I reckon that if people who are in Christ took these two verses seriously, we would take our place in changing the world:
Hebrews 13:2- Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for thereby some have entertained angels unawares.Mark 9:41- For truly, I say to you, whoever gives you a cup of water to drink because you belong to Christ will by no means lose his reward.
True or False?
Discuss.
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Pic on Flickr by Matt_So.
3 comments:
True.
Alison and I gave out Easter Eggs in our apartment block - and such a small gesture has made a world of difference.
True.
On the first count I think of a guy I know who did a lot of evangelism. He bumped into people from all sorts of backgrounds, and if they needed a meal, he gave them a meal, if they needed a place to stay, his loungeroom became a bedroom. His message didn't simply become more credible to the people who lived at his house, it became more credible to the whole community.
Yet you are right, to do it, we really do need to trust Jesus that he will not fail to reward us. That guy had stuff stolen, had some pretty shifty characters hanging around his kids, and found it a struggle to make ends meet.
There's a general perception among Christians that it is ok to help others out, to show hospitality etc, as long as it doesn't mean you become a burden to others. (This usually means, move down on the social scale and make me feel uncomfortable about the fact that you have less than me.) I don't get it. So I think the second verse also should encourage us to see needy christians as an incredible blessing to our church.
Absolutely,
I think kindness to strangers is one of the big things that marks us as Xns. Particularly how we treat the stranger who is homeless, hungry, poor or in prison (Matt 25). These kinds of people are rarely easy to help and perhaps that's the point. I could go on but I think the Bible speaks for itself about the importance of this. :)
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