intentionality

Strategic Hospitality

/ Phill

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“Hospitality is the key to evangelism in the 21st century,” according to Steve Childers, an evangelism trainer for North America. He was speaking in the context of North America, where people no longer gather in stadiums and street corners to listen to preaching.

He may well be right. Hospitality as a strategic approach actually reaches beyond the shores of the western world. It is at least one of the keys to effective sharing of the gospel for tentmakers everywhere.

Hospitality refers to the friendly and generous treatment of guests, visitors, or strangers. Scripture has a lot to say about hospitality. It is not a peripheral theme in the New Testament. In fact, it’s a qualification for being an elder:

                 An elder “must be…hospitable” 1Ti 3.2

                 An elder “as God’s steward, must be… hospitable.” Tit 1.8

                 An elder “must be well thought of by outsiders” 1Ti 3.7

We are taught that it is not an option, but is commanded as lifestyle for followers of Christ. Heb 13.1-2 commands, “Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers…”You say it’s not your thing? Get over it!

It should be a natural outflowing of the love that we experienced from God who, “shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” We are to love others as Christ loved us.

In Scripture hospitality goes well beyond the “fellowship-type-thing” and reaches out to show love to strangers and those outside our inner circle.

Strategic hospitality asks:

How can I draw the most people into a deep experience of God’s hospitality through the use of my home and relationships? Hospitality is often seen in the context of visiting in a home, or over a meal. Certainly, that is a part of it. But it should not be limited to the home. Our whole life should be characterized by a spirit of caring and generosity, whether at home, or the office, or on the street.

Here are some simple steps to take to begin building the habit of hospitality:

1.       Be intentional in pursuing relationships, including with non-believers

2.       Put it on your calendar

3.       Build relationships with people in places where you spend a lot of time and have natural contacts -neighbors and co-workers

4.       Build relationships through connections in your children’s activities

5.       Take up a hobby that opens up relationships with non-believers

6.       Pray for unbelievers in your life by name

One does not have to go overseas to start practicing strategic hospitality. Start developing the skill now and it will serve you well in the future.

Students Studying Abroad

/ Guest Contributor

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Larry McCrary

 A few weeks ago I was able to speak to a group of educators about how God uses students to spread the Gospel across the Earth. Although students often have many opportunities to do short terms missions trip or summer long missions trips, we can’t forget that students also have other alternative paths to mission.

Consider this:

Study Abroad Students – Many college students will spend a summer, semester or even a year abroad. What are some things we as churches are doing to equip these students to spend their time abroad with intentionality and with kingdom purpose? If your church has a strategic partnership to a specific people group or place have you considered finding out if the university in your city has any official relationship with an university there? Can you encourage your college students to study there?

College Internships – A lot of college seniors must  complete some kind of internship. If you are  a student, have you explored internships abroad? These internships can give great connections for future full time employment in the country.

Graduate Students – Getting a graduate degree at a partner university abroad is a really easy way to connect with other global professionals in your line of work. Besides the Gospel opportunities you would have in classes, it is a great networking opportunity.

College is more than just a time to earn a degree to land a job. It’s a time when a student makes pivotal choices that can impact their future. If you are involved in a college student’s life, I’d encourage you to help that person think wisely about his/her choice of major, language study and internship opportunities. God could be calling that student to live abroad some day with his current career pursuit.

The Intentional Traveler

/ Guest Contributor

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Larry McCrary

 I do a lot of traveling. I mean more than most but not quite as much as George Clooney in the Hollywood film “Up In The Air”. I am constantly in conversations with people who are doing business all over the world. They fly about from country to country.  They work for multi national companies. They often have to travel to the same cities several times a year with their jobs.

They want to be intentional as they travel and do business abroad. They do not simply want to go on a trip to do their business and see a few sites. I know one businessperson who is what I would call and “Intentional Traveler.”

Take a look at some of the things he does to be purposeful and intentional with his trips:

  • He stays at the same bed and breakfast each time in Paris. He plans ahead to be sure the owners of the hotel can spend one evening with him.
  • He frequents the same restaurants and goes to the same news stand each morning to get his paper.
  • He goes to the same coffee shops.
  • He makes sure to spend time with people from his national company. He goes out to eat with his co-workers. He gets to know them as well as possible.
  • He is trying to learn the language in order to communicate better in that country.
  • He is meeting other Christians and Christian workers to develop his network there.
  • He tries to make the most of his opportunities and if the Lord opens the doors for deeper conversations then he is ready.

Though this guy will probably not live overseas he knows that a real part of his life is to travel abroad. He is committed to making it intentional.

Do you travel internationally? Do you travel frequently? Can you think of some practical things you can do on your next trip to be more intentional?