Rich Christians Are Robbing Others

Posted on March 16, 2012 by Pastor Foley

Part VIII of our series on Opening Your Home

We concluded our last post by talking about why Jesus sent his disciples out empty-handed.  To receive one of Christ’s messengers is to receive not just the message, but Christ himself. And to the extent that we do so, Christ will receive us into his kingdom.

But the reverse is also true – by refusing him, we can expect to be refused in return:

10“But when you enter a town and are not welcomed, go into its streets and say, 11‘Even the dust of your town that sticks to our feet we wipe off against you. Yet be sure of this: The kingdom of God is near.’ 12I tell you, it will be more bearable on that day for Sodom than for that town.

13“Woe to you, Korazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the miracles that were performed in you had been performed in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago, sitting in sackcloth and ashes. 14But it will be more bearable for Tyre and Sidon at the judgment than for you. 15And you, Capernaum, will you be lifted up to the skies? No, you will go down to the depths.

16“He who listens to you listens to me; he who rejects you rejects me; but he who rejects me rejects him who sent me.” (Luke 10:10-16)

When we understand this principle (that Jesus arranges things so that the reception of the messenger and the reception of the message are one in the same), we can see the story of the rich young ruler in a new light.

This story is usually (and wrongly) read as being primarily about Jesus’ feelings toward wealth. It makes a whole lot more sense when we read it in this context of Jesus’ sending out messengers with nothing so that they must rely completely on those they meet for hospitality; Jesus will be able to see who is willing to receive him and who is not.

If the rich young ruler goes out with money, of course everyone will receive him! They will receive him because by his very appearance they  expect to receive some personal benefit. And that means the gospel message and the gospel messenger stop being identical.  Instead, the messenger (whether he wants to or intends to or not) now becomes a messenger of wealth and power, not of the gospel.

Worse yet, when we as messengers bring our own provisions, we rob people of the opportunity to exercise their gifts of hospitality, which—since we’re messengers of Jesus—means we rob them of the opportunity to host Christ.

Not good. Ryken puts it like this:

The biblical guest in receiving hospitality allows the host to use his or her gifts. The guest takes on a humble state allowing others to serve him or her. Being a guest is one way that we are taught humility and reminded that we need each other. The guest in the biblical world would receive the evaluation, the welcome rituals, and the sending away as a friend. The guest would show honor to the host by not overstaying their welcome – generally no more than two nights stay. Their ultimate goal was to come into a new strange place and leave as a honored righteous friend who did not disrupt the harmony of the home or community. (Ryken et al. 1998)[1]

We see these problems due to “hospitality inversion.”

We are supposed to be the stranger, and the person who does not yet know Christ is supposed to be given the opportunity to be our host. But because we’re too prideful—we don’t want to place ourselves in the hands of someone we don’t know, or trust—we treat them like the stranger, and we assume the role of the host…even in their own villages and homes.

Western missionaries, for example, come into a poor area, and they are well received by the people there not because the people are responding to the gospel message but rather because the people are responding to a different message: becoming a Christian will benefit you materially! They see the nice clothes and car and home that the missionaries move into (because, like the rich young ruler, missionaries can’t quite seem to leave their money behind and risk discomfort).

Churches do this, too. They spend money to reach out to “strangers” in the community, trying to get them to come to the church. And when they come, they give gifts to the strangers.

Christian ministries hold huge evangelistic rallies, with bands and balloons and burgers—and, of course, no admission fees.

Time and time again, in nearly every way the gospel is shared, Christians are the hosts…and those that don’t know Christ are the strangers to whom the Christians are offering hospitality.

And this is the strange challenge that we face today: Christians have too much money to need to be hosted by anyone! 

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[1] William Guice, “Hospitality, Part 1,” What if…, August 17, 2010.

