Hospitality - a starting point for the Gospel

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Our lives are characterized by haste and hurry. We seemingly have no time and are so preoccupied with our own lives that we forget about those around us. But we must make time to tell more people about Jesus. Are we investing our time and possessions in people who haven't yet accepted God's offer of love?

The mission to spread the Gospel

From the very beginning, Christianity was missionary in nature. Before He ascended into heaven, Jesus gave His small group of followers the commission: “ Go therefore and make disciples of all nations ” (Matthew 28:19 or Luke 24:46-48). They eagerly followed this command. In describing this missionary spirit of the first Christians, Michael Green, a professor at Regent College, writes: “The zeal to evangelize, a prominent feature of the first Christians, is one of the most remarkable characteristics in the history of religions. Here were men and women from every social class and profession, from every nation of the known world, so convinced that they had discovered the mystery of the universe, so certain of the one God they had come to know, that nothing could stand in the way of sharing this good news with others.”

Hospitality played a key role in this early spread of Christianity. This was true on two levels: First, the home provided a natural, down-to-earth basis for spreading the message of the Gospel; second, hospitality offered indispensable support for traveling evangelists and teachers.

The home as a beacon for the Gospel

Since they had no temples or priests, the first Christians naturally used their homes for their gatherings. In his extensive, often-cited study *Evangelism of the Early Church*, Michael Green states: "One of the most important methods of the ancient world for spreading the gospel was the use of their private homes." Regarding Aquila and Priscilla's home, Green continues: "Homes like this must have been extraordinarily effective in the evangelistic work of the church."

The well-known Australian couple Robert and Julia Banks, leaders in the worldwide house church movement, emphasize the same point: “It is often forgotten that the Christianity that conquered the Roman Empire was essentially a movement that originated in the homes of its members.” Indeed, the early Christians held all or most of their meetings in their private homes because, as a community, they did not own any buildings. Therefore, it was necessary for members of the churches to make their homes available for meetings.

Thus, the home became a hub for evangelism and teaching. Luke says, “ And they did not cease every day, in the temple and in houses, to teach and to proclaim Jesus as the Christ” (Acts 5:42). Paul, too, used the home as a starting point for proclaiming God’s word. To the elders in Ephesus, Paul could say, “ As I did not withhold anything of what was beneficial from proclaiming it to you and teaching you, both publicly and in houses ” (Acts 20:20; see also Acts 28:23).

The first Gentiles to come to faith did not convert in a cathedral, but in the home of Cornelius. Scripture tells us that Cornelius invited his relatives and friends to hear Peter explain the message of salvation (cf. Acts 10:24). At this event, Cornelius, his family, and his friends were converted. Similarly, Matthew, after giving up his profession to follow Jesus, used his home to evangelize his friends: “ Levi gave him a great feast at his house, and there was a large crowd of tax collectors and others reclining at the table with them ” (Luke 5:29). We should all learn from Matthew and Cornelius to boldly invite friends and neighbors into our homes to hear about Jesus.

Of course, Jesus is the prime example of how people can be reached through the door of hospitality. As the Redeemer of sinners, He gladly accepted the invitations of tax collectors and public sinners (cf. Mark 2:16 and Luke 15:12 and 19:1-10). However, the religious leaders of His time had closed their doors to such people lest they become religiously impure.

Our home as a place of evangelization

For the first Christians, the private home was the most natural setting for sharing Jesus with their families, neighbors, and friends. This remains true today. If you and/or your local church are looking for ways to evangelize, opening your home is one of the best methods for reaching lost people. However, most of us don't use our homes as we should to reach neighbors, friends, and relatives. Tragically, many of us don't even know our neighbors. Yet, through hospitality, we can get to know them and be a light in spiritually dark neighborhoods.

Inviting neighbors and friends to our homes for a meal provides the perfect atmosphere to share the Gospel. Our Lord effectively used table conversations to draw people into spiritual discussions and bring about life-changing encounters (see Luke 7:36-50, 11:37-54, and 14:1-24). The Gospel itself is God's invitation to enjoy fellowship and a bountiful feast in eternity (see Luke 14:16-24 and John 14:2-3).

Evangelistic home Bible study groups are also a very effective way to reach people because the atmosphere is non-threatening, informal, comfortable, relaxed, and personal. Furthermore, it's easy to have longer conversations after the Bible study, which is often not possible in church on Sunday mornings.

A practical example

If we would only open our eyes, we could see that there are plenty of opportunities to use our homes to reach friends and neighbors with the gospel. God is pleased when we use our homes to do great things. The founder of Navigators, Dawson Trotman, for example, used his home to lead many soldiers to Christ. After several years of generously hosting sailors, he could say that soldiers from every state in the United States had come to Christ in his living room.

