I commented on the pin. I couldn't resist! "I think this is sweet, but the guest part implies that he doesn't live there."
The "pinner" replied that it was a way of saying He's always welcome, but that she had never thought of it that way.
I want to discuss this at length; this verbal placement of Christ, "you are welcome."
I've subtly brought this up a few times in various groups of Pentecostal people and I have often heard a similar response. The response is to the effect of, "It is a healthy way of maintaining an open attitude towards God." It's a way of letting Him know that we are willing and ready, and that He's welcome to do anything He wants, or welcome to be with us at all times.
While I don't think this is necessarily sinful, I think this language is detrimental to one's faith. Words like, "guest," and "welcome," paint a picture of God looking in from the outside.
I believe a family who hangs that quote on their wall probably feels this is such a radical way to remind ourselves of His presence. One could intend for this to make Him seem more real in our lives. But I propose that it does remind us of His presence, but in a way that is half truth, half lie. The Bible presents God in a much different way.
The Bible says that God knows the number of hairs on our heads. While, to me, this always seemed like a random fact for God to know, I realize that it means something very significant. It means that He is concerned with every cell of our bodies: each new hair, and each hair that has fallen. It implies constant attention to detail.
If you've ever painted a portrait, like me, you'd know that staring at a person's face is a very intimate experience. Even just looking at a picture for long enough has a similar effect. You begin to know every line, every scar, every indent, and these small details tell a story of a person's life. I once painted ten life-size portraits of people I knew, and when I worked on their faces, I felt an emotional connection with each person. Now, this was a commissioned job, and I didn't know these people closely, but by the end of those two weeks, I held a fondness toward them that I'd never felt before. I felt like I knew them even though they never really knew me. I knew their pain and their struggle. A friend of mine joked that after she had finished a portrait of a guy, she was feeling like he should be taking her out to dinner!
Knowing the smallest detail of a person is very intimate. And taking the care to know how many hairs are on a person's head implies a very detailed understanding of a person. God knows the actions of every cell in your body, knows the cause of every sickness... As I've stated earlier in my blog post about God's omniscience, he knows all things instantaneously as they happen. He knows your thoughts, who you are, why you are who you are, and why you do what you do.
Not only does he know all about us to start, the gospel tells us that when we accept Christ, we are grafted into the "tree" as new branches. This implies a constant connection. We also become one with Him in spirit: our old man dies and we become a new person united with Christ. We are His "temple". We become His home. It also says we are adopted as sons and daughters. So we're in His immediate family.
There's so many analogies that scream of a close and constant connection with Him. Psalm 139 tells us that there's nowhere we can go that He is not, and that His thoughts about us are more than the grains of sand on the beach! So not only does he see us, but he's thinking about us always. It says he doesn't sleep!
When I think of all these things, I cannot reduce Christ to a mere guest in my home. I cannot reduce my attitude towards Him to a mere openness and willingness or even a mere daily choice. He's in me, around me, and makes up my very being. He owns me, provides for my housing, my eating, my living, my education. He IS me. We are one.
My first thoughts about this came when I got married to my husband. Imagine if I told him he was welcome in my home. That's silly because we share a home. His home is my home. I wouldn't even say "you're welcome in my bed" because it's our bed to begin with. I don't even think in terms of letting him in because he has access to me always. I've let him in already. If I relate to my husband in more intimate ways than I relate to God, isn't there a problem with how I view God? If my husband is family (and not even blood), but my God is a "guest", isn't that almost an insult? Christ's blood runs through my veins. My husband committed himself to me by making a covenant. Christ committed himself to me by dying and taking the punishment for my sins. Which one is greater?
When I want a close friend to know they are important to me, I don't say "you are a guest", I say, "you are family".
To finish my thoughts, I want to say that family is welcome even when they aren't welcome. They are loved even when they are being difficult. The bond of a family endures much. Christ is welcome even when I'm not so willing and ready. Christ owns me and all that I have. I don't give Him permission to come because it's not my place to. He's a part of me. He's got continual access. I've put my whole trust in Him. I'm completely vulnerable to Him and He does no harm to me. And sons and daughters are not guests. If we are His sons and daughters, then He is our father, and he is no guest at my table. He's family.
