Have A Seat At The Table!

Some food for thought...

This morning, one of the email devotionals I receive ("Fruitful") talked about 3 types of tables - the coffee table, the dinner table, and the banquet table. It talked about how as followers of Christ, we have an opportunity to live out God's love, peace, hope and joy at each of these - in the one to one conversations over coffee, in community at the dinner table with family and/or friends, and at the banquet table, when we celebrate with friends, loved ones, and sometimes folks we haven't yet met. As entrepreneurs and business owners, as we build relationship and seek to serve others, we not only enhance our own lives (and hopefully the lives of those with whom we come into contact), but our business connections grow, our networks expand, and our businesses grow organically. The article was written as a devotional, and but I thought that this part of it, in which the author, Luke Hamilton, poses some challenges for the reader, can actually apply to any of us seeking to build and maintain relationships with others:

-Think about your posture (host, guest, approaching with humility and grace, etc.) as you arrive at each of these tables. How can you be intentional about fostering community at each table?

-Think about how you can gather people around each of these tables. At the coffee table how can you intentionally foster deep relationships with individuals? At the dinner table how can you invite people to build community with one another? At the banquet table how can you celebrate in community with an open invitation to those outside your community?

-At which table do you find it easiest to build community and how can you challenge yourself to build community at other tables?

- What needs do you see around you? In your family, friendship group, church, town, do you see a specific need for gathering at one of these tables?