“Jesus ate His way through the Gospel of Luke.”
— Tim Chester
I had to read it twice, not for its lack of clarity, but because it was convicting.
Luke portrays Jesus as the one who came to seek and save the lost, and strikingly, He did so by eating and drinking with them. In Luke’s Gospel, hospitality wasn’t a footnote in Christ’s ministry; it was central. Table fellowship was how Jesus welcomed outsiders, engaged the broken, and revealed the kingdom.
Reading this, I was deeply convicted. I have a long list of people and families I’ve meant to invite — names tucked into my mental to-do list. People, I have dropped an open invitation, but without the commitment to be intentional. Time and again, I’ve pushed them further down the schedule, rationalizing the busyness of ministry as my excuse. Ironically, “ministry” has become the very reason I delay ministry. I had treated people as the ones getting in the way of my lists. More importantly, my list was an idol that kept me from simple obedience to Jesus.
Even in small moments — like collecting the mail from the community mailbox — I wave politely to neighbors but maintain just enough distance to avoid sending the “wrong signal” that I might want to engage them in conversation. I’ve taken pride in guarding my time, avoiding interruptions that ruffle my carefully ordered schedule. But that house of cards came crashing down at the reminder of God’s Word to be hospitable.
Then came two questions from Matt Naismith, Director of the C3 Canadian Campus Collective — questions that broke my self-righteous rationale:
“When was the last time someone graced your table who was not a Christian?”
“When was the last time you were invited to grace the table of someone who does not know the Lord?”
Truthfully, I couldn’t recall. As I scanned my mind, I saw our Table occupied with fellowship with sisters and brothers in the Lord, but there was no empty chair in sight for the neighbor.
The truth is that if we’re serious about becoming more like Christ, then we must reflect the Jesus revealed in Luke or in any of the Gospels. Take John, for instance, Jesus gave no excuse for the lack of a home or satisfactory amenities. He simply invited His disciples to a breakfast cookout by the sea. Christ didn’t just offer teaching. He offered His presence, often over a meal, so can I and so can you.
Maybe that’s where we begin. A cleared table. An open door. And a heart that says, “Come.”
Let this Summer be the time! When your Christlikeness benefits your neighbor.