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Jesus’ Purpose for Sending the Disciples Out Empty-Handed

Posted on March 14, 2012 by Pastor Foley

Part VII of our series on Opening Your Home

On Monday we talked about a gospel reality that has been almost completely lost to the church today, namely: Biblically, our reception of the message of the gospel and our reception of the messenger of the gospel are interchangeable in God’s eyes.

So failing to welcome the messenger with hospitality is the same thing as rejecting the message of the gospel—and thus rejecting Christ himself.

Christ embodies this perfectly in his own life, from the moment of his conception.

He places himself, defenseless, in a womb—the womb of a woman betrothed to be married, whose husband contemplates divorcing her quietly to avoid shaming her. But in Luke 1:38, Mary extends hospitality to Jesus (which is pretty inconvenient for her!) when the angel Gabriel visits her to announce that she will give birth to him (“Behold, I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word”). And Joseph’s response of keeping Mary as his wife (in Matthew 1:24-25) shows his welcoming reception of God’s message—and thus Jesus—as well.

And throughout Jesus’ life, right up through his ascension to heaven, we see him daily seeking hospitality. Consider Matthew 8:20, where Jesus says, “Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.”

Seeking hospitality was as much a part of Jesus’ evangelism approach as his presentation of the message.

And he trains his apostles to follow the same approach. All the stories of Jesus’ evangelism and that of his apostles involve the gospel messenger intentionally traveling with nothing in order to rely completely upon the hospitality of those with whom the message is shared.

In Luke 10 Jesus gives very specific instructions as to how his messengers should be provisioned—or, rather un-provisioned. They are to appear as strangers and aliens as they travel. They are to carry nothing and be, like him, wholly reliant upon the hospitality of those they meet and with whom they share the message.

This is because Christ and his messengers always appear as ones seeking hospitality:

1After this the Lord appointed seventy-two others and sent them two by two ahead of him to every town and place where he was about to go. 2He told them, “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field. 3Go! I am sending you out like lambs among wolves. 4Do not take a purse or bag or sandals; and do not greet anyone on the road.

5“When you enter a house, first say, ‘Peace to this house.’ 6If a man of peace is there, your peace will rest on him; if not, it will return to you. 7Stay in that house, eating and drinking whatever they give you, for the worker deserves his wages. Do not move around from house to house.

8“When you enter a town and are welcomed, eat what is set before you. 9Heal the sick who are there and tell them, ‘The kingdom of God is near you.’ (Luke 10:1-9)

It’s not because Jesus was a bad fundraiser that he sent out his messengers empty-handed! Given that he’s the Lord of the universe, I have no doubt that had he wanted to, he could have made sure that his messengers traveled as wealthy philanthropists instead of as needy beggars.

But he had a purpose for sending out his messengers with nothing: In so doing, those willing to extend hospitality to his messengers—and thus to him—would be revealed.

Notice how in Luke 10:1, Jesus sends his messengers “to every town and place where he was about to go.” These hosts are the ones to whom he himself will extend hospitality when they come into his own kingdom carrying nothing.

And those who refuse him can expect to be refused in return.

How should this affect our own evangelism efforts?

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How to Get Ready For Christ’s Second Coming…Today

Posted on March 12, 2012 by Pastor Foley

Part VI of our series on Opening Your Home

Receiving Christ, as we learned from our last post, is a physical act (contrary to what the sinner’s prayer teaches us); it happens in the body first, and only then does it happen in the spirit.  But don’t take my word for it.

Jesus makes this point by drawing on an understanding that would have been crucial for his hearers. As Truett Seminary professor Andrew Arterbury notes, a crucial function of hospitality is to neutralize a possible external threat by currying favor with what might be a potentially powerful ally. So if a town scorns Jesus’ messengers, they will eventually discover the power and wrath of this stranger. Here’s what Arterbury says:

In essence, the custom of hospitality in antiquity grew out of a desire to neutralize potential threats—both threats to strangers and threats to one’s community. Not only were generous hosts protecting strangers from thieves along the road and from townspeople inclined toward mob violence, they were seeking to protect their household and community from the wrath of the stranger. In the event that a traveler had either military resources or “magical” powers, it was thought that a host’s abundant generosity might neutralize the potential threat while cultivating the stranger’s favor (see, for example, the story of Joshua’s ‘spies’ being hosted by Rahab in Joshua 2:1-21 and 6:22-25). As a result, the leading citizens of a community often bore the primary responsibility for hosting strangers.[1]

That means when we fail to receive those whom Christ has appointed as messengers (even those who do not realize they have been appointed by him in this way), we can expect to receive the wrath of Christ.

