ELIELIZABETH STEELE|GUEST

Our God is a God of hospitality. We see this throughout Scripture, from the Garden of Eden where God our Father provided for His beloved children a place for them to live and food to eat, to the book of Revelation where He prepares the marriage feast of the Lamb to welcome His beloved Bride home. Even though we were strangers and aliens, our Father made a way for us to know Him and be His children. That’s the very premise of Christianity: we have been lavishly welcomed by Christ through the Good News of the Gospel. And He calls us to extend the same hospitality to others. The Apostle Paul gave very direct instructions to the brand-new Christians in Rome when he wrote in Romans 15:7, “Therefore, welcome one another as Christ has welcomed you, for the glory of God.”

What does it Mean to be Hospitable?

The Greek word for hospitality is philoxenia. We are familiar with “philo” or “phila” meaning “the kind of love between friends.” Xenia means “foreigner or one you do not know.” Together they mean “to give the love of friendship to a person that we do not know.” Does that sound like a very natural thing to do? Not likely! In fact, showing love to people we do not know can be a very difficult thing.

The root word of hospitality is, indeed, hospital. In this place, we find strangers caring for the physical needs of other strangers. People are fed, clothed in hospital gowns, bandaged, operated upon, and given around-the-clock care in order to heal. And I know that you’ve heard many times that the church SHOULD BE a place where the wounded are cared for and welcomed. The church should, in essence, be a hospital—a place where strangers receive care—that is, care for their souls.

Welcome Strangers

We are going to look at some key Scriptures that teach us a biblical view of hospitality, and we will begin with Hebrews 13:2: “Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for thereby some have entertained angels unaware.”

Here’s a question: have you ever visited a church, and no one spoke to you? If so, how did it make you feel? I have, and it has left a lasting impression on me. It really was a terrible feeling because I know the church is supposed to be a family. Families see each other, care for each other, and attend to each other’s needs—similarly to what happens in a hospital. So, when strangers visit a church and no one talks to them, we as a church fail to extend the hospitality the Lord has given to us. When a new family isn’t welcomed and connected to the ministries of the church, we are telling them the church—and by extension, the Gospel—is only for specific people, not them.

Show Hospitality without Grumbling

My second challenge will be piggybacking on welcoming strangers. In this, we will look at the Apostle Peter making a very simple statement to the Christians in Asia Minor, “Keep loving one another earnestly, since love covers a multitude of sins. Show hospitality to one another without grumbling. As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another” (1 Peter 4:8-10).

Well, that’s a zinger. Now this might hit a nerve with you, because it certainly hits a nerve with me. I have done my fair share of grumbling about hospitality, so much so I could teach a whole conference on it. But the Holy Spirit steps on my toes when I consider Peter’s admonition to his audience. They were a group of new churches in a brand-new religion called Christianity, and he was calling them to love each other by NOT GRUMBLING about serving each other.

I live in the South, a place where we often put on the face of proper Southern ladies and do not grumble in the presence of polite company. But we sure do grumble in our hearts and in our minds, don’t we? And then furthermore, we will often grumble to our spouse and our closest circle of friends when we are out of earshot of others.

The very premise of showing hospitality to each other without complaining is because of our love for one another. Out of His great love for us, Christ bore the cross all the way to Calvary. And when we think of His perfect and tremendous sacrifice, it helps us to NOT complain about serving each other. We have received more than we could have ever hoped for in our salvation, and because we are redeemed people, we can walk out Christ’s calling on our lives to practice hospitality without grumbling. Jesus’ sacrificial love for us at the cross is the model for how we are to serve one another.

Hospitality vs. Entertaining

Hospitality is a privilege that we often turn into a burden. The number one reason that hospitality becomes burdensome is that many of us think of it as entertainment. And don’t get me wrong, entertainment has its place, and it can be lovely to do. But entertaining people and practicing hospitality are not the same thing because entertaining is an event and hospitality is a ministry.

In the words of Mary Lentz, “Entertaining is optional, hospitality is commanded. Entertaining fulfills a social need. Hospitality meets the needs of others. Entertaining sees people. Hospitality sees souls. Entertaining is often fun and hospitality is often inconvenient. Entertaining and hospitality may look similar on the surface but hospitality is different because it is a ministry of the heart and home.”

What is the key to practicing hospitality? I’d say the key is to use the KISS principle:

Keep
It
Simple
Saints

Folks will never be hospitable if they over-complicate it.

I am not giving you a prescription for hospitality because it is going to look different for each of us according to our context. If the Lord has given you a home with a table in it. Use it for His glory. The Lord has given you a grocery budget, use it for His glory. The Lord may have given you extra money that you can bless others with by meeting their need, use it for His glory. If you have the ability to order pizza and pick up paper plates, you can use that for His glory. You will be keeping it simple and fulfilling God’s call on the Christian life.

The Fruit of Hospitality

I will close with a story near and dear to my heart. This is the story of Grady and Esther Brewer. They were an older couple in their early 70’s living in suburban Provo, Utah. Mr. and Mrs. Brewer were the only non-Mormon couple living on their street.  But they were committed believers who loved Jesus and wanted to share Christ with their neighbors. So, they had an open-door policy with all the many, many Mormon children on that street. Those children knew that the Brewers would welcome them into their kitchen for popsicles and Oreos anytime they knocked with a smile on their face. Naturally, the children on that street wanted to be there; it was a safe and loving environment. After several years of providing snacks and drinks to these kids, the Brewers issued an invitation to the children to come to Vacation Bible School with them.

As you can imagine, the parents on the street were not very receptive to this invitation from the Brewers. But there was one mom who allowed her children to go. She was a tired mom who didn’t mind getting a break from her children for a bit, and the Brewers had been such kind neighbors that she had no worries about sending her children with them for a few hours each morning. What could go wrong? Well, as it would happen, these Mormon children would hear the Good News of the gospel that week. And they would invite their parents to the closing program of VBS on a Sunday evening. And those Mormon parents would come and hear that THEY needed the grace that was offered to them in Christ, and all their good works could not get them into heaven. So, in the end, an entire family- parents and children- would come to know Christ through this. Grady and Esther Brewer made the very cheap investment of popsicles and Oreos for neighborhood children, and their gift of everyday, non-fussy hospitality turned into eternal life for six people.

One of those Mormon kids would grow up, and I would marry him. The Lord had planned that this Latter-Day Saint would one day also be called into ministry to preach the Good News to others.

I will not meet Grady and Esther Brewer until I get to glory one day. But I cannot wait to hug them and thank them for their investment of everyday hospitality that resulted in salvation for the Steele family. Their willingness to receive neighbors into their home has now affected three generations.

We are all called to practice hospitality as part of building the kingdom. So, grab a hammer, a spatula, or a bag of popsicles. Let us welcome others in as Christ has welcomed us. What a privilege!

Photo by Daria ♡ on Unsplash