Review: The Gospel Comes with a House Key, By: Rosaria Butterfield
Three Quotes:
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But how do we as Christians live in contagious grace? To see that in action, let’s move to the Gospel of John…the key to contagious grace—the grace that allows the margins to move to the centre, the grace that commands you to never fear the future, the grace that reveals that what humbles you cannot hurt you if Jesus is your Lord — that grace is ours when we do what Mary says to do on this scene. She says to us (and the Holy Spirit says to us): “Do whatever he tells you” (John 2:5). Simple right? No. We cannot will ourselves into the deep obedience that God requires…We can’t obey until we face the facts: the gospel comes in exchange for the life we once loved.”
“May my words give grace to those who hear. My words are not pep talks. I hope, indeed, that my words are not even my own but Christ’s working through me. Invest in your neighbours for the long haul, the hundreds of conversations that make up a neighbourhood, and stop thinking of conversations with neighbours as sneaky evangelistic raids in their sinful lives. Maybe our own lives are actually more sinful.”
“… hospitality gives no cheap love, the kind that says your idols are welcome here, the kind that buys counterfeit categories of what it means to be human. Idolatry is dangerous — as well as delusional. It miscues our worship, affections, identity, and community. And it is easy — cheap and easy…That is why the sharp edges of hospitality ought to never be overlooked: God does not love us just the way we are. God’s love is costly, bloody, and powerful…This is authentic Christianity, and its steep costs and high yield can be withstood only when the strength of our words matches the strength of our relationships. These far-reaching things go well with trust and lentil soup, with hot apple cider and fresh bread, with dog walking, child loving, and erranding, with the asking of forgiveness and the seeking of a second chance.”
Purchase The Gospel Comes with a House Key By: Rosaria Butterfield here.
Two Takeaways:
It is possible, and necessary, to love others well and celebrate their goodness while holding strong to the ‘steep cost and high yield’ love of God. Our home church meets at our house and we have believers and nonbelievers who attend. There are times when we are studying scripture and my gut reaction is, “oh no, this is too harsh it is going to scare away our non-believing friends.” But then I remind myself, I do not need to apologize for God. In the moment I do not want the person to be offended by God (and me), but I know covenantal love from God is offensive in a good way and it is worth the cost. I also remind myself, it is between them and God. Not me. There is a quote from A Horse and His Boy By C.S. Lewis that reminds me of this: “‘Child’, said the voice, “I am telling you your own story, not hers. I tell no one any story but his own.” — Aslan.
It is not enough to just say, “I will be more hospitable.” We must be prepared for it — have food prepped and ready for last minute guests and create a family routine that is built around meeting with others and hosting others. I have also had times when despite being prepped and planned it felt like there were no opportunities to share the Gospel with others whether that be with words or action. Usually I am just overlooking the countless opportunities right in from of me (*cough* my children and Josh), but asking God to open my eyes to the opportunities and guide my words and actions during those opportunities, has been a tremendous help and given me the boost of confidence I need during times I would usually shy away.
One Next Step:
In the words of Rosaria Butterfield herself: “One logical place to start is at the end of your driveway.”
One additional thought:
We had a season this past year when we were hosting daily. Young families were coming into our home often, we were providing meals, we were parenting our 5 children among the chaos, keeping up our home — and I couldn’t keep up. We had to slow down and reevaluate. To this day, I am grateful we slowed down but I want to open our doors back up again and find a balance of our family time and shared family time.
I think it is common for Christians to read this and think, ‘you need boundaries and you deserve to keep your house your sanctuary.’ I agree that we need boundaries for our family and I want to have protected time for our family, but I also think my burnout was not only because of a lack of boundaries, but because I was not abiding in Christ as I ought to. My prayer was lacking, my repentance was lacking, and my love of the Lord was weak because I was not immersed in His scripture daily. I can’t help but think of Elizabeth Elliot’s quote: “A whole lot of what we call ‘struggling’ is simply delayed obedience." This quote can be applied to numerous situations and I think in my particular scenario, I was struggling to ‘keep up’ with our hospitality but if I had obeyed God by spending time getting to know Him more and finding peace in who He is, I am sure I would have been able to carry out His will with more joy and strength.