11 Quotes from The Gospel Comes with a House Key
One of the most challenging books I’ve read is The Gospel Comes with a House Key by Rosaria Butterfield. Hospitality seems like one of those activities that you either have a knack for or you don’t. It’s easy to come up with excuses to not practice hospitality:
I’m more introverted.
I’d rather read a book than have someone over.
We just don’t have anything in common with that group.
Our apartment isn’t big enough for guests.
These excuses and more have riffled through my thoughts. Yet, for a Christian, we are all called to welcome others into our lives. We are all called to hospitality. Yes, some of us may have more of a knack for it than others, but that doesn’t mean we all shouldn’t practice hospitality.
We need our community. We need connection to others and to feel a sense of place in that community. It might be messy. It might not include perfectly planned parties. It might be a challenge for your personality or living space. But, the benefits for yourself and your people are worth it.
Check out these 11 quotes from The Gospel Comes with a House Key by Rosaria Butterfield but better yet read the whole book with quotes in context for yourself!
“We live in a world that highly values functionality. But there is such a thing as being too functional. When we are too functional, we forget that the Christian life is a calling, not a performance. Hospitality is necessary whether you have cat hair on the couch or not. People will die of chronic loneliness sooner than they will cat hair in the soup.”
“May my words give grace to those who hear, my words are not pep talks. I hope, indeed, that my words are not even my own, but Christ's working through me.”
“Faith in Jesus foregrounds the trust that says, ‘I love my neighbor because she is mine, and not because she loves me back.’”
“Instead of feeling sidelined by the sucker punches of post-Christianity, Christians are called to practice radically ordinary hospitality to renew their resolve in Christ. Too many of us are sidelined by fears. We fear that people will hurt us. We fear that people will negatively influence our children. We fear that we do not even understand the language of this new world order, least of all its people. We long for days gone by. Our sentimentality makes us stupid. We need to snap ourselves out of this self-pitying reverie. The best days are ahead. Jesus advances from the front of the line.”
“Here's the thing about soothing yourself with self-delusion: no one buys it but you.”
“Christian hospitality is not for sale. It cannot be made into a commodity. The gospel is free.”
“Radically ordinary hospitality doesn’t keep fussy lists or make a big deal about invitations.”
“We trust God’s power more than we trust our limitations, and we know that he never gives a command without giving the grace to perform it.”
“Radically ordinary, daily Christianity is not PhD Christianity. The gospel comes with a house key is ABC Christianity. Radically ordinary and daily hospitality is the basic building block for vital Christian living. Start anywhere. But do start.”
“In our house it is normal to struggle with sin and to do so openly. Repentance is a Christian fruit, not a social shame.”
“The household that loves things too much and loves people too little cannot honor God through practice of radical ordinary hospitality.”
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