Dr C Comes to Town!

(The Home as a Base for Ministry and Evangelism)

Hospitality…a willingness to open our homes and lives to one another without pretension, allowing others to share in the life we are already living and to see us as we really are—in all our weakness and dependence upon God.

Perhaps you are comfortable inviting home family and friends, or even the lonely college student, but what about the highly successful businessman, or prestigious professor or acclaimed physician? Is that a bit more intimidating??? I confess, for me—at times—it can be.

Dr C called to say that he was in town for a conference. We had known him for a long time. My dad had been in an accident many years before and had been in ICU for 69 days before slipping away from us. Dr C was the resident assigned to him and had walked through those difficult days with us. Then a decade later when my mom was diagnosed with cancer, he was her doctor. By the time he called us up, he had become a much sought after surgeon in our hometown. It would be good to see Dr C, a caring man who had been there at deep trials in our lives. We immediately invited him to dinner and he readily agreed.

The evening was very pleasant, filled with conversation about family, pets, our hometown and his world travels in pursuit of solar eclipses. Towards the end of the meal, Craig took the Bible and explained that it was our habit at meal’s end to read the Scriptures together as a family.

It grew extremely quiet!

“I wonder what Dr C is thinking?” I thought to myself. I strained my memory for any reference to spiritual things in past conversations…but nothing came to mind. He remained quiet throughout our family worship with a serious and thoughtful expression that was hard to read. Shortly thereafter, we finished our coffee and dessert and said goodnight.

As I rinsed the dishes, I thought back over the evening, hoping that God had used our Bible time to help explain to Dr C the Source of that strength that had sustained us during our times of great loss…but deep down, wondering if it had only made him uncomfortable and anxious to leave? It wasn’t until later that evening that God encouraged me and strengthened my faltering boldness through Dr C’s brief note in our guestbook: “Thank you for including me. I especially enjoyed being included in the evening’s devotions. I look forward to seeing you again…”

Once again, all we did was include him in what we were already doing. Family Worship is not merely a primary tool in training our own children, but can be a very natural means of turning the conversation to spiritual matters. I cannot encourage you enough to make family worship—or family devotions—a habit in your life. It doesn’t have to be a 3 point sermon (and probably shouldn’t be!). Simply open the Scriptures. Read briefly—with or without comment or commentary—Ask for prayer requests and pray.

And on occasion, include others!

Romans 12:13
Practice!