The Art of Biblical Hospitality

Contribute to the needs of the saints and seek to show hospitality. (Romans 12:13, ESV)

The Lord taught me the value of the biblical practice of hospitality. I learned this not through a book, but rather through family - Aunt Martha and Uncle John, my wife’s aunt and uncle, who live in east-central Ohio.

A little about hospitality...the directive from the Lord to show hospitality to others is interwoven throughout the entire Bible. There can be no doubt that hospitality is something Christians are to practice. However, there’s some misunderstanding about the hospitality motif in Scripture. Many assume that hospitality is kindness and compassion shown to strangers. They assume this because the hospitality motif is usually connected with words like stranger (xenos) and alien (paroikos ). Yet Romans 12:13 makes it clear that hospitality is something we also show to those we know - our brothers and sisters in Christ.

This week I saw the art of hospitality on full display.

The love, kinship, and comfort I felt in Martha and John’s home demonstrated well the clarion call of the Gospel to love one’s neighbor as one’s self.

When we arrived, a loving greeting at the door said, “Come on in, you’re home.” A warm bed waiting on us said, “You have shelter and comfort here as long as you need it.” Delicious meals prepared with love likewise said, “You’ll never go hungry in this home.” Kindness and gentleness seen everyday in the little things said, “We care about every aspect of your life, even the minute details. You’re important to us.” And tears as we left for Georgia clearly conveyed the message to me and my family that, “You’re a part of the family, and there will be a void when you depart. Things won’t be the same without you.”

The messages conveyed through their hospitality reminded me of the necessity of every believer to demonstrate hospitality to those in need.

Hospitality is the Gospel in action, and it’s the Gospel lived out before a hurting and confused world. There's a whole lot of people who desperately need to experience these sames messages through hospitality right now. 

While some have the gift of hospitality, all of us called to the ministry of hospitality. None of us are exempt from living out the Gospel through hospitality.

Remember these truths, friends:

There are many people around you who need love, friendship, support, and even, perhaps, a place to belong.

Let’s be intentional about cultivating the art of hospitality. Open your heart and home to others. Invite guests over and love on them, or take them out to dinner and pick up the tab. Look for ways that you can make people feel at home in your home. Let the Gospel break down barriers so that love and kindness may be the culture of your home.

Hospitality can be inconvenient.

Even for people who love to have others in their home, hospitality involves hard work and lots of stress. But God commands us to practice the gracious art of hospitality because the practice strikes at the root of the gospel. It reminds us that God is all about meeting needs—the greatest need being salvation. He shared what he had, his Son, with us. On a daily basis, he shares kindness , gentleness, compassion, and comfort with us. And He asks that no less of us here on earth.

There are people in your circle of influence who are weary, tired, broken, and in need of a trip to a well filled with living water and kind of love only the Gospel can provide.

Lettie Cowman, author of Streams in the Dessert said,

God provides resting places as well as working places. Rest, then, and be thankful when He brings you, wearied, to a wayside well.  

The question isn't whether or not people in need of hospitality exist; the question is whether or not we’ll slow down enough to recognize these people and respond in a way that the Gospel requires.

Hospitality is a privilege, not a burden. It’s a high calling, not a menial task.

Hospitality is biblically relevant for our day, not obsolescent. We should view any opportunity to show hospitality as a sacred privilege, not a drudging duty (1 Pet. 4:9).

You never know how your demonstration of hospitality might affect someone else’s life.

After a busy couple of weeks, I was tired when I arrived at Martha and John’s Ohio farmhouse, in need a break from the world. But today I’m headed home, rested, relaxed, and thankful for the beautiful portrait of the Gospel they drew on the canvas of my heart this past week.

I can only imagine what rewards are in store for selfless and giving people like John and Martha! Jesus Himself told us what such people will one day hear:

“Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world” (Matthew 25:34, ESV).

Then every act of hospitality performed by John and Martha will be accounted for before their eyes, as Christ our Lord reminds them of the real object of their servanthood:

“Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me” (Matthew 25:40, ESV).