This morning my mom sent me a video tour of a house for sale. It is now the most expensive house in Texas; its price, if you are looking to move, is $65 million. It does look nice. The house is huge, looks kind of castle-like, has a guesthouse with its own pool, is surrounded by woods and water, and has amazing views.
I personally don’t know anyone who lives in a house like that. People do, of course. There are those who spend their money on extravagant houses all over the place, but most of us live in regular houses or apartments. Fairly small yards, usually just enough bedrooms for the people living there, and our view isn’t the Houston skyline, but most likely another house or road or maybe a pretty backyard.
So I was surprised by this statistic that showed up in my news feed – sixty-nine percent of American homeowners are embarrassed to invite other people to their homes because of how their home is decorated. That’s according to a survey done by Slickdeals, an online shopping site. Apparently, our biggest decorating regrets range from shag carpeting and kitchen islands to mounting our TVs above eye level and vinyl wall stickers.
But sixty-nine percent! That’s most of us. Now, what the survey doesn’t say is what percent invite people over anyway despite the embarrassment and how many people can’t get past it and stay home alone.
I think we all stay home alone more than we as a whole used to, and we got even more hermit-like during Covid. So when you add in to the equation our “embarrassment” over what our house looks like, inviting someone over to your house probably seems daunting.
But we believers are commanded to invite people to our homes (Romans 12:13; 1 Timothy 5:10; Hebrews 13:2; 1 Peter 4:9) – and the biblical authors aren’t just talking to people who live in mansions in Texas or Ohio or anywhere else, but to all of us, even if you live in a tiny, little apartment. Because the point isn’t to show off our stuff, but to show God’s love.
We might be familiar with the command to show hospitality to strangers because some people have unknowingly entertained angels – probably because that just sounds strange and a little bit fascinating, but the Bible also tells us to be hospitable to “one another.” That means people we already know and see regularly. You can invite a lonely widow, a neighbor, people living away from their families, anyone.
And while you may have had a bad experience or two in your life, most times when you are at someone’s house playing games or watching sports or just talking, you aren’t concerned with the decorations on the wall, so don’t let that stop you. Maybe clean off the couch so there is a place to sit, but don’t be too embarrassed by the wrong things. Invite someone over for cookies, a simple meal, or hot tea on the porch and enjoy the blessings of obeying God and sharing His love with others. Let us know how it goes! I’m guessing you and your guests will have a great time and leave feeling loved.
