Home is Where You Practice Being a Real Christian

I've had a couple of opportunities to reflect on my attitude towards my personal space the past couple of days.  I love being in ministry and I love using my home for that purpose, but with one small caveat.  I want my home open for ministry when it's convenient for me.

Ouch.  As much as I admire people who have an open door policy, I struggle in this area.  

This weekend was wonderful and we had a very large attendance on Sunday morning for our children's program.  I was still feeling the "high" from that as I prepared all afternoon for our Christmas eve dinner, as well as getting the church set up for our candlelight service that night.  I could feel myself starting to lose steam by that evening and was looking forward to the end of the service when I could go home and put my pajamas on.

Then I hear the words from my son, "I invited Austin to come over for a couple of hours."  A flash of irritation went through me and then Stephen said, "His family isn't home and he'll be by himself."  I have to say that the internal struggle that went on was not pretty.  The conflict between wanting to be selfish and being irritated with my merciful son, and feeling empathy towards this young man went back and forth.  My better self prevailed but not without a lot of wrestling. 

One young man turned into three extra young adults and they entertained themselves.There was laughter and fun and by 10 p.m. my house was quiet again.

We had a peaceful day yesterday.  We had invited a friend over who has no family nearby, but he ended up canceling due to the weather.  So it was a laid back, hang out in your pjs until noon type of day.  

Around 5 p.m. there was a rapping on our back door and a young man was standing there.  His car engine lights started coming on and he pulled into our driveway where the car promptly died.  His phone wasn't working and he needed a jump or to use our phone to call the tow company. Dan tried to jumpstart the car but it didn't work so he took the gentleman to the church next door and waited with him for over an hour for a tow truck to come out. 

But again, the internal struggle fired up inside me.  There are three houses all around us.  Why is it always us that people come to?  Why can't we have one holiday by ourselves?  Why, why, why?  And yet, I knew that my attitude STUNK!  I battled with my selfishness.

Dan came in after the tow truck left and reminded me, "How do you know this wasn't a divine appointment?"  He had been able to pray with the guy and give him directions as to who to use since the young man wasn't from the area.  

It's so easy to be a Christian when it's convenient.  We put on our pious faces and show our best to people outside our doors. But home is where our true colors show.  Home is where things don't always go according to plan.  Where the mess happens.  Where random strangers may show up and you have to be inconvenienced.

God keeps providing me with opportunities to practice.  Home is where I can practice being a true Christian.  Where I battle with my sin, and where I have the opportunity to win or lose that battle.

May we all learn what being a true follower of Christ means.