Habits that predict growth

I believe one of the best ways to study the Bible (and to teach the Bible) is by bombarding the text with a number of questions. So, let’s try this text on for size: “Get into the habit of inviting guests home for dinner” (Romans 12:13, TLB).

What’s the nature of the language of this verse? Let’s make this multiple choice. Is this…

___ a prophecy

___ a proverb

___ a parable

___ a command

You know the answer: It’s a command. As surely as God commanded us to pray or give or serve, God has commanded us to get into the habit of inviting guests home for dinner.

In the Greek this entire passage is actually only two words: pursue hospitality. Pursue means to chase or hunt. It’s an active word. It’s often used in the sense of pursue or persecute. It’s an aggressive word. There’s nothing passive about the way were to go about being hospitable. Hospitality comes from two words—phileo, “to love” and xenia, “strangers.” Thus, hospitality is to love strangers. If it’s just your friends, it’s not fully biblical hospitality. So be sure invite people you don’t know, too.

The tense used in this passage is gradual, linear tense. That’s why the Living Bible says, “get into the habit.” It’s not a one-time event—it’s a way of life. Christian living is, in part, about getting into the habit of inviting guests home for dinner. The NLT puts it, “Always be eager to practice hospitality.” Practice. Like a doctor practices medicine. He keeps practicing for his whole career.

Success in almost any arena of life is a result of habits. If we are constantly having to remind ourselves and force ourselves to do something, we’re probably not doing it regularly. We need to get to the point where it’s a reflex action. We need to make it the normal thing to do on a Friday night or Sunday lunch or whenever it is we’d like to regularly practice hospitality.

Someone asked me one time, “What if I don’t like inviting guests home for dinner? Could I take them to Applebee’s instead?” I thought it was a silly question, but he was dead serious. After having talked to quite a number of Christians about this, I find it’s an issue over which some in the body of Christ are truly divided. Some see it this way: “The Bible says, ‘home,’ I believe it means, ‘home,’ that settles it, it is ‘home.’”

Others see it differently. I spoke with a widowed man whose wife had passed away six months earlier. In those six months, he told me he hadn’t eaten a single home-cooked meal. Not one. I don’t know about you, but I’m not sure I’d want to go to his house for dinner! I think Applebee’s might fit within the spirit of the law, in this case.

Still, the Bible does say “home,” so let’s use that as our default for this chapter. In one of my follow-up surveys, I asked, “When was the last time you had guests to your home for dinner or dessert?” Eighty-five percent of the respondents were in one of two categories—they had either had someone over within the last three months, or it had been a year or more. Most people either do hospitality regularly or they don’t do it at all. The Bible says to make it a habit.

Next question: What can we expect to happen when we invite guests home for dinner? If you haven’t done this much, you might first of all expect that they’ll show up. I’ve invited guests over quite often, and I can tell you that sometimes they’ll come and sometimes they won’t. Sometimes they’ll say they’ll come and they won’t. Sometimes they’ll come and you’ll have a grand time. Sometimes they’ll come and they’ll be boring. Sometimes they’ll come and be obnoxious. And sometimes they’ll come and won’t leave.

Once we had a house full of people and everyone had a good time, staying until 10 or 11. Everyone except one guy. He stayed and stayed and stayed. I stopped putting wood on the fire about midnight. I pretty much stopped talking about 1:00 a.m. I think he left sometime after 2:00 a.m. This brings us to the next verse I’d like us to consider.

Josh Hunt. (2010). Make Your Group Grow.

I believe one of the best ways to study the Bible (and to teach the Bible) is by bombarding the text with a number of questions. So, let’s try this text on for size: “Get into the habit of inviting guests home for dinner” (Romans 12:13, TLB).
What’s the nature of the language of this verse? Let’s make this multiple choice. Is this…
___ a prophecy
___ a proverb
___ a parable
___ a command
You know the answer: It’s a command. As surely as God commanded us to pray or give or serve, God has commanded us to get into the habit of inviting guests home for dinner.
In the Greek this entire passage is actually only two words: pursue hospitality. Pursue means to chase or hunt. It’s an active word. It’s often used in the sense of pursue or persecute. It’s an aggressive word. There’s nothing passive about the way were to go about being hospitable. Hospitality comes from two words—phileo, “to love” and xenia, “strangers.” Thus, hospitality is to love strangers. If it’s just your friends, it’s not fully biblical hospitality. So be sure invite people you don’t know, too.
The tense used in this passage is gradual, linear tense. That’s why the Living Bible says, “get into the habit.” It’s not a one-time event—it’s a way of life. Christian living is, in part, about getting into the habit of inviting guests home for dinner. The NLT puts it, “Always be eager to practice hospitality.” Practice. Like a doctor practices medicine. He keeps practicing for his whole career.
Success in almost any arena of life is a result of habits. If we are constantly having to remind ourselves and force ourselves to do something, we’re probably not doing it regularly. We need to get to the point where it’s a reflex action. We need to make it the normal thing to do on a Friday night or Sunday lunch or whenever it is we’d like to regularly practice hospitality.
Someone asked me one time, “What if I don’t like inviting guests home for dinner? Could I take them to Applebee’s instead?” I thought it was a silly question, but he was dead serious. After having talked to quite a number of Christians about this, I find it’s an issue over which some in the body of Christ are truly divided. Some see it this way: “The Bible says, ‘home,’ I believe it means, ‘home,’ that settles it, it is ‘home.’”
Others see it differently. I spoke with a widowed man whose wife had passed away six months earlier. In those six months, he told me he hadn’t eaten a single home-cooked meal. Not one. I don’t know about you, but I’m not sure I’d want to go to his house for dinner! I think Applebee’s might fit within the spirit of the law, in this case.
Still, the Bible does say “home,” so let’s use that as our default for this chapter. In one of my follow-up surveys, I asked, “When was the last time you had guests to your home for dinner or dessert?” Eighty-five percent of the respondents were in one of two categories—they had either had someone over within the last three months, or it had been a year or more. Most people either do hospitality regularly or they don’t do it at all. The Bible says to make it a habit.
Next question: What can we expect to happen when we invite guests home for dinner? If you haven’t done this much, you might first of all expect that they’ll show up. I’ve invited guests over quite often, and I can tell you that sometimes they’ll come and sometimes they won’t. Sometimes they’ll say they’ll come and they won’t. Sometimes they’ll come and you’ll have a grand time. Sometimes they’ll come and they’ll be boring. Sometimes they’ll come and be obnoxious. And sometimes they’ll come and won’t leave.
Once we had a house full of people and everyone had a good time, staying until 10 or 11. Everyone except one guy. He stayed and stayed and stayed. I stopped putting wood on the fire about midnight. I pretty much stopped talking about 1:00 a.m. I think he left sometime after 2:00 a.m. This brings us to the next verse I’d like us to consider.

Josh Hunt. (2010). Make Your Group Grow.