“Welcome One Another as Christ Has Welcomed Us"
Welcoming people into your home may not seem like a supernatural act, but as Marshall Segal posits in his article for Desiring God, “There’s a spiritual power that pulses through the floors and walls and furniture of a Christian home — a strong, even overpowering aroma, a wild and compelling story unfolding for anyone who comes close enough to hear. Beneath the dirty clothes, behind the unwashed dishes, just below the dusty surfaces, a glory hums and unsettles and woos. A 1,500-square-foot sermon.”
Could it be true? That simply welcoming believers and unbelievers alike into your home, sharing a meal with them, being generous with your time and your resources, and bearing with them through good and bad times might save someone’s life? Scripture tells us, yes.
Hospitality was one of the great markers of the early church—they had everything in common, broke bread together daily, prayed for one another, supported each other financially, and worshipped and read Scripture daily. The early church practiced hospitality with such vigor that it regularly caught the attention of unbelievers, the poor or sick, and neighbors.
Segal reminds us that we are called to “welcome one another as Christ has welcomed us, for the glory of God” (Rom 15:7). When we do this, we offer a safe haven, friendship, accountability in sin, and spiritual nourishment as we hold out the beauty of Christ to those we welcome in.
Christian Union strives to create radically welcoming communities through its Universities Ministries. In the first weeks of each semester, ministry faculty and student leaders pour themselves out for new students on campus, inviting them to coffee, Bible studies, group hangouts, and all that our Christian communities have to offer.
Read the full article here.
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