As for me and my house… - 20 April 2009 |
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Here’s a question: you’re having a meal with non-Christian family or friends. You would normally pray at the start of the meal. But they never would. What should you do?
If you do, it will be embarrassing, right? And it’s not really appropriate to ‘force your faith’ on others. Yeah, right.
But if you don’t, that’s just compromising.
Tough one. Here’s my best guess: It all depends where you are.
If you’re in their house, then I’d suggest not. It’s not your place. You could pray beforehand somewhere, and God will hear you. He won’t hear them even if they do ‘pray’; he hears the prayers of his people. Anyway, just by going to someone else’s house for a meal (or for anything), you’ve already conceded that you’re going to do things ‘their way’ for a while. If you think that entails sinning, you shouldn’t be going at all.
On the other hand, if it’s in your place, then you do things your way, right? ‘Do you mind if we just thank God for the food before we eat? It’s what we normally do…’ Then pray briefly, then smile, then eat.
If you’re on ‘neutral territory’ (restaurant, etc.) then I guess it depends whether it’s Christians inviting non-Christians to a meal or vice versa. Depends on relative proportions, what’s the ‘flavour’ of the occasion, etc.
The principle at work here is that the culture of a believing household or community should to some extent impact all who pass through it. Like slaves or sojourners in the OT. To the extent that it’s your community, your ‘corner of the world’, it’s yours to shape in accordance with the word of the Lord. After all, Joshua didn’t just make his own personal, private decision; it impacted everyone in his household: ‘as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD’ (Joshua 24:15).
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Posted by Steve Jeffery · Topics: Minister's Blog