EATING – A Missional Habit
A few years ago , Michael Frost wrote a short e-book called The Five Habits of Highly Missional People : Taking the BELLS Challenge to Fulfill the Mission of God . It ’ s been read by thousands of people around the globe and created the impetus for the transformation of many Christians , and in turn , their friends who have since been introduced to Jesus . It challenges us to adopt five practices that “ unite us together as believers , while also propelling us into the lives of others .” These are ; Blessing , Eating , Listening , Learning and Sending .
If this edited excerpt from the ' Eat ' chapter whets your appetite to find out more head to www . crossover . org . au / surprise-the-world
In fourth-century Rome , cranky old Emperor Julian was peeved with the Christians for practicing such an amazing form of hospitality that they were taking over the empire . He complained to his officials that one of the Christians ’ methods for “ perverting ” the empire was their socalled love-feast or service of tables . He appears to be uncertain of the name of their gathering because he says , “… they have many ways of carrying it out and hence call it by many names .”
We know the Corinthians were practicing a communal meal as part of their weekly habit because Paul rebukes them for conducting it so poorly . i
He is outraged that their so-called love feast doesn ’ t express love at all , with certain people being left out and others appearing to eat in cliques rather than as a whole body of believers . He then goes on to offer them a form of words they should use when eating the Eucharist , which indicates that the Corinthian love feast included the Lord ’ s Supper at its heart .
In other documents of the time , there appear to be various references to the separation of the Eucharist from the love feast , as though they were seen as two very distinct gatherings . This might be why Emperor Julian had trouble keeping track . In any case , a rhythm eventually developed where it was standard practice for the early Christians to celebrate the Eucharist in the morning and the love feast in the evening .
My point is that eating has been a central Christian practice since the beginning of our movement . And not only eating sacramentally , as in the Eucharist , but eating missionally as a way to express love to all .
The invitation to share a table is a profoundly meaningful one in every culture . I ’ m calling you to foster the habit of eating with three people each week . You won ’ t need to add a great deal into your often already busy schedule . You already eat three times a day . That ’ s 21 meals a week . I ’ m simply asking that you bring another person to your table for three of those . Or if you want to cut corners , you could bring three people to your table for one of them . resonate · issue 29 · page 12