As we approach the Biblical text, in terms of application, it is often necessary to find a dynamic equivalent. We sure found a great one yesterday.
We had dinner on the grounds yesterday. Not everyone actually ate on the ground, although a few people did, most sat at tables. Our Hispanic brothers and sisters hosted the entire church to a fellowship meal following our morning services. Grilled fajita steak, sausages, chicken, salads, pupusas, iced-tea and ice-cream. Throw in some Dr. Pepper and I would have been listening for trumpets!
Now if you’ve never had a pupusa, you don’t know what you’ve been missing. A pupusa is basically a thick homemade tortilla (made from masa) stuffed with cheese, beans and meat cooked to a golden brown on a grill. Were God to have called Latin American people to a new land a new country he would have sent pupusas from heaven instead of manna.
In spite of the humidity (yes it has finally arrived) and the heat we had a fabulous time enjoying much food and abundant fellowship. It was great seeing God’s people acting like God’s people.
I was struck this morning by the changes that occur within the body outside the auditorium. (I’m speaking generally at this point) Inside the auditorium we have all these rules. We make it so difficult. It’s hard for people to get along. We fight we bicker all while pinching off a small piece of bread or sipping from a small cup. Outside on the lawn, or inside in the fellowship hall, there are no such rules. We laugh, we listen, we have seconds and we learn to love.
What happens outside on that lawn, what happens inside that fellowship hall is the community which the early believers enjoyed. I can’t help but think we would be quite effective in reaching others if those looking for Christ spent more time with us on the lawn than in the auditorium. Maybe the Lord would be adding daily to our number if we spent less time in church and more time cooking. Come to think of it, we should rename the auditorium. It should forever be known as the fellowship hall.
What are some of your memorable potluck, dinner on the grounds experiences?
6 Responses to “Dynamic Equivalent”
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June 6th, 2005 at 10:15 am
Steph makes almost 3 gallons of pancake batter and for forever we’ve been hosting the first Sunday of the month pancake lunch (known here as American crepes). We flipped them for 23 people yesterday.
Not a soul remembers the sermons, but I’ve been assured that on the headstone they’ll put:
1959-20XX
He could sure make a pancake!
June 6th, 2005 at 3:20 pm
One of the areas that God has been working on in my life is my natural anti-social tendencies. I’m okay around one or two people but those big gatherings still tend to raise the goose flesh. It’s one of the MANY reasons I’m not a minister of any kind.
And yet. And yet, He’s changing that in me, mostly through a wife who absolutely thrives on things like that. I’m getting to where I can almost (almost) look forward to them.
Almost.
June 6th, 2005 at 6:59 pm
RW:
Enjoyed your blog and you’re so right about the “rules” that govern the auditorium but seem to so unnecessary outside the building or in the fellowship room!
This is not quite the “dinner on the grounds” story, but close. My mother’s family had their annual reunion this past weekend in northwest Alabama. One of the cousins had written a book on the family history and planned to present it to another, older cousin they call E.C. They invited E.C.’s preacher to come and do the opening prayer to bless the meal, but things ran so late (par for the course w/ that side of our family) that he had to leave before E.C. even arrived.
When it came time to present the book and dedicate both the book and the day in honor of E.C., he was so frustrated by all the attention and the surprise that he got mad and had his nephew take him home!
Put a huge dark cloud over the entire event, but I found it rather amusing … being 3,000 miles to the west of it all.
June 6th, 2005 at 11:00 pm
Our house has become the “hungry teenager” home. Lex and I have said (and prayed) that God just give us enough to always be able to feed the kids who need a dinner/lunch.
They also know that if they spend the night here, the next day, they’ll get a sack lunch prepared by me with a scripture and a note inside. I make sure to tell them how precious they are to us and how much we enjoy it when they’re here.
I don’t love them any more or less than my own two. They’re also expected to act within the moral and “non-cussing” rules that we abide by in our home. They don’t seem to mind.
I know they’re hungry for food(they’re teenagers, after all!)…but obviously, what happens in the serving of that food is something much deeper…a hunger for unconditional love and acceptance.
Thanks for writing Randy. Your thoughts often feed my soul.
June 7th, 2005 at 8:42 am
I can identify with thurman8er. I am usually considered an outgoing person, but when it comes to church and fellowships, I’m afraid I’ve typically been the opposite of your assessment, Randy. I feel much more in communion with my brothers and sisters inside the worship service. Put me in the fellowship hall (maybe that’s the problem, maybe it needs to be outside!), and all of a sudden I feel isolated and tongue-tied. I’ve attended these through the years because I couldn’t think of a reason not to and to try to overcome my unsociability. (I’m the same way with my work family.) Now a meal in my home with a few people I worship with……that’s a different story……..
However, my sister and I just placed membership at a different congregation (an old, established, very small church in our neighborhood), and we had a fish fry recently. It was our first fellowship there, and I enjoyed it-truly enjoyed it-more than any other I have ever been to. Even more than with people I’d worshipped with for a hundred years. Go figure!
June 12th, 2005 at 11:59 pm
That’s an excellent illustration. I am an introvert. Impromptu person to person interaction for me is like writing with my left hand. Meaning that I have to prepare and proceed deliberately for the best results.
Still I can keep up most of the time with my best effort and the reciprocation enabled by the fellowship hall/lawn environment makes it worthwhile.