Contributing to the Needs of the Saints — Practicing Hospitality

June, 2008

by: Pam Nichols

“Contributing to the needs of the saints, practicing hospitality” (Romans 12:13).

When you think of the word hospitality,” do the words “clean house,” “three course meal,” and “perfect home” come to mind? Would you be surprised to know that the word “hospitality” means to be a “lover of strangers?” We are instructed to practice hospitality (Romans 12:13; Heb 13:2; 1 Peter 4:9) and it’s always in the context of loving one another and meeting one another’s needs. There’s no mention of what kind of house you must have nor how refined your culinary skills must be. The only requirement in the Bible for showing hospitality is a heart for people—all people—especially strangers.“Wait a minute!” you might say, “I open my house to my family and friends. Isn’t that practicing hospitality?” Jesus said to his host in Luke 14:12-14:

When you give a luncheon or dinner, do not invite your friends or your brothers or your relatives or your rich neighbors, lest they also invite you in return, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, and you will be blessed, since they do not have the means to repay you; for you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.

Jesus also said in Matthew 25:35:

For I was hungry, and you gave Me something to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me something to drink; I was a stranger, and you invited Me in.

God wants us to practice hospitality. But why? God could meet people’s needs in a variety of ways. Why use us? In his book The Hospitality Command, Alexander Strauch says, “Lonely people within all our neighborhoods need to be reached with Christ’s love. There are single people who need a family’s loving care. There are widows who eat alone every day. There are unpleasant neighbors who are uncomfortable to be around, yet need to be reached. Hospitality could be a means of pointing these people toward the Savior’s love. Do you see the potential of using your home to demonstrate Christ’s love and to win people to the Savior? You don’t have to be a preacher or have years of training to use your home to love and serve needy people. If you just open the doors of your home, the people will come. In the words of William Barclay, “‘Christianity was, and still should be, the religion of the open door.’”

After studying hospitality, I was personally challenged to leave my comfort zone and reach out to people I don’t know. One way I hope to do that is to have people over after church on Sundays as an extension of my worship. May I challenge you, too? Since we give our offerings, our praises, and our attention to the preaching of the Word at church, why don’t we reach out and serve one another with our resources of time by gathering together for fellowship and a meal, all in Jesus’ name! Are you free for lunch?