Less Of More By Chris NyeSample

Chris Nye: Less of More Devotional Day 3

“From Isolation to Connection: Pass the Salt, Please”

Scripture reading: Acts 2:42-47

We, as a culture, are convinced we do not need anyone to help us succeed. In a reversal of human history, we now see other people as obstacles to our flourishing instead of as aids. We now see the people around us as inhibiting us from achieving what we believe we have to do. The most celebrated individuals in our society are those who “did it by themselves” despite “the haters” or “the critics”—those who, despite their community, family, and place of birth, forged for themselves a new life of prosperity and success.

Some individualism can be good, but we have become hyper-individualistic and isolated, and that surely is not good for us.

The local church can offer the remarkably simple and healing practice of the table fellowship as a counter-narrative to hyper-individualism. Table fellowship is the ancient Christian discipline of eating together. It’s really that simple. In the early church, during the years AD 60–300, there was a common practice of sharing a meal together, what became known as the “agape feast” or the “love feast.” These were potlucks of epic proportions where Christians would host believers and nonbelievers in their homes for a long meal. 

These early Christians most certainly took this practice from Jesus, who was no stranger to a good meal with friends. Every Gospel account makes several mentions of Jesus sitting at a table with all kinds of people, which seems to emphasize his deep commitment to table fellowship (Matt. 9:10; 26:7, 20; Mark 2:15; 16:14; Luke 7:37; 11:37; 22:14; John 12:2; 13:23). 

The biblical counter-narrative to an age of isolation is about ordinary Christians hosting meals for their neighbors on a regular basis, or believers staying in the communities people usually leave. It looks like a lasting rootedness, a connection to a particular place with a particular people. 

I love what the writer Andy Crouch has said: “Our mission is not primarily to ‘engage the culture’ but to ‘love our neighbor.’ Our neighbor is not an abstract collective noun, but a real person in a real place.” Beware of a broad, theoretical theology without any names and faces. 

Beware of life without a table.

Invite some friends or neighbors to dinner a few days from now (remembering it’s the hospitality not the food that matters most). Also, how can you become an advocate for your church having more shared meals?