A few months after the Asbury Outpouring, I moved into a new apartment. It was a unique season for me marked by a special awareness of God’s presence. To celebrate my first weekend in the new place, I invited some friends over for dinner. At one point in the evening, a friend took the initiative to go for something in the fridge. I felt a strong impulse to protect my belongings and had to check myself.
Later that evening, after my guests had left, in prayer I found myself reflecting on the moment, and I heard God challenge me with this question: If I chose to move in your apartment the same way I revealed myself in Hughes Auditorium—with people arriving in busloads to step inside your home and encounter my glory—would you be so concerned about your stuff? I was humbled.
In Matthew 19, Jesus says to the rich young ruler, “If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.” To be good hosts, while we are not necessarily required to sell and give everything we own away as Jesus told the rich young ruler, we should be willing to renounce our worldly possessions for the sake of our guests. In other words, to practice hospitality we should learn to regard ourselves as stewards of our earthly possessions rather than owners.
Owners are not inclined to be generous with their belongings because they are too attached to them. Jesus teaches that “where your treasure is, there your heart will be also” (Matt. 6:21). Owners store up treasures on earth and invariably commit their hearts to them. Owners make for poor hosts because they value their possessions more than the people they serve.
Good hospitality is good stewardship. It arises from the rightful recognition that everything we own has been given to us by God, the true owner. If we regard ourselves as stewards of our possessions rather than owners, our relationship with these possessions change. We no longer see value in hording items up for ourselves, because, after all, we will have to give them back eventually. Instead, all our possessions become instruments by which we honor the rightful owner of the house and serve his guests.
In Luke 16, Jesus describes how a rich man accused his manager of wasting his possessions. Concerned for his future, the manager shrewdly called the owner’s debtors and slashed each of their debts. In this way, the manager secured a future for himself by earning favor in the eyes of his master’s debtors. Jesus names the primary lesson of the parable in these terms: “I tell you, use worldly wealth to gain friends for yourselves, so that when it is gone, you will be welcomed into eternal dwellings.” We should learn to regard everything we own in a similar light—they are gifts given to us for the benefit of the people we serve. We are blessed to be a blessing.
It is therefore critical that we renounce any personal attachment to our belongings, to become stewards of them instead of owners. After all, there are riches available to us that are of much greater value than the cheap material wealth that the world goes after. For what can compare with the joy of communion—of a shared meal around a table with new friends? Money cannot buy laughter, wealth cannot purchase true intimacy, and no amount of worldly possessions can grant us the pleasures of authentic community. Any resource that stands in the way of these greater treasures ought to be discarded at once! “You cannot serve both God and money” (Matt. 6:24).
I want to add two important qualifications. First, to acknowledge that we will ultimately leave our worldly possessions behind does not grant us leave to neglect or abuse them. Jesus does not advocate for any kind of gnostic attitude towards the material world when he teaches us to “store up treasures in heaven.” On the contrary, to recognize that my home is, in fact, the home of God calls me to a higher standard. If my possessions are not my own, but God’s, I am obligated to honor God in how I manage them. To that end, we must learn to regard and steward our possessions in a manner consistent with the true owner’s character and for his glory.
Second, stewardship requires prudence. We should not be reckless. There are those who would seek to take advantage of generous stewards. They aim to manipulate those whose hearts are not attached to the material world, to serve their own material attachments. Hospitality requires practical wisdom. In our generosity, we should not be exploited. Good stewards, good hosts, exercise prudence in all their dealings, for the sake of the owner.
One day God might choose to reveal his glory in my house like he did in Hughes Auditorium two years ago. On that day, I hope that my possessions would not in any way hinder his guests from coming and feeling at home. Likewise, I hope the church is ready to receive the guests God plans to send her way.