my roommates and i have started this thing called open home sunday. (it's happened twice, so according to aggieland definition, that makes it a downright tradition.) we got the idea from my good friends justin and allie, who host a weekly open home monday, and the reeds, who host on saturday nights. the idea is the same in each case: to make our homes available for people to just do life together. this could look like many different things, from a heart searching conversation to a card game, from baking up a tasty dessert to going on a walk, folding laundry, watching a movie, even reading books (or doing RD flashcards) independently, just all in the same space. plus, a chill group gathering at someone's house provides a neat opportunity to invite friends who don't go to mars hill to come hang out. it's a much less intimidating concept than inviting them to church or community group, which to anyone who hasn't been to something like that in the past, probably feels bizzare and intimidating. ("yes, we go every week and listen to a short-statured long-winded man talk passionately about the bible. then, on another day, we meet up and sit in a lopsided circle and talk about our lives and the sermon." "uh...what?")
i may have mentioned the speaker steve timmis before- i can't find the sermon he gave online or i'd post a link to it. we all got the concept from him. the idea is that as we live life alongside eachother, we will inevitably be helping each other in sanctification. outside of grace, we tend to instinctively isolate and keep to ourselves. timmis talked about that idea, as does gary thomas, another author i'm currently reading: "we are by nature selfish beings who hide from each other. maintaining a steady pursuit toward and empathy for another human being goes against our sinful, egocentric bent." but introvert or extrovert, we are commanded to be in community and fellowship. "and they devoted themselves to the apostle's teaching and fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers." acts 2:42
the bible also teaches that we are to show hospitality (1 peter 4:9, romans 12:13) and be good stewards of what we have (1 peter 4:10) as a reflection of the immeasurable grace that the Lord has given us. i enjoy both of those things a lot, which makes our open home sunday meal (because we want to feed people when they come, at least on a first come first serve basis until we run out of whatever we fixed up) a neat opportunity for me in particular to get to (a) plan meals (b) budget meals (and split the cost with three other willing roommates) and (c) cook cook cook! i love to host people, and i love to feed them.
all this is good and fun when it's all your best friends, but it's also inevitable that as we live life together, we're going to come into contact with those we don't get along with. this is where the true blessing of it comes in. in reference to this, timmis said: "those that drive me the most crazy are the ones that the Lord is using to sanctify me the most." after all, we can't really practice patience if there is nobody that needs you to be patient with them. did anyone else out there grow up with a rock tumbler? you dump the little jagged rocks in, add some sand and water, and turn it on. the thing spins and spins for days, and after a while, you have a bunch of smooth rocks. it's the same principle with living in community- we polish off each other's rough edges to be better image bearers of Christ.
"community is often inconvenient, but is always beneficial" -timmis
love,
tracey
No comments:
Post a Comment