When Ministry Happens in Your Home...

When ministry happens in your home, your world is a little different. 

Let me start by saying there is a big difference between having a small group in your home once a week and having a ministry in your home. 

If you have a small group once a week then you have one day where your house "has to" be in order. People show up, you do your thing, people leave. 

If you have a ministry in your home it is a totally different ballgame. People come and go from your home all day everyday. We have 14 scheduled  classes in our home per week. That doesn't cover all of the "oh I was just in the neighborhood and thought I'd drop by and see if you were available to talk about..." times. Those happen about twice a week as well. 

When ministry happens in your home you are opening up your lives to people. Things sometimes get messy.  Here are a few things we have done in the last month: 

had a mom bathe her poop-covered child in my tub (they are potty training). 

had a young soldier stay with us while here for a rally and ask us all about how to go about dating a girl in a Christ-like way. 

had a young wife come and ask what to do about her husband's pornography use. 

All of that happened around the gym schedule, in addition to our regular classes. 

When you have a ministry in your home you have to be ready for real life. At church and even in small group Bible studies it is easy to put on the mask and hide your issues. But when people come to my home and see that I have laundry to do, just like them, it makes us more real. We can be more honest. 

I don't say all of this to discourage you from ministry in the home. Quite the opposite, in fact. Opening up your home can be amazing. Having a close knit community is great. But beware! Once you open your home up for ministry you are opening your life up for people to look in. Shine the light of Christ when people look in to your home.