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Biblical Hospitality and the Invitation of the Gospel · Reformed Thinking

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Well, what if I told you that you're matching napkins?
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Your curated dinner playlist and your your newly renovated
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kitchen have absolutely nothing to do with biblical hospitality.
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Yeah, that might shock a lot of people, right?
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I mean, in fact, they might actually be getting in the way.
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Welcome to reformed thinking. Today we are looking at a
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radical cross cultural display of 1 sided grace.
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It is messy. It requires sacrifice.
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Yes, and it is aimed squarely at the stranger, not the friend.
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So our mission for this deep dive is to analyze a specific
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chapter from the book Biblical Missions, Principles,
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Priorities, and Practices. Which is written by Mark Tatlock
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and Chris Burnett. Yeah, and the chapter we are
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focusing on is about imitating God's gracious invitation
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through the physical act of opening our homes.
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But you know, before we get into the practical applications for
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you, the listener, we really need to establish the
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theological lens for this entire conversation.
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Absolutely, because if we get the theology wrong, the practice
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just devolves into a social. Club.
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The only way to correctly view this topic is through the
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framework of historic Reformed theology.
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True biblical hospitality is a physical, tangible demonstration
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of the gospel itself. So how do we tie that to, say,
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the Westminster Confession? Well, think about the confession
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and its teaching on the natural state of mankind.
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In our natural state, we are totally depraved.
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And we should clarify that does not mean we are as bad as we
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possibly could be. Right.
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No. It means sin has corrupted every
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single part of our being. We are spiritually bankrupt.
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Yeah, we have absolutely no ability to reciprocate God's
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mercy. None at all.
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We cannot earn our salvation. We cannot pay God back for it,
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and the apostle Paul tells us in Romans 5 that we were actually
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enemies of God when Christ died for us.
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We. Were hostile aliens.
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Yes, because God extended unconditional, unmerited
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kindness to us when we were spiritual strangers.
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Well, believers are commanded to extend that exact same unmerited
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kindness to physical strangers in this world.
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I love that it is the gospel made visible right in your
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living room. But I think we all naturally
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default to a much more comfortable definition of having
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people. Over.
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Oh, for sure. The book actually clears the
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brush by deconstructing a few modern myths about what it means
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to open our homes. There is this massive
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misconception out there that hospitality is simply having
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your Christian friends over for a meal on a Friday night.
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Right. Which is great, but it is not
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the whole picture. No, it is not.
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Now First Peter 4.9 does command believers to be hospitable to
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one another, so fellowship within the body of Christ is
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necessary. Yeah, we cannot neglect the
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Saints. But if we look closely at First
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Timothy 5, Point Dan, and Hebrews 13.2, the primary target
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of this biblical command is the stranger.
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It is aimed at the person who cannot repay the favor.
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And that is the hard part. I know I am guilty of this.
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It is. It is so easy to text my best
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friends throw some burgers on the grill and just call it a
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day. It is comfortable.
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Exactly. Well I mean it is very easy, but
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having your friends over does not capture the radical 1 sided
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nature of the biblical command because your friends will
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probably just invite you over to their house the following
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weekend to return the favor. Right, the transaction zeroes
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out. Yeah, it becomes a mutual
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exchange. And the theological danger of
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only hosting your friends is that it requires no reliance on
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God's grace. You already share an affinity
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with those people. Yeah, you have the same
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worldview. You have the same parenting
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styles, the same hobbies. It takes zero supernatural
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intervention to enjoy a meal with people you already like.
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There's a staggering thought. But there is an even more
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insidious trap modern believers fall into, and it is fueled
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entirely by social media aesthetics and commercial
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marketing. Oh.
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The Instagram aesthetic. Yes, we have completely warped
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our concept of the home, turning the dining room table into a
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stage for aesthetic performance. People feel this crushing burden
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to impress others with their culinary skills or their
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interior decorating. So what is the core theological
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issue there? The theological issue is that
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the picture perfect myth shifts the focus entirely to self
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promotion and pride. It makes the event about the
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homeowner receiving praise for their beautiful setup rather
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than humble care for someone in need.
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When we worry about the presentation of the meal, we
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lose sight of the desperate condition of the person sitting
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across from us. It becomes a subtle form of
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idolatry where the host is worshipping their own image
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reflected in the eyes of their guests.
