Day 5: Inviting God to the Table

The key to leaving a legacy of hospitality that transforms generations is to welcome all to the table. We are called to welcome everyone to experience Jesus even deeper. Even if it doesn’t occur immediately, we open the door for their intimacy with Christ to flourish. You can’t control what your guests receive out of the invitation, but you can control your obedience to the command.

When we take seriously the possibility that people can belong before they believe, we are given the freedom to reimagine what it means to be the church today. Don’t get me wrong. Knowing and believing the right things are imperative. Let’s look at the example Jesus left us. Throughout the New Testament we see him including the outsiders, especially those who didn’t believe in him: the Samaritan woman, the tax collectors, the prostitutes, the lepers, and even the demon possessed. He invited them in, ate with them, and spoke to them when everyone else looked the other way. Inviting people to sit at your table is not about accepting the sin that people live in; it’s about accepting the people despite the sin.

Our culture today tells us the false message that we should “live your own truth” and “you are perfect just the way you are.” The gospel invites everyone to come as they are, but it doesn’t stop there. The message of the gospel that we share at our tables is different. The gospel tells us that God loves us, but also that, on our own, we’ll never be good enough. It’s only through Jesus that we are made worthy, healed, and transformed. In every single instance of people accepting the invite that Jesus extended in Scripture, they walked away changed. That is the type of legacy and impact that your invite can have through transformative hospitality. More often than not, people come to Jesus not because they are forced to or because they are given a hellfire and brimstone ultimatum but because they received genuine love from a Christian.

Without inviting God to the table, without pursuing his purpose for our welcome, our hospitality falls on deaf ears. It only has the divine power to change lives when we invite the sovereign God to join us at the table.

Prayer

Lord, please use me and the hospitality I offer to help others know you. Please help me show them the same love you have shown me. Amen.

We hope you enjoyed this five-day devotional from Abby Kuykendall. Learn more and get equipped for biblical hospitality through her book, Let the Biscuits Burn.