dining room

moving from the front door to the dining room is the next step. as we continue to use this home imagery to help us employ our ministry strategy of love, we can think about our own dining rooms

many dining rooms are reserved for guests, not often used by family unless its a holiday or special ocassion. in addition to the host and guests, there's the third element of the meal around which the interaction is structured with a definite beginning and ending. in between, the interaction takes place. the dining room is a place to entertain others, allowing an opportunity to get to know one another better. we said that the front door wasn't the place for relationship building; but at the dining room table, long silences can be more than awkward because there's the opposite expectation.

at the front door, we learned that hospitality matters to God.
at the dining room, we need to learn that how we socialize also matters to God.

in Luke 5:27-32, we read about Levi (aka Matthew) coming to follow Christ, and in the process introducing his friends/co-workers to Christ.
After this, Jesus went out and saw a tax collector by the name of Levi sitting at his tax booth. "Follow me," Jesus said to him, and Levi got up, left everything and followed him.
Then Levi held a great banquet for Jesus at his house, and a large crowd of tax collectors and others were eating with them. But the Pharisees and the teachers of the law who belonged to their sect complained to his disciples, "Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and 'sinners'?"
Jesus answered them, "It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance."

the guests at Matthew's party and maybe even the disciples were there for the food, the friends, the drinks, or whatever -- but Jesus wasn't simply there for the social, but the spiritual. the Pharisees only saw the socializing -- Jesus sees the strategic opportunity to relationally make a difference in their lives.

relationships are a two-way street--it takes both sides being able to come together. in this meal, we see that Jesus was a likeable guy whom "sinners" didn't mind sharing the table with, but Jesus was also a guy willing to get close to "sinners" so that he may impact them spiritually.

we have to begin seeing our opportunities to socialize as more than just a social, entertaining, possibility. we have to look with strategic sense of entering into relationships with others so that we have the opportunity to have Christ visible through us. so whether its a church pot luck or an office lunch date, we interact in a way that reveals our Saviror.

our church has several social events and activities. not just the special carry-in meals or picnics, but the regular, monthly activities such as Ladies Night Out, Ladies Bunco Night, Men's Breakfast, and Men's Night In -- (not all our activities are gender specific, it just happened that we have several like this) -- we also have Dinner for 8, and the not-so-spontaneous out for dinner after service moments. these are all "dining room" opporutninties. we have to get into the mindset and practice of using these opportunities beyond just the social time together, but to use them strategically as a means of moving others from our "front door" to these opportunities. in these opportunities, we need to share our lives with others as we get to know them. in doing so, like Jesus, we add value to their lives by including them and taking the time to be with them--we also open the doors for sharing what a difference Jesus has made in lives (not just in our words, but in our lifestyles and choices).

another way to view our interactions strategically is to practice what Bill Hybels calls "strategic consumerism" (Becoming a Contagious Christian). an example he gives is consistently going to the same restaurant at the same time, sitting in the same section so that you begin to be known by and to know your server. we had a family in Tennessee that all used the same hair stylist so that they were all scheduled every Thursday and they could regularly talk to her about her family and their lives, while also consistently extending her an invitation to a church event or service. for this practice to work, you have to be committed to the long term relationship building of trust --not just 1 or two visits and lowering the boom on them with an aggressive evangelistic appeal (of course, that could be what the relationship and Spirit calls for) -- but the practice is about entering into someone's life and allowing them to get to know you in the process so that they can see Christ alive in you.

whether in our own homes, at the local restaurant, or at the hair salon -- we have opportunities to interact positively and strategically to make a spiritual difference. how we socialize matters to God. let's make the most of every opportunity (Ephesians 5:16).