That’s the message of the parable of the sheep and the goats.

Notice the external focus in all of this. It’s all about self-denial, which is at the core of the Christian life. This is the exact opposite of the Sinner’s Prayer approach, where the focus is on the sinner and repairing what is wrong in his or her self-identity so that he or she can be assured of the self-fulfillment of going to heaven when he or she dies. If salvation is undertaken as this kind of therapeutic act of self-fulfillment rather than as the hospitality of self-emptying, it is an act completely at odds to how Christ directs one to live out the rest of the Christian life. If, however, salvation is self-emptying hospitality that begins with making room for God, it is the perfect prelude for a life of hospitality where one makes room for others in the name of Christ.

There’s a song with this message of hospitality at its core which I would recommend you learn: “Stay awake! Be ready! For the Lord is coming soon!”

Typically, it is sung in relation to the second coming of Christ. But if you are not ready for the ways Christ is coming to you daily, then you are certainly not ready for his return in glory!

You who work at McDonald’s: How do you greet each customer that comes through the drive-through? Are you expecting Christ in each car? (That’s different, by the way, than being “Christ-like” with your attitude.)

You who work in an office: How do you regard each person who calls on the phone or stops you to ask a question? If you see someone lost or confused or angry, do you see an inconvenience, or do you see Christ?

Are you ready with your tithe? Do you carry it with you at all times to spend on acts of hospitality?

Is your home ready with an extra bed set up? I mean, literally?

Is there an extra plate at your dinner table? I mean, literally? Having it there will be a reminder to you. Work it into your dinner prayer. Instead of praying, “Lord, thanks for feeding us,” pray, “Lord, please open our eyes tomorrow so that this place at the table will be filled, because you always give us enough of everything—time, money, food, compassion—to care for you.”

Do you pack extra food in your lunch? Do you have restaurant gift certificates in your car and in your wallet or purse?

These are simple, simple acts of ministry preparation to undertake daily. But they lead to profound encounters with Christ every day. It’s a foundational aspect of the Christian life that, sadly, few Christians ever experience (or experience only a few times in their lives as radical, special events).

John Chrysostom sharpens the question poignantly: How can you have a special room in your house for your car but no space for the wandering Christ?

In every believer and brother, though they be least of all, Christ comes to you. Open your house, take them in. “Whoever receives a prophet, shall receive a prophet’s reward.”…

These are the qualities that ought to be in those who welcome strangers: readiness, cheerfulness, liberality. For strangers feel abashed and ashamed, and unless their host shows real joy, they feel slighted and go away, and their being received in this way makes it worse than not to have received them. Therefore, set aside a room in your house, to which Christ may come; say, “This is Christ’s room; this is set apart for him.” Even if it is very simple, he will not disdain it. Christ goes about “naked and a stranger”; he needs shelter: do not hesitate to give it to him. Do not be uncompassionate, nor inhuman. You are earnest in worldly matters, do not be cold in spiritual matters…

You have a place set apart for your chariot, but none for Christ who is wandering by?[2]

What can you do today to be ready for Christ’s daily coming to you?

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[1] Andrew Arterbury, “Entertaining Angels: Hospitality in Luke and Acts,” in Hospitality. ed. Rober B. Kruschwitz (Waco, TX: Baylor University, 2007), 21.

[2]Sherry Weddell, “St. John Chrysostom on ‘Christ’s Room,'” Catherine of Siena Institute, July 12, 2010.

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