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Wow, modern entertaining really feels like a theatrical
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performance, you know? Oh, absolutely.
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Send out the polished invitations.
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You dim the lights just right. You make sure the house is
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spotless. And you want applause?
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Right when the curtain closes, you want a standing ovation from
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your peers. But biblical hospitality is much
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more like an emergency room triage.
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I like that analogy. In an emergency room, the
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lighting is harsh. The floors might get messy and
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the people walking through the doors are, spiritually speaking,
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bleeding and broken. The doctors are not looking for
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a five star review on their aesthetic choices.
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They are entirely focused on dispensing life, giving care to
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those in desperate need. And that is what our homes are
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supposed to be. And that brings up another major
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cultural assumption we need to dismantle.
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There is a pervasive idea, even within conservative churches,
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that managing the home and hosting guests is exclusively
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the domain of women. Yeah, that is a huge problem.
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While wives and mothers certainly have a significant
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role in managing the home, delegating this entire command
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to women is a massive failure of male leadership.
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Right, because Scripture addresses the men.
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It is explicit about men leading their households.
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When we look at the requirements for male leadership in the
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church, managing the home and practicing this very specific
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command are inextricably linked. You cannot separate them.
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Cannot. A man cannot abdicate this
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responsibility to his wife and claim he is leading his family
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well. It requires a husband to
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actively initiate, to look for the outsider and to invite them
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in. He.
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Really sets the tone for the whole house.
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Yes, he sets the tone for the entire family's attitude toward
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outsiders. If the husband treats his home
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like a private fortress meant only for his own relaxation
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after a long day at work, the rest of the family will adopt
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that exact same closed door mentality.
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So if we strip away these modern myths that it is just for
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friends, that it must look perfect for social media and
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that it is solely women's work, we're love the very challenging
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original definition. Very challenging.
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Let us look at the ancient Greek text for a second.
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The Greek word used in the New Testament is felixenia.
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It is a compound word, right? The first part is filos, which
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means lover of or friend. The second part is Zenos, which
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means strange or foreigner, so the literal translation is a
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lover of strangers or treating the unfamiliar as a guest.
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And the historical context there is fascinating.
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Yeah, the Evangelical Dictionary of Biblical Theology provides
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some amazing context for what a Zenos actually was.
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In the ancient world, an alien or a traveler lacked any tribal
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or national status. They were totally unprotected.
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Right. They did not have legal
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protection, they did not have a means to make a living, and they
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were desperate for immediate food and lodging.
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Plus the roads were incredibly dangerous, just filled with
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bandits. So to practice philxenia meant
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graciously receiving that alienated, vulnerable person
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into your own protection and providing for their physical
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survival out of your own pocket. It was a matter of life and
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death. Exactly.
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Well, it really was, and we see the intensity of this command in
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Romans 12 verses 12 through 21. What does Paul say there?
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The Apostle Paul is writing to the church in Rome, and he
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places the command to pursue hospitality.
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Right between two really interesting statements.
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On one side, he says to contribute to the needs of the
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Saints. On the other side, he says to
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bless those who persecute. You wow right in the middle of
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those two extremes. Yes, we must understand the
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context of the Roman Church. They were experiencing severe
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affliction from their Pagan neighbors.
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They were living in the shadow of Nero's eventual madness.
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Yeah, it was a terrifying time. They were being targeted,
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mocked, and physically abused for refusing to worship the
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emperor. Yet Paul commands them to
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overcome evil with good by opening their literal homes and
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sharing their literal food with the very people who were
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persecuting them. That is just radical.
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It brings us right back to the doctrine of total depravity.
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We were enemies of God. The one sidedness of loving an
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enemy stranger, looking at someone who wishes you harm, and
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deciding to bring them into your home for a meal is the ultimate
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physical picture of the gospel. You're offering them physical
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grace when they deserve your wrath.
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Yes, just as God offered a spiritual grace when we deserved
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His wrath. OK, wait, I need to push back on
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that for a second. Sure, if we apply that directly
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to a modern believer, reading that you should invite
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persecutors or hostile strangers into your house sounds
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completely reckless. It does sound that way to our
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modern years. Right.
