In her book about Christian hospitality, Rosaria Butterfield wrote:
“Let God use your home, apartment, dorm room, front yard, community gymnasium, or garden for the purpose of making strangers into neighbors and neighbors into family. Because that is the point—building the church and living like a family, the family of God.”
As a church, we want to leverage all that we have for the purpose of growing together as the family of God! One of the many ways we can do this is simply by connecting over a meal.
Eating together accomplishes some amazing things.
First, sharing a meal slows us down. We often splinter in several directions and time seems to always hound us. But, eating together provides a rare moment of slowness in our otherwise hectic and busy days.
Second, sharing a meal levels us all. No matter where we are in the socio-economic scale, educational background, or experiences, we all need to eat! We our creatures that are dependent. Eating together helps us remember this reality.
Third, sharing a meal allows us to enjoy one of God’s gifts together. Food is a wonderful gift and we can worship God with thankful hearts as we enjoy it together. “So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God. “ (1 Cor. 10:31)
Fourth, sharing a meal provides a context for relationships to grow. Eating together creates space for conversations to be had, stories to be shared, and relationships to be cultivated.
So, if we typically eat 3 meals a day, we’ll eat 21 times this week and close to 85 times this month. That’s a lot of meals! So, let’s use them strategically!
NEW TRADITION: “LET’S DO LUNCH!”
The plan is simple: Let’s take 1 of those 85 meals—Sunday lunch!—and invite someone over we don’t know well.
Now, you may have some mental blocks when thinking about hosting someone for lunch. Some of us grew up learning rules of etiquette and proper place settings. Others of us grew up thinking butter was a main dish and gravy counted as a beverage. We may have some differences, but let’s not let barriers deter us from forging friendships over a meal. Let’s take a few of those barriers and find ways to hurdle over them.
Maybe you’re embarrassed because you want to invite over someone you already know! Maybe you’re embarrassed because you’ve met some people at church a bunch of times and you still can’t remember their names. Now’s the perfect time. This is your “get out of jail free” card. Introduce yourself and make a connection!
Maybe you don’t have “enough” space to host others. Maybe you feel it would be impossible to have people over to your house or apartment. We get it! Here are some ideas. You could talk with the other person and go to their place if it’s bigger and they’re willing to host. Or, you can squeeze people into your place and just roll with it. Or, you could simply sit outside! Go to Regional Park or sit in the yard.
Maybe you feel distressed about cooking. Maybe your short book of recipes is a tall barrier for hosting a meal. Well, cheer up! Little Caesar’s has you covered! Get a KFC Family Fill Up. Pick up a bag of salad. Or you can go to a restaurant! Have someone else cook and clean for you! Or, if that’s too expensive or overwhelming, you could go the route of a simple dessert or coffee.
Maybe you already have a family lunch scheduled each Sunday. That’s great! It doesn’t have to be a barrier. The more the merrier! Call momma and let them know you’ve got a couple people from church that are going to join you.
Last of all, you may be stumbling over the mental barrier of conversation. If you’re distressed about what you can talk about, here are some great conversation starters that can carry you for a meal: “What’s your story? How did you meet? What’s your spiritual journey? How did you end up here? What’s God doing in your life?”...etc. Also, you can invite more than one guest to diffuse the potential for awkwardness.
We can’t wait to get started! A simple meal can go a long way in cultivating relationships.
So, let’s open up our refrigerators and our hearts and watch strangers become friends and friends become the family of God.
Let’s do lunch next Sunday!