When the teachers of the law who were Pharisees saw him eating with the “sinners” and tax collectors, they asked his disciples: “Why does he eat with tax collectors and ‘sinners’?” – Mark 2:16

Why did the teachers of the law react in such way to Jesus eating with the outcast of the society? I’ve read before that eating together represented whom a person chose to associate with, especially in the cultural context of Mark 2. I think it rings true in our culture too: it matters which friends we spend our lunch break with; whom we choose to have dinner with also has strong relational implications.

I’ve observed in my Korean family, and more so in Asian cultures in general, that the relational significance of sharing a meal together rings even stronger. When you dig into the same pots of food and rice with our individual spoons and chopsticks (when they’re available), you become a family who appreciate the same sweet and saltiness, boiled vegetables and chilli-infused side dishes.

In euFOCUS, we have been wrestling with the puzzle of ‘how do we cross cultures and build a welcoming family-like community?’ It is largely because our community isn’t a community where everyone studies the same, or similar, degrees. Around half of our students are studying at the undergraduate level, while others are enrolled in postgraduate degrees.

We also have to remember that failing subjects are more financially expensive for international students than it is for local students. So it is difficult to retain a constant attendance level at any of our events or small groups when assessments start to pile on.There is diversity in residence too: some live close to the university, while many more live further along the main train lines. When they’re not at home or travelling, most of them are in libraries, studying.

In the midst of such great diversity and legitimate justifications for regular absenteeism, how do we forge a community based on common things?

One innovative strategy our students suggested didn’t seem all that innovative to me in the first instance: they suggested that we all eat together. I think the sentiment was somewhere along the lines of: “Everyone takes time out to eat dinner right? Why don’t we meet together than?”

Then it got me thinking: Jesus ate with those whom he came to save! He ate with the Pharisees, the tax collectors, his disciples, Mary and Martha, let alone feeding the thousands of people who came to listen to his teaching (Matthew 9; Mark 2; Luke 5; Luke 10; Matthew 14; John 6, etc.). Jesus cared about those who were hungry: physically hungry for food, but more importantly, spiritually hungry for the gospel.

So, we are into the third week of sharing dinner together on Thursday nights. We gather and eat together. Then we share a story from the Bible. It’s slow going at the moment, but we pray that God will use this outreach and building strategy to establish new friendships and strengthen existing ones through feeding of physical food, all the while also feeding on the good news of Jesus together.