In his book *Evangelism: A Lifestyle*, Jim Petersen tells an interesting story about a Brazilian man named Mario, with whom he had read the Bible for four years before the young man became a Christian. Mario had been a Marxist intellectual and political activist—someone one wouldn't expect to be open to Christianity. Several years after his conversion, Mario asked Jim if he knew what had led him to choose Jesus. Jim thought it might have been the many hours of intellectual discussion about Scripture, but Mario gave this answer:

“Do you remember the first time I visited you? We went to some restaurant together, and I had a bowl of soup with you and your family. As I sat there watching you, your wife and children, and how you interacted, I wondered: When will I have such a relationship with my fiancée? When I realized that the answer was never, I concluded that I would have to become a Christian simply to survive.”

Showing care and love to non-Christians by inviting them into our homes is a powerful magnet that draws people to Christ. Petersen also quotes Bo Smith, a professor at Bethel College who works with Muslims: “Ninety percent of evangelism is love. Sharing our homes with others is among the most loving, remarkable things we can do to better communicate the message of Christ’s love.”

However, to use our home effectively, we need to broaden our understanding of hospitality. When we think of hospitality, we usually picture fellowship with close friends and family. Because we are closest to these people, we naturally want to invite them into our homes. Our Lord acknowledges this closeness, but also calls us to expand the circle to include unrelated and needy people.

“ He also said to the one who had invited him, ‘When you give a luncheon or a dinner, do not invite your friends, your brothers, your relatives, or your rich neighbors, lest they also invite you and you be repaid. But when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, and the blind. And you will be blessed, because they have nothing to repay you, for you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous ’” (Luke 14:12-14).

Hospitality as a service

There is nothing wrong with eating with friends and relatives. It is even important for maintaining family relationships and friendships. Our Lord Himself enjoyed eating with close friends and loved ones. He loved visiting the home of Mary, Martha, and Lazarus, for example (cf. Luke 10:38-42). But Jesus was especially known for eating with unwanted, unknown, and non-religious people (cf. Luke 19:1-10). And in Luke 14, Jesus taught His disciples to welcome the unwelcome. Jesus said, “ Open your home to the neglected, the lonely, and those whom no one else invites .”

For this reason, the practice of Christian hospitality truly differs from ordinary hospitality, because it extends itself to the unwanted, the needy, who cannot reciprocate. Many people practice hospitality only to fulfill their own social needs. Sometimes it is a self-aggrandizing display to impress others with their home or their hospitality skills. Christian hospitality, on the other hand, is a humble, sacrificial service.

We all naturally want to have distinguished and charming guests, but Jesus says that we should invite the poor and sick, who cannot reciprocate. I wonder if we truly understand what our Lord is trying to convey in Luke 14. The late Francis Schaeffer and his wife Edith certainly did. They opened their home (L'Abri Fellowship) to all whom the Lord sent to them. They cared for people struggling with drug addiction and mental illness, as well as those who had questions and were seeking spiritual guidance. Through their home and the L'Abri community, they served people from every walk of life and from all over the world.

Lonely people in our neighborhoods need to be reached with Christ's love. There are single people who need the loving care of a family. There are widows who eat alone every day. There are unpleasant neighbors whom one doesn't like to have around, but who urgently need to be reached. There are refugees who need temporary shelter before they find permanent accommodation. Hospitality could be the instrument to point these people to the Savior's love.

Recognize the potential of using your home to demonstrate Christ's love and win people for the Savior. You don't need to be a preacher or have years of training to use your home to love and serve those in need. If you simply open your doors, people will come. To quote William Barclay, "Christianity was, and should still be, the religion of the open door."

Brotherly love and hospitality

The topic of hospitality evokes fear in many. It raises many uncomfortable questions. When they hear about their obligation to practice hospitality, most Christians find a host of creative excuses for why they cannot fulfill this duty. And yet, there is a call for Christians to practice hospitality. In *Testimonies of Love*, one of the best studies on the biblical doctrine of love, Dr. Leon Morris, former superior of Ridley College in Melbourne, Australia, writes:

“Hospitality was clearly highly valued, as can be seen from the number of exhortations to practice it. I am convinced that only through the study of the living, life-giving, life-changing Word of God can we hope to overcome our fears, excuses, and apathy regarding hospitality. Only the power of the Word and the Spirit can convince us that hospitality is an essential part of a healthy Christian life and move us to action.”

Paul commands the Christians in Rome to practice hospitality: “ Share with the saints in their needs; show hospitality to others ” (Romans 12:13). To fully grasp the significance of this brief exhortation, we must examine the wider context in which it appears, beginning with Romans 12:1-2. Here, Paul encourages the Christians to offer themselves to God as living sacrifices, not conforming to the evil of this world, but transformed by the renewing of their minds, which recognize God’s will.

“ Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, which is your true and proper worship. Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will. ”

Immediately following these challenging verses on personal devotion, Paul makes specific statements that explain what it practically means in daily life to have a renewed mind and to live according to God's will.

First, Paul speaks of humility and the exercise of spiritual gifts (verses 3-8). Next, he presents a series of short exhortations on the theme of love: “ Love must be sincere [...] Be affectionate towards one another in brotherly love ” (verses 9-10a). The Bible commentator Charles E.B. Cranfield suggests the heading for verses 9-13: Love in Action or The Signs of Love. The reminder to practice hospitality thus appears in the context of love and the sacrificial Christian life. Love and hospitality always belong together.

