HEART TO HEART WITH EDR GOH CHONG ANN - SHOWING HOSPITALITY IN THE FAMILY OF GOD

One way of valuing Christian singleness is opening up our home to brothers and sisters in the church regardless of whether they are married or have kids the same age as our kids. These things can be unintentional and seemingly harmless, but they can devalue someone’s status as an image bearer of God whose identity is in Christ and work against unity in the church across generations. The early church did not pressure people to marry and they worked hard to support widows in particular because one’s identity in Christ and value was not determined by their family or marital status.

Therefore, to everyone: If you belong to Christ, if you have by faith received His saving hospitality, which He paid for with His own blood, then extend this hospitality to others. Romans 15:7: “Welcome one another as Christ has welcomed you, for the glory of God.” You live on free grace every day. Be a good steward of it in hospitality.

Second, to married couples. Plan that your hospitality will include single people - small groups, Sunday dinners, picnics, holiday celebrations. You would be surprised how many younger and older singles spend Christmas, Easter, and New Year alone. Everybody assumed someone else invited them. You don’t need to make a big deal out of it. Just be natural. And don’t forget that there are singles of all ages, male and female, formerly married and never married, divorced and widowed. Think like a Christian. This is your family - more deeply and more eternally than your kinfolk, your biological family.

Third, to single people. Show hospitality to other single people and to married couples and families. That may feel odd. But the oddness of it in this world may make it a greater witness to a truth that goes beyond this world. Would it not be a mark of unusual maturity and stability? Would it not be a mark of God’s grace in your life? Would it not witness to the truth about what the ultimate family really is? Team up with some friends and invite married people into your lives.

All in all, we should aim to see Christ magnified and glorified through married people drawing singles into their lives and singles drawing married people into their lives, for the sake of Christ and the gospel.

(EXTRACTED AND ADAPTED FROM “THIS MOMENTARY MARRIAGE” BY JOHN PIPER)