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I mean, how do you reconcile the very real, God-given
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responsibility to protect the physical safety of your family,
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specifically your children, with this radical command to invite
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potentially hostile strangers into your private sanctuary?
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That is a very valid concern. That feels like a massive
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contradiction to me. If my first duty is to provide
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for and protect my household, opening the front door to
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someone who is an enemy of the faith seems like I am
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intentionally putting my family in harm's way.
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The resolution comes from shifting our focus regarding our
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true identity. OK, how so?
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The reason we feel that tension is because we view our homes as
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permanent fortresses that we must defend at all costs.
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But Scripture tells us we are not permanent residents of this
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earth. We are exiles ourselves, right?
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First, Peter describes believers in Asia Minor as scattered
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exiles. Philippians 3.20 tells us that
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our citizenship is in heaven. So we have a completely
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different home country. Yes.
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Think about the Reformed doctrine of the perseverance of
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the Saints. God's irresistible grace
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guarantees our eternal inheritance.
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It cannot be lost, stolen or destroyed.
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It's entirely secure. Because our eternal home is
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completely secure, we are freed from clinging tightly to our
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earthly homes. We can open our doors generously
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because the worst thing an enemy could do to us on earth cannot
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touch our eternal inheritance. That is a huge perspective
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shift. We treat other earthly aliens
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mercifully because we recognize that we are merely aliens
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passing through, completely dependent on the mercy of God.
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We are not owners of our property, we are stewards of
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resources that belong to the King.
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So if my home is not my permanent castle, then I should
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view it like an embassy. That is a brilliant way to put
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it. Yeah, if you are an ambassador
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living in a foreign country, you do not own the embassy building.
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That property is sovereign soil belonging to your home country,
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right? Believers homes are foreign
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embassies of the Kingdom of Heaven stationed temporarily on
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earth. And the purpose of an embassy is
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not to be a private Country Club for the ambassador's friends.
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No, it is designed to process refugees, Yes.
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When a stranger walks through your front door, they are
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stepping onto the sovereign soil of the Kingdom, and your job as
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the ambassador is to grant them asylum by sharing the gospel of
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Jesus Christ. It completely changes how you
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look at your living room furniture.
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It really does. It is no longer just a place to
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watch television. It is an outpost for Foreign
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Relations. And that embassy mindset is
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precisely why this requirement is so strict for church
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leadership. In the Pastoral Epistles, right?
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Yes. In First Timothy 3.2 and Titus
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1.7 through 8, the qualifications for elders
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explicitly mandate that male leaders in the church must be
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hospitable. It is not optional.
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Not at all. Alexander Stretch wrote an
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entire book on this called The Hospitality Commands, and he
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points out how frequently elder boards completely neglect this
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qualification. Oh, totally.
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They look for men who are good public speakers or sharp
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businessmen. Right.
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Or guys who can balance a church budget, but they ignore whether
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the man actually opens his home to strangers.
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Which is wild because it is right there in the text.
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In Titus one Paul connects being hospitable with being the
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opposite of self willed or fond of dishonest gain.
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How do those connect? Well, a self willed man hoards
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his resources for his own comfort.
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A man who loves dishonest gain views everything through the
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lens of what benefits him financially.
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I see. But a man who understands his
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identity as a sojourner whose inheritance is kept in heaven,
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gives freely of his time and his groceries without calculating
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the return on investment. If a man cannot shepherd the
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strangers who walk up to his front door, he has no business
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trying to shepherd the flock of God.
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You know running an embassy requires giving away your
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resources without expecting any payment, which directly
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challenges the modern economic mindset.
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It absolutely does. Our whole culture is built on
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transactions. I give you something, you give
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me something of equal value back.
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But the economics of grace operate completely upside down.
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John Calvin actually wrote expensively about this.
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Oh, really? Yeah.
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He lamented the demise of ancient hospitality and pointed
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a finger directly at the rise of the secular industry in Europe.
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That is fascinating. Calvin noted that the church was
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increasingly relying on public lodgings and Taverns to take
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care of travelers instead of opening their own doors.
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He saw the outsourcing of this duty as a tragic loss of
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Christian witness. That makes sense.
