I met a Lady

“Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for thereby some have entertained angels unawares.” Hebr. 13:2

At a Sunday morning service abt. 4 weeks ago I was introduced to a lady from abroad. She immediately invited my wife and I to her home. It was a very modest home, not the middle class standard her church members excel in. This was our first invitation to an American home ever, at least in recent years, apart from s friends in Lompoc where I over the years have found a true Bethany home. The lady wasn´t even an American, she was Dutch without permanent residence permit, and she was disabled with an electric wheel chair. But she was rich and very much on the alert showing hospitality with a warm heart for winning souls.

We go to our churches which without exception want to create an image of themselves as soul winning churches. What about the beautiful middle class homes? Are they isolated boxes without a vision for souls? Do we have the idea that everything of spiritual significance happens away from the home units in the church building? Do we relate to strangers to whom we may show biblical hospitality in order to establish a soul winning contact? Or do we rather expect souls to be won for the Lord when the pastor solemnly makes a strong appeal asking “those who are not sure of their salvation to raise their hand”?

If we do, we are wrong. My American son-in-law told me, “We don´t hang around in each other´s homes like you do, that´s not our culture.” But I´m not talking about “hanging around”, I´m talking about our homes as hospitable, soul winning tools. A dear, dear lady, a sweet grandma, from the church I go to here, told me that in old days it was different. The homes were different. In Denmark we have a lot of strangers coming in. By and large my country is very much on the atheistic or agnostic side. But God´s people are also there, and they are encouraged to welcome the strangers who little know what a home is in order to “friendship-evangelize” them in connection with a good, Danish meal, not waiting for the church set-up to do the job.

Anyway, that lady from Holland gripped my heart. Her example is humiliating to our well-to-do homes. May-be there´s too much “church” in the churches and too little “church” in our homes? Don´t let us just make it a “cultural” thing. Let us respond to the challenge the Dutch lady is giving. Souls are at stake!

Jørn Nielsen