{"id":480,"date":"2015-12-29T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2015-12-29T05:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.namb.net\/send-network\/resource\/why-i-stopped-entertaining-people-in-my-home\/"},"modified":"2020-06-21T22:15:50","modified_gmt":"2020-06-22T02:15:50","slug":"why-i-stopped-entertaining-people-in-my-home","status":"publish","type":"resource","link":"https:\/\/www.namb.net\/send-network\/resource\/why-i-stopped-entertaining-people-in-my-home\/","title":{"rendered":"Why I Stopped Entertaining People In My Home"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><em>We&#8217;re re-posting some of our favorite blog posts from 2015.&nbsp;Kathy&#8217;s post from October 5, 2015 is a much needed reminder as we seek to minister through inviting others into our home.<\/em>If you were to interview my grown children about childhood memories of growing up in a pastor&rsquo;s home they would probably tell you some of version of this:<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><em>&ldquo;Mom always lost her mind when company was coming over.&rdquo;<\/em><\/p>\n<p>It wasn&#8217;t pretty. So yes, I do remember freaking out about TONS of very unimportant issues, like decorations, salad forks, place cards, ridiculous amounts of food for a buffet and making a not-normally-very-clean-house ridiculously spotless. (&ldquo;<em>Mom why are we cleaning the dog&rsquo;s kennel<\/em>?)<\/p>\n<h5>What went wrong when I entertained people in my home?<\/h5>\n<p>(Warning: Here comes some brutal honesty that will not shed good light on me as a human being.)<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Appearances were more important than having an atmosphere of love and grace.<\/li>\n<li>The details of a meal overshadowed hearing the stories of our guests.<\/li>\n<li>Most of the people I invited over were church people and usually there was some end game benefit in hosting them.<\/li>\n<li>Being a great hostess was an identity I craved.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>So when these misguided priorities are your unstated goals in entertaining you will freak out and your kids will see it. Which is a pretty big reason to stop entertaining people in your home.<\/p>\n<h5>Why You Should Stop Entertaining People in Your Home<\/h5>\n<p>The Bible says, <strong>&ldquo;Practice hospitality&rdquo;<\/strong>instead. Is that different from entertaining? Think: Martha Stewart = Entertaining Bible = Hospitality<\/p>\n<h5>So what is hospitality then?<\/h5>\n<p>Look in the Bible for some clues:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>&#8220;When you give a lunch or a dinner, <strong>don&#8217;t invite your friends<\/strong>, your brothers, your relatives, or <strong>your rich neighbors,<\/strong> because they might invite you back, and <strong>you would be repaid<\/strong>. On the contrary, when you host a banquet, <strong>invite those who are poor, maimed, lame, or blind<\/strong>. And you will be blessed, <strong>because they cannot repay you<\/strong> &#8211; for you will be <strong>repaid at the resurrection of the righteous<\/strong>.&#8221; Luke 14:12-14<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>&ldquo;<strong>Do not neglect <\/strong>to show hospitality to <strong>strangers,<\/strong> for by this some have entertained angels without knowing it.&rdquo; Hebrews 13:2<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>&#8220;Be hospitable to one another <strong>without grumbling<\/strong>. As each one has received a gift,<strong> minister it to one another<\/strong>, as <strong>good stewards of the manifold grace of God<\/strong>.&#8221; 1 Peter 4:9-10<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Look at Jesus:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Jesus practiced hospitality as he took the lead to feed the multitudes.<\/li>\n<li>He accepted hospitality from Simon the Pharisee and a Pharisee ruler.<\/li>\n<li>He prompted Zacchaeus to be hospitable and the Emmaus hosts as well.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Eventually I began distinguish the difference between entertainment and hospitality.&nbsp;Biblical hospitality primarily <strong>relates to providing for the needs and welfare of the travelers, strangers and aliens.<\/strong> Look at the language in scripture: &ldquo;stranger,&rdquo; &ldquo;foreigner,&rdquo; &ldquo;sojourner,&rdquo; or &ldquo;alien&rdquo;. Those can be LITERAL &ldquo;foreigners&rdquo; &mdash; those from a different country or different ethnicity. Or they can be FIGURATIVE &ldquo;foreigners&rdquo; &mdash; those from a different faith, different worldview or different lifestyle. Hospitality is making people feel like they&#8217;re <strong>not strangers<\/strong>, like they <strong>belong<\/strong>.&nbsp;In fact the very nature of the teaching about hospitality commands us to gather with the people we are <strong>most unlikely<\/strong>to gather with. Unfortunately most of my gatherings looked like people who were just like me! And often had an element of gain to me. Confession&#8211;very little of my entertaining has looked Biblical. And that needed to STOP.<\/p>\n<h6>Have you made the same error?<\/h6>\n<p>Don&#8217;t miss&nbsp;part two on this topic:&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/flourish.me\/how-i-started-pursuing-hospitality\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">How I Started Pursing Hospitality<\/a><em>.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>We&#8217;re re-posting some of our favorite blog posts from 2015.&nbsp;Kathy&#8217;s post from October 5, 2015 is &hellip;<\/p>\n<p class=\"read-more\"> <a class=\"\" href=\"https:\/\/www.namb.net\/send-network\/resource\/why-i-stopped-entertaining-people-in-my-home\/\"> <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Why I Stopped Entertaining People In My Home<\/span> Read More &raquo;<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":481,"template":"","meta":{"_oasis_is_in_workflow":0,"_oasis_original":0,"content-type":"","site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""}}},"tags":[],"channels":[159],"topics":[163,9],"languages":[],"class_list":["post-480","resource","type-resource","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","resource_type-article","channels-planter-wives","topics-missional-engagement","topics-planter-wives"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v24.0 (Yoast SEO v24.0) - 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