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When the church started saying there is an inn down the road,
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go pay for a bed there instead of saying come sleep in my spare
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room, the watching world lost a massive tangible picture of the
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free grace of God. We just handed it over to a
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business. Yes, and we see the scriptural
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foundation for Calvin's lament in Luke 14, verses 12 through
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14. Jesus talking about who to
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invite to dinner. Exactly.
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Yes, Jesus gives a direct command to invite people to your
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table who have absolutely no means to repay you.
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He specifically lists the poor, the crippled, the lame, the
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blind. And he tells his followers that
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their reward will come at the resurrection of the righteous,
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not in this life. We also see this in Luke 10 with
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the parable of the Good Samaritan.
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The Samaritan acts as a host on the side of a dangerous Rd.
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He pays out of his own pocket to care for an enemy stranger, a
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Jewish man who despised Samaritans.
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And he expects nothing in return.
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Furthermore, in James 2, we see a harsh condemnation of
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favoritism. James blast the church for
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giving the rich man with a gold ring a prime seat while
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dismissing the poor man in dirty clothes.
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Which is such a common temptation.
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It is, but the theological reason behind this condemnation
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is tied directly to the Reformed doctrine of unconditional
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election. How so?
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Acts 10.34 says God is no respecter of persons.
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God did not look down the corridors of time, see human
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wealth, status, or merit, and choose to save people based on
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those attributes. He chose His elect
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unconditionally. Therefore, since God does not
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show partiality when granting eternal salvation, the local
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church commits A grievous sin when it shows partiality and how
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it treats guests. It makes me wonder, has the
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sheer convenience of the modern hospitality industry, you know,
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multibillion dollar hotel chains, tourism boards, endless
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restaurants and food delivery apps, has it subtly commodified
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our interactions? I think it absolutely has.
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We have essentially outsourced our biblical duty to the Holiday
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Inn. The convenience of simply paying
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for a hotel room or taking someone to a loud restaurant has
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robbed the local Church of its primary method of demonstrating
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a free, unmerited gospel. It is a massive loss.
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Think about the difference for a second.
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If I buy you a meal at a restaurant, the waitress serves
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us, the busboy cleans up the mess and I just swipe my credit
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card it. Is a financial transaction.
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Right, I get to leave the mess behind and go back to my clean
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private home. But if I bring you into my messy
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home, I am cooking for you. I am cleaning up after you.
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You are seeing my life unedited and I am opening up my personal
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sanctuary to you. 1 is a transaction, the other is a
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sacrifice. Yes, absolutely.
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And the convenience of the modern industry has absolutely
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commodified our relationships. It allows us to keep people at
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arm's length. We can fulfill a social
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obligation without ever letting someone see our actual lives.
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So how do we fix it? Reversing this trend does not
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start with a massive church program.
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It starts in the daily practical rhythms of the individual
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household. This is especially true for
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those on the front lines of ministry.
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The book touches on this, doesn't it?
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Yes, it includes some fascinating insights from Shelby
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Cullen, who interviewed several missionary wives about the
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reality of practicing this command in difficult contexts.
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One of those wives is named Ava, who ministers in Southeast Asia.
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I remember reading her section. Ava gives a brilliant piece of
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advice to anyone considering foreign missions.
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She says do not wait until you go overseas to start opening
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your home. I read that quote from Ava and
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it stopped me in my tracks. It is very convicting.
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She points out that if a person will not converse with strangers
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at their local grocery store, or if they refuse to open their
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home to difficult people in their own neighborhood right
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now, they are not going to magically start doing it once
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their boots touch the ground on the mission field.
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No, geography does not change your heart.
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It is a physical muscle. If you do not use it, it
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atrophies. You cannot expect to run a cross
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cultural marathon at a foreign country if you've not been
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jogging around your own cul-de-sac by hosting the people
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living right next door to you. We tend to romanticize foreign
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missions, thinking that a plane ride over the ocean will
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suddenly turn us into bold, hospitable evangelists.
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But it just doesn't work that way.
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No, we also have the perspective of Nina, a missionary wife in
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Eastern Europe. What was her approach?
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Nina shares her practical strategy of using cooking as a
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gateway to gospel ministry. She admits she was not a great
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cook initially, but she learned to improvise out of necessity.
