Entertain strangers

Just the other day Alan, at the Assembling of the Church, posted an article entitled Justice, Kindness, Mercy..., reminding us that the early church followed the mandates in Scripture to take care of the elderly and the poor. He then shared his own struggles and need for God’s teaching and guidance in the matter.

With that post in the background, let me share with you some of my struggles. Yesterday I was walking home after class when, while still on campus, I was approached by an elderly lady who asked me for $10 so that she could get some food. As has been my custom now for years, I told her that I would not give her money, but I’d be glad to buy her some food. This is a practice that I learned from my mom, who taught me to have compassion for people in need. I can remember many times when mom stopped at a store to buy a beggar something to eat. She always told me never to give them money, for who knows what they will use it for, but instead, to go ahead and buy them some food. Sadly, I have to admit that I did not put her advice into practice until after I became a Christian: before Christ transformed my life there was much selfishness and very little compassion in my heart.

But getting back to my story … so I asked the lady where she was planning to go eat. She told me Skippers. Now, Cindy and I rarely go out to eat (our entertainment budget is set at $20 per month) and thus I had no idea of the price range of dishes at Skippers, all I knew is that it was located close by. On the way, the lady shared with me that she has a couple of young ones at home, so I kindly suggested that maybe we could go to Domino’s and I could buy her a pizza that she could take home. She told me that she had been craving real food, so we continued to Skippers.

Upon arrival, I discovered that the dish she wanted was $15.99. I told her that was too expensive and that it would be better to go and get her a pizza. She then asked if she could get the shrimp dish instead of the barbeque, she thought it was less expensive. It turns out that it was $10.99: cheaper, but still very expensive for a single meal. I reasoned with her that it would make more sense to get a pizza for that price, so that she could share it with her family. Apparently, her heart was set on shrimp because she told me that she would not eat it all and would share her leftover shrimp with her family. I couldn’t believe my ears!

I finally told her that I would buy her a pizza, and we headed over to Domino’s. On the way and as well as in the store, I shared with her about the God who changed my life: the reason why I was actually doing this. She told me I was a good person, to which I answered that I was not: the good she saw was God acting in my life.

I was not being pious, inside I was extremely frustrated with her, and the only thing that kept me from just leaving was the love of Christ. Cindy and I had discussed earlier that day that we did not have money to go eat at Taco Bell, and here I was buying a stranger food and she was being picky about the food she was getting, wanting to go eat out at a restaurant that my wife and I would not go to because we consider it too expensive.

I sit here asking myself did she just take advantage of me. Then I think of Alan’s post and Scriptures like Heb 13:2 which states: Do not forget to entertain strangers, for by so doing some have unwittingly entertained angels.

And there in lies my struggle: what has God called me to do in a situation like this?