You're Not Robbie Williams

"Everyday they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread together in their homes and ate with glad and sincere hearts"

Acts 2v46

The love-able Robbie made his break from the chains of heart throb boy band-dom by asking us to let him entertain us. And entertain us, he did.

I watched an interview with him years after this single was released and he had, by then, become the world famous entertaining power house that we now know he is, and he said words to this effect on his feelings just before the songs release...

"There's me singing, 'Let me entertain you', but I had this overwhelming worry...what if they all said 'no'?"

And there is it. A mortal fear that we all have. What if we ask people to do something and they say no? What if they reject us? This is one of the root causes of our lack of biblical hospitality. We psych ourselves up to asking someone round, we mentally prepare the conversations we'll have and buy in all the food...only for them to say no.

Well, let's just get one thing straight. 

You're not Robbie Williams.

And no-one's asking you to entertain them.

One of my biggest mistakes in attempting biblical hospitality was to mix up hospitality for entertaining. There's a vast difference. 

Entertaining means someone comes over to your house and you provide them with the evening of their life. The best food, the most glorious conversation and you attend to their every whim. They go home thinking you're amazing. 

"How did they make that meat so tender?"

"Did you see how many desserts there were?"

"Isn't she HILARIOUS?!"

And while it's lovely to BE entertained, it ain't lovely TO entertain.

Hospitality, on the other hand, is NOT entertainment.

Sure there are a lot of the same basic elements. People come over, there's food, and chat, but the purpose is entirely different.

When we offer hospitality rather than entertainment we are asking people into our lives. As broken, messy and burnt as our lives may be, people need to be part of that, rather than a glammed-up, glittery, cupcakes-and-rainbows version (and I personally feel everything is better with glitter).

Entertainment says "Don't you worry about the dishes"

Hospitality says "Grab a tea towel"

Entertainment says "No, there's nothing you can do at all to help me"

Hospitality sticks it's head out the kitchen and says "Pop down the shop for some milk, will ya?"

Entertainment says "Dinner will be about 10 minutes, would you like a drink before hand?"

Hospitality waves the smoke out the way and says "We'll be needing the chippy tonight"

Hospitality is letting people into the real life you lead. It's serving sub-standard Yorkshire puddings. It's getting your guests to wipe off the dining room chairs before they sit on them. It's shouting in alarm "No, please don't take your shoes off" when you realise your carpet is like the bottom of a toaster.

Hospitality is real life. And that's what makes it hard. Because people see we haven't got it all together. They see us shouting at the kids, glaring at our husbands, and crying into our flaming oven gloves. It requires us to show ourselves for who we really are.

The first Christians were round each others houses all the time. And there's nothing that says their 1st Century homes were any fancier than mine, or that there were any less fires during the course of a meal.

They just hung out because they loved each other and wanted to be with people who loved Jesus. Welcoming people into your life means they get alongside you in the good and the bad. We laugh together, cry together, and apologise to each other. 

My biggest mistake in offering hospitality has been to try and get my life together in order to do it. The reality is, people want to be part of my actual life, not my fake one, and a piece of stale toast in my pj's is better than a 5 course meal of fairy tale life I've produced for the evening.

I've had more gospel conversations drinking tea in a onesie than I have at a cheese and wine night. I've built up my relationships with my church family more while my child flicked gravy all over them trying to cut their meat than I have at any dinner party. 

Yes, its messy, 

and embarrassing, 

and most people need a wet wipe at the end of a meal. 

But it's real life and that's what we need to grow in Christ. 

The early church met together often and in each others homes so they could encourage each other to keep going, call each other out when they acted sinfully and meet Jesus for the first time.

We are no different.

Hospitality is not entertainment...even if it is a good laugh.