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You just had to figure it out. Right, she started hosting
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pastoral students twice a week and she made it a rule to always
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keep homemade desserts ready for uninvited drop in guests.
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That takes a lot of flexibility. And what is truly remarkable
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about Nina's approach is her theology of Providence.
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How does Providence tie into unexpected guests?
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She talks. About the sudden
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reconfigurations of a meal, having extra people show up
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unannounced, or plans changing at the last minute.
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Instead of viewing these moments as frustrating interruptions to
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her carefully planned schedule, she learned to welcome them as
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God's divine Providence. Wow, so she saw God's hand in
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the doorbell ringing. Yes, she recognized that the
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sovereign God of the universe or illustrated that specific person
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to knock on her door at that exact moment so she could
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minister to them. She submitted her daily schedule
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to the absolute sovereignty of God.
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That is just beautiful. Ava's advice combats the
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pragmatic mindset of waiting for the perfect time to obey
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biblical commands, and Nina's advice combats the idol of our
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own schedules. They both hit on our biggest
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weaknesses. This really forces us to pivot
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our thinking. We spend massive amounts of time
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preparing people to go to the foreign mission field, which is
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vital and necessary. But we often fail to recognize
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that God, in His absolute sovereignty, is already moving
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the foreign mission field directly into our own backyards.
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We do not always have to cross an ocean to find the stranger,
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right? Mark D Rentz covers this
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phenomenon of global mobility extensively in the book.
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From a human perspective, people move around the globe for a
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variety of reason. Natural disasters, war, economic
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opportunity. Or higher education.
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But we must look at this through the lens of God's absolute
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sovereignty. Acts 17.26 states explicitly
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that God decrees the appointed times and the boundaries of
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human habitation. He is in control of all of.
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It God determines when and where every single human being will
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live, He sets the borders. Rents points out that throughout
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Scripture, God frequently meets people while they are in motion.
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Yeah, we see Jesus traveling and meeting the woman at the well.
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We see Hagar fleeing into exile in the wilderness.
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We see Jacob running for his life.
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God orchestrates human migration for his own redemptive purposes.
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So when we see immigration shifts, we should look closer.
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Yes, when we see a massive influx of immigrants or
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international students, we should not view it merely as a
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geopolitical event. We should view it as a sovereign
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orchestration of God to bring the unreached nations into
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contact with the local church. Rents provides a stunning case
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study of this from Tempe, AZ, which is the home of Arizona
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State University. Yes, the numbers there are
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incredible. In 1930, Tempe was a tiny town
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of just 2495 people, but by the year 2020 that university grew
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to host over 13,000 international students.
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That is a massive demographic shift.
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And what is staggering is that a huge portion of these students
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come from the Restricted Access 1040 window.
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You should probably explain that term for the listeners all
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right. For those who might not know the
20:54
logistics of that term, the 10:40 window refers to the
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rectangular geographic area from 10° N to 40° N latitude across
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North Africa, the Middle East, and Asia.
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These are highly, yeah. These are countries where
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missionaries are legally banned, where preaching the gospel can
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get you thrown in prison or executed, and where the
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population has virtually 0 access to a local visible
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church. And yet.
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And yet God sovereignly orchestrated it so that
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thousands of students from those exact restricted nations would
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pack their bags, secure visas, and move to an American suburb.
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The strategic brilliance of God's Providence here is just
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awe inspiring. He placed local churches in
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specific university cities to reach the nation's without those
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church members ever needing a passport or a smuggling route
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it. Is all right there.
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The local believers in Tempe recognized this sovereign
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opportunity and took action. Starting back in 1973, a couple
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open a Christian bookstore near the campus to engage students.
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They saw the need early on. They.
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Did they started doing airport pickups for confused, exhausted
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international students? Think about the logistics and
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the awkwardness of that. It sounds incredibly
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intimidating. You are driving to an airport to
22:07
pick up a student who barely speaks your language, who is
22:10
disoriented, and you are loading their bags into your car and
22:13
driving them to a dorm. It is incredibly vulnerable.
22:16
And they did more than just airport pickups, right?
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The church also began hosting English as a second language
22:21
classes. They created conversation
22:23
partner programs so foreign students could practice their
22:26
English with believers in a safe environment.
