical Hospitality as a Way of Life by Dustin Willis and Brandon Clements.

Last week we started blogging through the highlights of that book. This week we continue with Chapter 2. Check it out and let us know how it has helped you.

Chapter 2: We Know What You Are Thinking…

1. Biblical hospitality is difficult because it is completely counter-cultural to the way our society thinks.

“When it comes to pursuing biblical hospitality as a way of life, we immediately happen upon a major obstacle: almost everything in our culture is set up to hinder us from pursuing it.” (pg 29)

2. There are four different cultural “currents” that we will need to swim upstream against to practice biblical hospitality. They are:

Isolation
We want our homes to isolate us from the rest of the world. We think of our homes in terms like oasis, privacy, and retreat. We want our homes to get us away from others.

“There is, of course, nothing wrong with appropriate isolation and wanting your own defined space. When taken to the extreme, however, a desire for isolation is at odds with the biblical values of community, hospitality, and neighborliness.” (pg 30)

Relaxation
“Our homes should be places where we relax and unwind. They are a grace gift from God, meant to rejuvenate and restore our bodies and souls through rest and Sabbath. As with any desire we make too ultimate, however, if we place personal relaxation and refuge at the forefront of our home’s purpose, we lose God-given opportunities to practice gospel-driven intentionality.” (pg 33)

Entertainment
As Christians we must look critically at our tendency to be addicted to entertainment, “because if screens take up too much of our time and energy, that will lead us to further isolation and we will forsake any sense of mission for our homes.” (pg 34)

Busyness
“Most people are so busy and frantic that they do not have a vision for how a lifestyle of sharing life with others in their homes could possibly fit into their schedules.” (pg 34)

3. A New Way to Think
“Pursuing biblical hospitality as a way of life will take a very intentional shift in your life and mentality… You’ll have to learn to think of your home primarily from a Christian perspective and let that mindset uproot the ways your culture has taught you to view your home.” (pg 35)

Pray this week that God will help you get over these hindrances and think differently about hospitality.

The Simplest Way To Change the World

On a Sunday evening a few weeks ago at CHBC, we hosted a two-hour event that we called the Everyday Disciple Maker seminar. Our goals for that seminar were to lay a biblical foundation for why we should be making disciples and to show how the average church member can practically make it happen.

The book that we recommended everyone read was The Simplest Way To Change the World: Biblical Hospitality as a Way of Life by Dustin Willis and Brandon Clements.

But hey, we know the average guy doesn’t have time to read every book that’s recommended. So we want to help get you the best parts of this book in quick, bite-sized portions.

Each Monday for the next few weeks will be "Missional Mondays" as we think and blog about The Simplest Way to Change the World. We hope this will be an encouragement to you.

Check out some of the highlights from the first chapter.

Chapter 1: Small Things Can Change the World

1. Our homes have become retreats from the world instead of a place where mission takes place.

 “We think of mission as something that happens outside the four walls of our home – that, if anything, our homes are even a retreat from any Christian mission that we may be involved in (other than training our children to love Jesus, of course).” (p. 18)

 2. The busyness of life makes changing the world seem impossible for the average person.

“Change the world? Me? Really? I can barely get my five-year-old to brush her teeth. It’s all I can do to get myself ready and out the door in the mornings. The world’s problems are so big – what could I possibly do to make a difference?” (p. 19)

3. The home that we use to retreat from the world is actually our secret weapon to change the world.

“The secret weapon for gospel advancement is hospitality; and you can practice it whether you live in a house, an apartment, a dorm, or a high-rise. It only takes your willingness to open your home and life to others” (p. 19)

4. Hospitality starts by learning your neighbors’ names.

“How many relationships and opportunities right here at my house have I missed out on because I just smiled and waved [instead of stopping to say hello]?” (p. 22)

5. The gospel of Jesus is the source of power and motivation for missional hospitality.

“At its core, biblical hospitality is obeying the command in Romans 15:7 to “welcome one another as Christ has welcomed you.” (p. 26)

Go meet a neighbor this week and see what God might do!