What is a home? To the architect, it is a collection of design features. To the contractor, it’s the assembly and collection of building materials. To an interior designer, it is a blank canvas for textures, colors, and accessories to be layered upon it (unleashing our inner Joanna Gaines!). From a biblical perspective, our home is to be a place where the intermingling of craft and work is used for the purpose of cultivating a space to nurture our families and loving others for God’s glory.
In Genesis 2:8, we see that God “planted a garden”. The home was a blessing and a good gift to the people He created, for Adam and Eve to dwell. It is a place of provision, beauty, safety, refuge, gathering, community, and met needs. Simply put, the home should be a place where we show the love of Jesus.
How do we use our home to love Jesus more? How do we use our home to point others to Him?
I believe that it is in the Great Commission and the Great Commandment that we fully understand the impact of the home as it relates to the functions of evangelism, discipleship, and ministry.
So, what does loving God, loving others, and making disciples have to do with our home? These three things are the foundations of a gospel-centered home and a home willing to be used for the Kingdom and His church.
The Home as a Center for Evangelism
The Church today has cultivated highly sophisticated tools for evangelism – training sessions and special conferences, videos, podcasts, manuals, books, seminars. But, in Scripture, we see the early church going from house to house and studying the Word together, praying, fellowship, and breaking bread (Acts 2). It was the home that was the center for evangelism in the early expansion of Christianity. It was the church, using the home in the correct manner, that helped spread the gospel.
In the Great Commandment, we are told that to “love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind” and “love your neighbor as yourself” is the great commandment in the Law (Matthew 22:34-40).
In Scripture, we are instructed to practice hospitality to two kinds of people: other believers and strangers. Hospitality that we extend to other believers builds up and strengthens the body of Christ. Hospitality to strangers (to the lost) gives, when the rest of the world takes. People take notice when we initiate such a loving relationship. As we invite non-Christians into our homes, they will see the difference Christ makes in our lives, our families, and our marriages. Hospitality in the home can be one of the most effective ways to introduce others to Jesus Christ.
The Great Commission is this: Because you have been with Jesus, go be with people so they can be with Jesus. God wants us to surrender our homes to Him because He wants to use our resources to introduce people to Him.
When we willingly open our homes to others, we aren’t just being nice, we are being obedient to God’s Word. Let’s be women who open doors and our homes for others to see Jesus.
The Home and Ministry
Matthew 11:19 tells us that Jesus came into the world “eating and drinking”. He came to eat with us, to invite us into fellowship with Him, and to transform us through that fellowship. So much of Jesus’s earthly ministry happened in the context of food and homes. He spent time in the homes of Mary, Martha, and Zacchaeus and He ate with the disciples. The table of fellowship that Jesus offered was an integral part of his earthly ministry. He ministered through the ordinary, mundane reality of the home and the table. If Jesus saw the power in sharing a meal, maybe we should, too.
We read about Jesus sitting around a table with the shunned and the sinners in Matthew 9. I see Him in John 4, sharing well water and conversations with a woman everyone else ignored. In Matthew 19, we watch Him invite – not just tolerate – the presence of little children.
When we look at Jesus, our culture’s false definition of hospitality as dinner invitations and etiquette, clean homes and casseroles, pales in light of the bold examples of the most radically welcoming and hospitable person who’s ever lived. I challenge you to use your table for ministry. To fellowship with those in your local church. To encourage your pastor and church staff. To minister to your neighbors. To not only feed the lost physically, but more importantly, spiritually.
All the work in our homes is about loving God and loving others. If we make it our goal to love and know Jesus as much as humanly possible, ministry will happen. Doors will open for ministry as you step out and seek to serve in your local church.
How can you use your home for ministry? How can you use your home to serve your local church and community?
The Home as a Platform for Mentoring and Discipleship
In Matthew 28:18-20, the Great Commission states: “And Jesus came and said to them, ‘All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.’”
In this passage, a lot of people think that “go” is the command. But really, in the original language, it is worded “as you are going”. As believers in Christ, we should already be going and sharing Jesus. The true imperative in this passage is “to make disciples”. What does the word disciple mean? In the original language, the word disciple means student, learner, or pupil. It’s through this process of discipleship and mentoring that followers of Christ help others discover and come to know who God is.
Over the last two years, the topic of discipleship has become more and more popular in evangelical circles. This rise in interest to take discipleship seriously within the local church has led to many new conferences, books, and studies. But, what does discipleship look like in our everyday? Jesus did a pretty good job not only modeling discipleship before us, but also creating a blueprint for us to follow.Jesus’ ministry was simple – He gathered a bunch of men and simply hung out with them.
I think we have overcomplicated discipleship. I think that we think it looks pretty and put together over coffee on Instagram. But, sometimes, it looks like sitting down on a woman’s floor, helping her fold laundry because she is a busy mom of five. Or sitting around a table praying and encouraging a woman who just lost her job. Or simply inviting someone to go with you to run errands. Just the act of simply doing something you would normally do alone, in the company of someone else.
Discipleship or mentoring isn’t meant to be an added burden or an additional program, but instead it’s a lens through which we can view our existing relationships in the life and seasons we already find ourselves in. One of the simplest and most practical ways to live a life of discipleship is to demonstrate Christ to others. You can be a tangible expression of God by exemplifying His character and message of the gospel. What could true discipleship look like in your everyday life?
Finding simple, tangible ways that your home can be used for Kingdom work and doing that work faithfully should be our goal.
So, ladies, open up your homes. Your living room floors. Your dining room tables. Allow God to use your home to point others to Him. Allow God to use your home as a place of evangelism, discipleship, and ministry.
Originally posted on biblicalwoman.com.