22:28
That builds immediate relationship.
22:29
And perhaps most crucially, they ran a Monday morning prayer
22:32
group specifically pleading for these international students for
22:36
seven consecutive years. They saw the nations arriving in
22:39
their city and they mobilized their homes, their vehicles and
22:42
their time to meet them. It makes me ask a hard question.
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Are modern evangelical churches guilty of overcomplicating
22:49
global missions? That is a tough question, but
22:51
unnecessary 1. We spend massive amounts of
22:54
money, time and logistical energy hyper focusing on
22:58
expensive short term overseas trips.
23:01
We will fly a youth group of teenagers across the world for a
23:04
week to paint a cinder block wall or run a vacation Bible
23:08
school, and we will applaud that as great mission work.
23:11
Which is not necessarily bad in itself.
23:13
No, it is not bad, but at the same time we completely ignore
23:16
the restricted access nations that God has sovereignly placed
23:19
in the university dormitories just 10 miles down the road.
23:22
It is a massive blind spot. It really is.
23:25
We will fundraise thousands of dollars to go to a country, but
23:28
we won't drive a student from that same country to the grocery
23:31
store or invite them to our dining room table for a holiday
23:34
meal. It is almost as if we prefer the
23:37
romanticized short term adventure of foreign travel over
23:41
the long term messy reality of loving the foreigner who lives
23:46
in our own zip code. It is a glaring inconsistency in
23:50
our modern church culture. When we actually align our daily
23:53
lives with God's sovereign geography, the results are
23:57
incredible. We have another case study to
23:58
look at regarding that. We do.
24:00
We see this beautifully illustrated in a case study from
24:03
Devraj ERS. Devraj recounts his experience
24:06
ministering in Davao City, which is in the Philippines.
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Specifically at a medical school.
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Yes, at the Davao Medical School Foundation.
24:13
This medical school has an enormous population of Indian
24:16
students, mostly ranging from 17 to 24 years old.
24:19
That is so young to be that far from home.
24:21
It is. You have thousands of young
24:22
people who are extremely far from home, living in a radically
24:25
different culture. They're dealing with the intense
24:27
pressure of medical school, and they are lonely and hungry.
24:30
Yes, on a very practical level, they are craving familiar Indian
24:34
food. So Devraj and a local pastor
24:36
named Phillip saw this massive demographic of lonely, displaced
24:40
students and took action. They kept it very simple.
24:43
They started a simple Saturday Bible study.
24:46
It drew 20 to 30 teenagers at a time, and many of these students
24:50
came from entirely non Christian backgrounds.
24:52
They showed up initially just for the cultural familiarity and
24:56
the food. Which makes total sense.
24:58
Imagine being a 19 year old student in a foreign country
25:02
stressed about exams and someone offers you a home cooked meal
25:05
that tastes like your mother's cooking.
25:07
Back in India, that. Physical provision open the door
25:10
for genuine discipleship. It really did.
25:12
That Bible study eventually led to a radio broadcast ministry,
25:16
and most significantly, it led to the salvation of several of
25:19
these Indian students. They heard the true gospel of
25:22
grace, perhaps for the very first time in their lives,
25:25
because someone offered them a meal and a place to belong.
25:27
However, Devaraj notes a massive challenge that arises from this
25:30
success. What happens when they graduate?
25:33
That is the issue. When these newly converted
25:35
students finish their medical degrees and return to India,
25:38
they struggle immensely to find solid, theologically sound local
25:43
churches. Because the options are so
25:45
limited there. Yes, in many of their hometowns,
25:48
the only options are pragmatic congregations with weak doctrine
25:52
or highly charismatic groups that stray far from biblical
25:55
orthodoxy. And.
25:56
These students know the difference now.
25:57
Because these students were trained in sound Reformed
26:00
doctrine during their time in the Philippines, they developed
26:02
sharp discernment skills. They can recognize false
26:05
teaching. That has to be heartbreaking for
26:07
them. The Raj says many of them
26:09
literally weep over the phone to him because they lack true
26:13
orthodox fellowship in their home country.
