It’s so easy to slip into our easy comfortable ways. Daily routines, the same old same old. But what if we looked at our normal lives with new eyes? What if God chose each person who lives in our neighborhood? What if our coworkers need us more than the country we thought we should go serve? What if we could see our home as a mission?
I realize that most of the time, when people speak about our home as a mission, they mean we have a ministry to our kids.
And I think that’s absolutely correct. However, I think there’s a broader meaning to having a home as a mission. When we are single men and women, too, our homes can be mission outposts. If children never come to us because of infertility or medical problems, our homes can still shine for the gospel.
Example of the Old Catholic Missions
Mission in San Antonio. Photo by Anna Fasolino.
Crumbling old structures now, maybe, but at one time they were thriving centers of teaching, trade, and charity. Picture the Alamo (or any of the beautiful missions in San Antonio) 150 years ago. No matter your opinion of the Spanish attempt to impose European culture on Native Americans, what the missions accomplished was impressive. The priests came to a land where nothing was as comfortable as in Spain and created hubs of activity and safe homes. Some of them were tireless in their efforts to convert others to Roman Catholicism.
What If I’m Single?
I’ve been reading Adorned, by Nancy DeMoss Wolgemuth, lately. Nancy didn’t get married until just a few years shy of 60, and she has a lot to share about hospitality as a single woman. She has opened her home to everyone from seniors to newlywed couples. She really was able to see and use her home as a mission. I only spent 25 years as a single woman (David and I got married when I was 26), but I have many precious memories of slapdash meals, prayer groups, and impromptu jam sessions held in my various dwellings. I was lucky enough to have my own place in college. (A single wide trailer with a porch!) That meant I could plug in a crockpot before rushing off to class and be all ready for a crew of 12 girls by evening.
One of the best examples I’ve ever seen of hospitality was shown by a single friend of ours in Houston.
She reaches out to neighbors, younger people in the church, EVERYONE. Her apartment is a haven of peace and love. And she makes some of the best food I’ve ever tasted. 🙂
How Important is Your Decor?
Some people can make their homes look like magazine photographs. I’m not one of those people. Maybe because my mom never was. Her walls featured random cross-stitched works of art by family members (including her daughters), chip carvings my brothers made, and whatever else she was given. She has probably never spent money on a throw pillow in her life. Her house is always clean but never stylish.
And guess what? There were often so many guests in our home that if throw pillows had been on the couches, they would have gotten thrown on the floor to make room. My parents have always seen their home as a mission. During my teenaged years, we hosted dozens of students from other countries, especially Taiwan. I remember one Thanksgiving when we had new “family members” from 6 different countries in Asia.
Fancy meals? No, not really. We were more likely to have a giant pot of filling vegetable and hamburger stew on the stove, along with a sheet of freshly baked bread rolls. But the little we had, my parents were always ready to share. I’m so grateful for their example of sacrificial hospitality.
Home as a Preview of Heaven
Nancy Wolgemuth writes, “This is the goal of all our ‘working’ and ‘keeping’ at home–the previews of heaven we’re able to provide to our husbands, our children, our neighbors and roommates and guests. With every act of planning and nurturing, we demonstrate realities that are supreme and ultimate. We create a taste for things above.” (p. 223)
She also quotes a friend of hers, Jani Ortlund:
Our homes, imperfect as they are, should be a reflection of our eternal home, where troubled souls find peace, weary hearts find rest, hungry bodies find refreshment, lonely pilgrims find communion, and wounded spirits find compassion.
Isn’t that a lovely picture? Just reading those words inspires me to think beyond the outward layer of a house and see an outpost of heaven.
[clickToTweet tweet=”Our homes, imperfect as they are, should reflect our eternal home, where souls find peace… #home” quote=”Our homes, imperfect as they are, should reflect our eternal home, where souls find peace… “]
The Hard Part
Seeing your home as a mission sounds great, but how do you actually put that into practice? How do you make your home a reflection of your eternal home?
It’s hard to…
- be kind to your own family members or close friends in the privacy of home.
- spend half your grocery budget on people you don’t know that well.
- be willing to show others your home in all its imperfections.
- open your doors to people who don’t talk like you or share your values.
I can’t say that I’ve arrived here, either. I prefer to just invite my close friends. (And, yes, that is also a ministry, because as Christians, we can’t be known by our love for one another if we don’t know each other beyond Sunday morning pew-sharing.) Some weeks our strained budget has more to do with me buying too much chocolate or other small luxuries than with hospitality. Some days when David suggests inviting a family over, my mind stresses over the details instead of seeing the joy.
But my eyes have been opened.
This is the goal.
Hundreds, thousands of Christian homes that are mission outposts. Places where fathers and mothers pour their lives into their children and teach their children to join with them in serving the lost and the hurting. Dorm rooms where girls sit all over the floor and on the beds with Bibles open. Bachelor pads that replace gaming centers with places for group prayer (and burgers).
May we see our home as a mission.
Not just toward those who live inside, but also the hungry world outside.
[clickToTweet tweet=”May we see our home as a mission–not just toward those who live inside, but also the hungry world outside.” quote=”May we see our home as a mission–not just toward those who live inside, but also the hungry world outside.”]