The Christian call for hospitality is one of the most essential, yet overlooked, directives in Scripture. Often we mistake it for what our culture calls “entertaining.” We know a God who sought us out, took us in, made us family, and seated us at his table. Welcoming people into our homes should then become the rhythm of our transformed life. As we realign our everyday purpose with hospitality, our culture will crave the Jesus we have to offer! For these table gatherings, the goal is to be as inclusive as possible. Any time you intentionally choose to share some food, talk about life and stories with one another, and pray with or for those individuals…it counts! It may or may not include an actual table, that’s ok. Chances are, if you are being intentional, it counts!

Some of us are more naturally outgoing than others, but don’t let that stop you. Start thinking of those people you have always wanted to have over, but you haven’t yet. Then perhaps think of some people in the church that you see every week, but haven’t gotten a chance to get to know personally. Glance through all those facebook “friends” and pick someone you haven’t spent real facetime with in a while. Choose a family from your kid’s sports team to hook up with for ice cream after the game. Look outside your house in each direction at the neighbors that live nearby. Then just gain 5 seconds of courage and share a desire to have a meal together. The more low maintenance the meal, the easier it is to say yes to.

That’s a win! You chose to act in obedience to Christ by offering the invitation. Don’t sweat the response, that part isn’t up to you. If someone has to decline for one reason or another, the good news is you already have that date set aside so just invite someone else.

We would love for this to be in your home because we strongly believe that the most profound growth for you to have through this is by shifting your mindset so that more people are given access to the places that are personal. However, it can be done anywhere. Enjoy some time cooking over a campfire with neighbors, pick a restaurant to meet up at, find a different group of people to share lunch with at work or school, or setup a picnic.

Relax and enjoy time together. There doesn’t have to be a rigid agenda. Simply have conversations about life. If it is someone you don’t know, ask a lot of questions that will let you share past experiences and stories. If you want to have a couple conversation starters in mind, keep scrolling! Don’t forget to pray! If you anticipate that prayer over your food would be uncomfortable for your guests, then spend some time praying for them before they arrive or after they leave.

Part of the momentum is encouragement and accountability to show the ways we are living this out. But the picture is not as important as the gathering itself. If you can snap a casual photo capturing the time together, super! If not, share your experience with us either way.

We would love for you to report any table gathering (picture or not) to jcnaz@jcnaz.org, by tagging JCNaz on social media, or by using the hashtag #1000tables.