Mealtime Stories

Royal Priesthood, Holy Nation                                          Acts 1:4

Mealtime Stories

by Robert T. Cooper

Have you noticed how many of your family stories center around mealtime or around food? One of the earliest family stories about me has to do with me getting seconds on potatoes at lunch at school. Then there is the story about my dad and the raisin pie.

It’s been like that throughout history. We know about the time the Earl of Sandwich was playing cards. We know what Marie Antoinette thought about people eating cake. And a whole lot of Bible stories center around mealtime or around food as well.

Here we are in the first paragraph of Acts (well, the original manuscripts didn’t have paragraphs, but we are at the very beginning anyway) and Luke is about to quote something Jesus said in the 40 days between the Resurrection and the Ascension. He wants to help people remember which appearance during that period it was, and so he says that it was on one of the occasions when Jesus was eating with the Apostles. Like that is going to narrow it down a little! Not!

My point is this: Jesus did so much teaching at mealtimes because people learn well in that atmosphere. Think about it.

1.      People tend to be relaxed when they are eating, and so are more teachable.

2.      Because people are busy eating, they will chew and listen while you are making your points, especially if what you say is interesting to them.

3.      Because people are used to conversing at mealtimes, they will ask questions and have discussions as part of your lesson plan at a meal.

4.      You can build a structure where the lesson is the length of the meal, with a life-application assignment to get up and go do immediately following the meal.

So whether you are a parent, a teacher, a mentor, a student, a church member, a disciple, a team leader, or just an ordinary person, pay attention when you are at meals. You may be in a lesson situation. Take advantage of the opportunities to teach and to learn.

Question: What are some of your family stories that center around mealtime or around food? How can you apply this idea of sometimes making a mealtime a learning situation?