Hospitality: Bible Storying for Muslims: Dr. Cashin Lecture 2
Dr. David Cashin delivered a series of lectures on chronological Bible Storying for Muslims during a CIU course. Here, Cashin continues with introductory material with a focus on hospitality in the home to begin this process of a bible study with Muslims.
Here starts the auto-generated transcription of Dr. David Cashin Lecture 2:
This is lesson 2 in chronological Bible story. And this second lesson doesn’t really have to do with the process of Bible storying per se, but the importance of having a hospitable home. My suggestion is that you invite your Muslim friend to come and visit in your home, and to study the word with you there. Unfortunately, hospitality is a lost art in the Western world. However, it is a biblical mandate.
If you look at I’ve listed a number of scripture passages here that talk about the importance of hospitality. 1st Peter 4:9 says, be hospitable to one another without complaint. Hebrews 13:2 says, do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for by this, some have entertained angels without knowing it. Acts 16:15, where we read the following. And when she and her household had been baptized, she urged us saying, if you have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come into my house and stay.
And she prevailed upon us. You’ll find many other references, to this. If you look at Acts chapter 2 and the whole idea of the believers having everything in common, that included their homes. And by the way, did you realize that there were no church buildings before around 280 AD? That is to say, for the first 250 years of Christianity, there were no church buildings. hospitality
Christians met in homes, primarily. And that was really a means of escaping persecution. And by the way, since our Muslim friends who come to faith in Jesus will be persecuted, and will not be, an immediate and easy target, for Islamic persecution. But before we get to that issue of how we’re gonna be involved with helping our Muslim friends, I wanna ask you a question. The question is this.
Who owns your home? The answer to this question is easy for most people. They think they own their homes. Well, actually, that isn’t true. In most cases, the bank owns their homes.
They occupy the house on a trust that they will eventually pay back to the bank their loans. For the Christian, however, there is a deeper issue. Jesus said in Luke 14:33, so therefore no one of you can be my disciple who does not give up all his own possessions. The primary possession of every Christian is their home. So what does God intend by this radical statement? hospitality
Well, I have 3 main points. 1st, our homes are not our own. I drove past my old how home on 47 Farview Way in Amherst, Massachusetts this past Christmas. Hadn’t been there in 20 years. New people that I do not know live there now.
I can visualize every room in that house, but I cannot go there anymore. I suppose that the people who live there now believe that the house belongs to them. But the fact is we are just passing through our homes. They do not, have not, nor ever will belong to us in any permanent sense. Your home does not belong to you.
It is given to you as a trust. Okay? God wants us to understand that first. Secondly, he wants you to understand that if you are a Christian, your home belongs to Christ who has consecrated it to the purpose of ministry. The home is meant as a place not only for the raising of godly of a godly family, but as a place to minister to outsiders.
The New Testament time churches met in homes. There were no church buildings as I said, earlier during the first really the first 300 years of the Christian faith. Throughout history in times of persecution, the church has met secretly in homes. The basis of the rapid church growth in China today is home based fellowships. By By the way, when is the last time you entered entertained a person in your home?
And specifically, when’s the last time you had a non Christian in your home? The concept of hospitality has virtually died in the United States. In spite of time saving devices such as dishwashers and microwaves, we do not seem to have time to cook meals, let alone invite a stranger for dinner. Our lives reflect speed, stress, and self focus. What needs to change in your lifestyle to be able to really, illustrate through your life the Christian principle of hospitality.
3rd thing that I think God wants to say to us is this, you can change. It is possible to learn to be hospitable in much the same way we learned how to pray or to read the Bible as an aspect of the Christian life. It is a habit which must be cultivated. For married couples, I would suggest the following simple steps. Number 1, make a goal to invite someone into your home every month.
Ensure beforehand that you are agreed upon person’s dates and times before you invite. Nothing is more uncomfortable than coming into a home where husband and wife are in conflict over the guest. And by the way, if you invite your Muslim friend to study the Bible, this might be the first person you’d have in your home. Secondly, and if you need a little breaking in before you start working with a Muslim, begin with members of your church, perhaps on Sunday afternoons after church, as a means to get to know people better. After 6 months, branch out and try inviting people in your neighborhood.hospitality
I am convinced that if you continue consistently, you’ll begin to see ministry opportunities develop. My wife and I have been doing that with our neighbors and, we’ve led a couple of our neighbors to Christ. And, now we have one lady that meets my wife every week for bible study in our home. And she’s in the hospital right now. Now.
So we’re involved in trying to take care of her and, look out for her husband as well. Ministry opportunities multiply when you use your home as a base of ministry. You can invite a Muslim into your home and invite them to study the Bible. And by the way, this is particularly an opportunity for older couples. If you’re an empty nester, what do you think you got all the rooms in that house for?
Think about the opportunities that God is giving you. Well, I’m gonna stop at this point and, encourage you if you have any questions or, issues that you’d like to discuss with me, you have my email address and my phone number. I’d love to talk to you more about how to use your home as a place of hospitality Blessings on you.