![]() When Jesus, or Jesus people, come to a table, it’s transformational. Second, it was as they ate together that Zacchaeus opened up his heart and changed his life. As you prayerfully seek people to invite into your table, keep an eye out for all types of isolated people. First, while Zaccheus was not poor, he was definitely isolated. There are a couple of key ideas to note from this story of Zacchaeus. We see such an important interchange in Luke 19:5, where Jesus saw Zacchaeus up in a tree and invited himself over for dinner. In Luke 14:12-14, Jesus instructed the hearers not to invite people for a banquet who can return the favor, but instead to invite those who could not pay them back. Inviting outsiders is supposed to be at the heart of Christian food events. ![]() It is a good thing that the people who invited you and me into the God’s family did not think that way!Įvery church must be reminded from time to time to include people who have little to offer back. So warm is that feeling that some never want to leave their Christian friends to reach others. The warmth of Christ in our hearts gives us a wonderful sense of fellowship. With the majority of churches and Christians lagging in confidence when it comes to sharing their faith, perhaps now is the time to remember the power of a Jesus table. Hosting tip #1: Serve the food in a way that reveals the abundance and generosity of the gospel, and expect people to be drawn to Christ. These meals are our history and our heritage.Īny time you prepare a dinner table in the likeness of Christ, you are preparing a colorful vision of the Gospel. In this way, Jesus embedded the gospel into the dinner table sociology.Įating with people and inviting them into the kingdom is a significant reason the church grew from hundreds to millions while it was using the dinner table theology. Pohl goes on to say that these dinners were intended by Jesus to be an invitation to faith. This happened so much so that in Luke 7:34, he garnered the reputation of being a glutton, a drunkard, and a friend of sinners.Įating with people like this was part of our Lord’s divine strategy to download the kingdom of God onto the earth and into the hearts of the irreligious. It doesn’t take long to see in the Gospels how many times Jesus reclined at dinner tables with scurrilous people. Other scholars, like Christine Pohl agree, and Pohl points out that Jesus’ supper times were a consistent and prominent part of His mission. Crossan suggests that to watch a day in the life of Jesus would be to watch him mostly healing and eating. Jesus spent a lot of His time around tables. ![]() If you’ve been exposed to the Dinner Church movement, or are thinking through how your church can be present at different tables in your neighborhood, consider how Jesus himself hosted. Even the church has lost how powerful a dinner table can be, especially when it comes to reaching unchurched people. We have lost the power of the dinner table to shape society. For many homes, dinnertime has been revisioned as TV time.
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