26:16
This highlight it's the critical necessity of the local church in
26:19
the life of a believer. You cannot sustain A robust
26:22
Christian life in isolation. That challenge brings up a vital
26:26
analogy. Doing campus evangelism without
26:29
intentionally plugging the new believer into a solid
26:32
confession. Holding local church is like
26:35
taking a branch from a tree, successfully grafting it onto a
26:38
new life giving vine, but then randomly ripping it off and
26:42
throwing it on the grass expecting it to flourish.
26:44
It just will not survive. Right.
26:46
If you cut a clipping and secure a conversion, but you just leave
26:49
it on the lawn instead of permanently grafting it into the
26:52
trunk of the local church, it Withers.
26:55
It explains the biology of spiritual growth.
26:57
The local church is the root system that feeds the branch.
27:01
Exactly. Yes, that is right.
27:03
We cannot just secure a conversion at a campus ministry
27:06
and walk away. We must integrate them into the
27:08
body of Christ so they can survive the theological droughts
27:11
they will face back. Home and you know, the local
27:14
Filipino church in Devil City had to learn a lesson about
27:17
integration as well. They were hesitant at first.
27:19
Initially, many of the local Filipino church members thought
27:22
they could not reach the Indian students because of the ethnic
27:25
and cultural barrier. They thought it was too wide of
27:27
a gap. They assumed they needed
27:29
specialized training, a shared language, or a similar
27:32
background to be effective. But they soon realized that
27:35
ethnicity makes no difference when it comes to the universal
27:38
language of grace. Food and kindness are pretty
27:41
universal. Yes, any believer, regardless of
27:44
their cultural background, can offer a free meal, ask good
27:48
questions, and build a relationship.
27:50
The Filipino doctors in the church started hosting the
27:53
Indian medical students, proving that the body of Christ
27:56
transcends all earthly borders. They recognize that the gospel
28:00
shatters ethnic dividing walls. And the strategic opportunity
28:03
these specific students possess is staggering.
28:06
In India, doctors sit at the absolute top of the social
28:10
ladder. They are highly revered.
28:11
They command immense respect. This gives them unprecedented
28:15
access to share the gospel with patients of all different
28:18
religious backgrounds. People listen to their doctors.
28:21
A patient is often incredibly open to listening to the
28:24
spiritual counsel of the Doctor Who just healed their physical
28:27
ailment. By reaching these students in
28:29
the Philippines, the Church is effectively sending highly
28:32
respected, self funded medical missionaries back into the heart
28:36
of India. It circumvents the entire visa
28:38
process, yes. A traditional Western missionary
28:42
might never get a visa to preach in those areas, but an Indian
28:45
Dr. returning home has unrestricted access to the most
28:49
vulnerable people in his own society.
28:51
It is a phenomenal strategy ordained by God's Providence.
28:55
It perfectly encapsulates everything we have discussed
28:57
today. It really does.
28:58
To summarize our core thesis for everyone listening, biblical
29:02
hospitality is not about elegant table settings, and it is not
29:05
about rotating dinners with your established social circle.
29:08
It is much heavier than that. It is a costly 1 sided extension
29:12
of grace to the stranger, the enemy and the sojourner.
29:15
It acts as a physical mirror of the gospel because God elected
29:19
us unconditionally and saved us when we were His enemies.
29:23
We open our doors to the physical enemies and strangers
29:25
of this world expecting absolutely nothing in return.
29:29
I challenge you to look at your own dining room table
29:31
differently after today. It is not just a piece of
29:33
furniture, it is a theological tool to reach the nation's God
29:36
has sovereignly placed right in your zip code.
29:39
That is a weighty challenge. Think about your own dining room
29:42
table right now. Is it just a piece of wooden
29:45
furniture where you eat your cereal?
29:47
Or could it be an embassy desk meant to reach the nation's?
29:50
And I want to leave you with one final thought.
29:52
What if the next great historical awakening does not
29:55
begin with a famous preacher in a massive stadium?
29:58
What if it begins quietly at a modest kitchen table where a
30:01
believer shares a simple improvised meal with a foreign
30:04
stranger who hears about the unconditional grace of Christ
30:08
for the very first time? Think about that as you look at
30:11
the strangers in your own neighborhood this week.
30:13
Thank you for joining us for this deep dive on Reformed
30:15
thinking.