Text: Romans 15:1-7, Matthew 22:36-40
Therefore welcome one another as Christ has welcomed you, for the glory of God.
– Romans 15:7, ESV
Last year’s office party at the boss’s house. A dinner party under perfectly twinkling lights in a neighbor’s garden. Brunch on a bride’s Southern aunt’s veranda. Hospitality shows up in a lot of ways, but often we imagine a big to-do. It is entertaining at its finest, done best by those with specific giftings, reserved for special occasions.
It’s a shame when we box up hospitality in entertaining. We lose sight of the true spiritual significance behind it, and in doing so we rob ourselves and others of the blessings God intends to come through it.
“In our culture, the concept of hospitality has lost much of its power and is often used in circles where we are more prone to expect a watered down piety than a serious search for authentic Christian spirituality. But still, if there is any concept worth restoring to its original depth and evocative potential, it is the concept of hospitality. It is one of the riches biblical terms that can deepen and broaden our insight in our relationships to our fellow human beings.”
– Henri Nouwen, Reaching Out
The Greek word for hospitality is philoxenos. Phileo meaning “brotherly love,” and xenos for “strangers.” God’s original design for hospitality is extending ourselves in love to strangers. It’s not only hosting dinner parties on special occasions with people we know, but embracing a posture of the heart to welcome even—and especially— those we don’t.
We extend love first. First love, then know.
God Himself extends His life in invitation to us. Jesus Christ was the Ultimate Inviter. He beckoned disciples with a simple “Follow me,” received children by saying “Come to me,” invited strangers to “Walk with me,” and welcomed sinners to the table, saying, “Eat with me.” And then, in extension of glorious invitation, He gave His life on a cross for us. Because of the Cross, our life in Christ opens us up to becoming a people of audacious invitation, too.
The love Jesus gives to us, we pour back out to others. Love for strangers is inviting a new neighbor over for a casual coffee while you fold laundry. It’s knowing the names of the people who bag your groceries. It’s offering the spare room in your house to the young girl trying to figure out what’s next in life. It’s offering encouragement to the young mom in tears with a screaming toddler in the middle of Target. Maybe it’s even inviting her to lunch after she confesses she has no one to help her.
We love because He loves.
We welcome because He welcomed.
We invite because He invited.
We posture our hearts to welcome others in response to the invitation we have been given through the gospel of Jesus Christ.
A life of invitation begins in the soil of a heart cultivated by the love of the Father.
Lord, posture our hearts toward heaven and give us opportunities to extend our lives in invitation. Make us a people who invite others into our lives, because you first invited us into yours.
Logan Wolfram is the Executive Director of Allume who most loves to write, connect, and encourage women. Daughter of a most extravagant and hospitable King, wife to Jeremy, and mother to 2 wild and inquisitive little boys, her days are filled with a combination of routine and plenty of the unexpected.
I needed this! oh how I want to be able to have my home a gathering place for friends, a safe place for women that want to talk…I let needing a clean house and other things scare me away from my hearts desire ….oh Lord help me
I needed this encouragement today as I have been searching in my own heart if I really was showing true hospitality to others.
Reading this made me realize that I live with an incredibly hospitable family. They are a married couple with 2 kids and they invited me to live with them. They actually moved to the city I live in and bought a house with an extra bedroom for me in mind. I was blown away. In a neighborhood that scares me because of crime and gangs, they know every neighbor. They embrace our neighborhood and show love to everyone. They know the mailman, the local police officers who patrol our streets, etc. I love how they are constantly hosting people and inviting others into our house even when it’s chaotic. They generously to give to everyone, even those they don’t know. I pray that I not only learn from them but that I become more like them and in turn more like Christ.
Laura, in reading your reply it made me think of a simpler time. A time when people weren’t staring at their phones for hours each day or trying to cram as much as they could into each day. I enjoyed hearing that such caring people are out there.
I love this! Such a good study. Being hospitable to people you know comes easily… It’s the challenge of being hospitable to strangers that takes knowing God’s love.
Reminds me of a song called “Indiscriminate Act of Kindness” by Foy Vance. I encourage you to listen.
This study is just what I need! I am pretty gifted at putting together little parties or dinners, but it seems that my family never has the extra money for me to be able to. I have felt so bad for a long time, because I would really love to be able to invite people in to our home. This study is showing me that I don’t have to do that in order to be hospitable and be welcoming to those around me. it’s really sad that I allowed myself to fall for what society says I have to do to show hospitality. Thank you for this Bible Study! ♥
What an amazing study! Through God’s grace I have been the recipient of true Christian hospitality at a time when I needed it most. Now that I’m older I have an intense desire to open my heart and home to others is hospitality. This study is definitely a blessing to me, looking forward to reading the rest.
“love first. know second.” good challenge!
This is the line that has stayed with me!
I think the act of hospitality ought to play into political issues as well. Immigration is a big deal right now. It amazes me how many Christians I see hating immigrants and wishing them back to where they came. I think Jesus would have welcomed them with open arms instead.