Practicing hospitality with love towards everyone

As brothers and sisters in Christ, we are to be a close-knit family. We are to spend time together, love one another, and care for one another. We cannot do this if our doors remain closed. Hospitality, therefore, is a beautiful expression of our transformed lives, lives completely surrendered to God. Let us also not overlook the fact that verses 9-13 are Spirit-inspired commandments that every Christian in every culture is to follow. The New Testament nowhere suggests that only certain people or cultures have the capacity to be hospitable.

On the contrary, it demonstrates hospitality as an essential part of brotherly and sisterly love and Christian fellowship. Since we are commanded to love one another as Christ loved us, it should not surprise us that the New Testament exhorts us to be hospitable. This is something all Christians should do in obedience to God. Helga Henry, the wife of the author and theologian Carl F.H. Henry, expresses this unequivocally: “Christian hospitality is not something one can choose; it is not a matter of money; it is not a matter of age, social standing, gender, or personality. Christian hospitality is a matter of obedience to God.”

In his commentary, Richard C.H. Lenski writes: “Regarding hospitality: Pursue it! […] Hospitality should be pursued in the truest sense of the word, like hunting an animal and taking pleasure in bringing home the prey.” Many other commentators emphasize this idea of actively pursuing hospitality. Godet observes: “We should even seek out opportunities to practice it.”

John Murray writes: “We are to be active in the pursuit of hospitality and not merely—perhaps even reluctantly—offer it […] when necessity makes it unavoidable.” Robert Haldane, one of the great commentators on Romans, writes: “Here we are not only instructed to practice hospitality, but—according to the meaning of the original text—to pursue or seek it. Christians are to look for opportunities to show love for their brothers and sisters in this way.”

Please allow me to ask the following questions: Do you eagerly seek opportunities to practice hospitality, or is it something you only do on holidays and special occasions? Do you understand the important role of hospitality within the Christian community? Do you see the connection between brotherly love and hospitality? Only when we understand that the Spirit of God calls us to practice hospitality will we be sufficiently motivated to sacrificially open our homes to others.

Enjoy practicing hospitality

The connection between Christian love and hospitality is emphasized even more clearly in 1 Peter 4 than in Romans 12: “ Above all, love one another deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins. Offer hospitality to one another without grumbling. As each of you has received a gift, use it to serve one another as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms ” (1 Peter 4:8-10).

The Christians to whom Peter is writing here suffered bitter persecution (cf. 1 Peter 4:12-19). In the face of pagan hostility, Peter knows that deep love and unity among Christians are of great importance for remaining preserved in the harsh storms of persecution. Therefore, Peter urges his brothers and sisters to have lasting love for one another (verse 8).

The Greek word for enduring conveys the idea of seriousness, sustained effort, or determination. Cranfield cautions: “ Enduring perhaps gives the wrong nuance; for it might suggest that the emphasis is on the warmth of feeling, although the Greek word it represents rather suggests the taut muscle of strenuous and sustained effort, as in an athlete. It suggests a certain tenacity of love, love that endures.”

As Christians, we should therefore devote ourselves fully to loving one another. A very practical way to express our love is through hospitality. Hospitality fans the flames of love. It fosters and sustains love. It enriches and deepens agape love. It renews love. That is why Peter's exhortation to love fervently is naturally followed by the commandment to gladly practice hospitality.

It is important to understand what kind of command Peter is giving here. The command to practice hospitality (verse 8) is one of many commandments about one another in the New Testament. Christians are encouraged to love one another, to pray for one another, to serve one another, to admonish one another, to build one another up, to care for one another, to carry one another's burdens, and here, to be hospitable to one another. The reciprocal pronoun "one another" in this verse indicates that Peter is referring to the general hospitality Christians extend to one another, not just to traveling Christians or teachers. He is speaking here of everyday hospitality.

Since we are “each a member of one another ” (Romans 12:5), we should all practice the love and care of Jesus Christ toward one another. This is part of life in the body of Christ. It is part of the dynamic, reciprocal relationship that exists between the members of the body of Christ. Therefore, members of the Christian community should practice hospitality toward one another.

In the so-called Brethren movement, which arose in England in the last century, Peter's exhortation to be hospitable to one another was taken very seriously. Nathan Smith, in a historical treatise on the Brethren movement, which is particularly associated with the famous man of faith and orphanage director George Müller (1805-1898), writes: "They freely visited one another in their homes and often met for meals and fellowship. In the early days, they became known as those who gave up everything and showed hospitality to all people. This last characteristic is still essentially true, for the Brethren are known as people who practice hospitality."

How sad that not all Christian movements, denominations, and local churches are known for their generous, loving hospitality. Often, only a few families within a local church ever practice hospitality. Unfortunately, many Christians are not truly aware of the amount of love and fellowship that is lost when only one or two families in the local church practice hospitality. Scripture exhorts all members of the church to be hospitable so that they may fully participate in the life of the body of Christ.

Alexander Strauch

There 's room in the smallest hut – On the blessing of hospitality , Christian Publishing Company Dillenburg