#10 Hospitality
Biblical acceptance of others into our lives is more than a welcome mat at the front door
“Seek to show hospitality” (Romans 12:13)
Idea #10 demonstrates a longstanding biblical commitment to “the stranger”
SO WHAT? Getting attention, interest, “buy in”
“Porching” became a verb around Indianapolis when Joanna Taft (Executive Director, Harrison Center for the Arts) promoted the idea of front-porch entertaining in neighborhoods around Indianapolis. Inviting near-neighbors for food and drink is a great way to practice WELCOME.
Being “hospitable” in the Bible is much more than reciprocating a meal invitation. The Greek word literally means “friend of the stranger,” a definition that in the ancient world demanded more than a welcome mat at the front door.
Travel in the ancient world was difficult. Most everyone would need to walk which necessitated washing and deodorizing upon entry to a person’s home. [The perfect example of such service is Jesus’ washing the disciples’ feet in John 13.] First Testament teaching about love for strangers is the basis for “philoxenia” (Deut 10:18-19). We are not to “fear the stranger” (xenophobia) but “seek to show hospitality” (Rom 12:13); as Hebrews 13:2 suggests, who knows but that we may “entertain angels unawares” (Abraham’s lesson in Genesis 18 is ours, the basis for the iconic picture here).
WHO CARES? Relation to student, potential applications
My mom is an exceptional example of hospitality. She has folks in her home for coffee and meals all the time. You may know someone like mom who would be the perfect person to talk about hospitality in your neighborhood.
Alpha Bible Study Program is based on food! That’s right! Hospitality around eating brings folks together to study God’s Word.
My Neurodiversity article with a focus on Autism in Christian Scholars Review (August 2020) is focuses not on how people are different but how everyone is unique, seeing folks not as strangers but as neighbors.
Charity – Humility in Argumentative Writing
Don’t miss my review of Charitable Writing and check out my two, six-minute videos on “Charity” and “Humility” created for public university students in a course I teach entitled “Argumentative Writing”
And what better testimony than that of Rosaria Butterfield. A once tenured Women’s Studies professor at Syracuse University and LGBTQ+ advocate explains that hospitality brought her to a saving faith in Jesus. Check out her book The Gospel Comes with a House Key.
Political hospitality is necessary between Progressives and Conservatives. Read / Watch our Truth in Two
Also see my comments via “Thoughtful Christians in Culture” #7 on politics in our a video series
And don’t miss my seventh review of Dreher’s Live Not By Lies where I discuss “doing good” as an attraction to the gospel for the public at large.
There are many ideas for bringing people together: Book Clubs, Movie Clubs, and even an English podcast series entitled “About Story” at public university (a series I started at IUPUI).
WHY SHOULD I? Reasons for investing time, thought
The air of superiority – outsiders saw Jesus’ preeminence and bowed to it. He did not cajole people into His point of view. Jesus’ line “he who has ears to hear, let him hear” is an imperative to leave it with the listener. Within The Church we parakaleo (encourage-exhort) bearing biblical responsibility to exacting assumptions, doctrines, and principles. Outside The Church we speak timeless truths, allowing The Spirit to do what He was sent to do “convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment” (john 16:8). Inside The Church we speak of The preeminence of Christ. Outside The Church we speak of the distinctiveness of Christ.
We Christ followers operate in the “so that’s” of Titus 2:1-10. We live our faith before our local communities “so that the Word of God may not be reviled,” “so that an opponent may be put to shame, not having anything evil to say about us,” “so that we might make the doctrine of God our Savior attractive.” Our attraction is not accommodation for, collusion with, acquiescence to, or acceptance of cultural idols. No, our attraction is how we live. People will not like me and may well hate my point of view. My job is not to convince anyone outside The Church. My responsibility to my Lord is to “walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which I have been called, with all gentleness and humility” (Eph 4:1-2). I speak “the truth in love” not “tossed by every wind of doctrine” while demonstrating “their rock is not like our Rock” (Deut 32:31).
HOW DO I? Ways to be involved
Church History supplies examples (the following excerpts are from the links)
Benedictine Rule: In Benedict’s vision—expressed in the prologue to his Rule—the community is a “school of the Lord’s service,” an “institution of which we hope we are going to establish nothing harsh, nothing burdensome.” Despite emphasizing the renunciation of worldly pursuits and devotion to spiritual work, Benedict promoted hospitality to outsiders. The Rule makes provision for outsiders’ arrival: “Let all guests that happen to come be received as Christ.” Service to guests and the poor was a key part of the monastic life (see p. 15 for more details from the Rule).
Benedictines and Beer: Before she became the reformer Martin Luther’s wife, Katharinevon Bora was in the beer-brewing business—as a Benedictine nun. Yes, Benedictines were once famous for their beer. In the Middle Ages, beer was a staple for most people. Monks in particular needed the nutritional benefits of beer because of the fasting they did. So in the seventh and eighth centuries, they began brewing their own and eventually developed advanced methods of beer-making. A brewery required up to 100 monk workers.
Combine Benedictine beer with Benedictine hospitality and you get pubs! Important guests were given celia, made from hops (a type of flower) and barley, and pilgrims drank cervisa, made of wheat, oats, and hops. Some Benedictine monasteries are still brewing—the German beer Andechs, for instance. But we mustn’t forget what St. Benedict said about drinking: “Let us at least agree to drink sparingly, and not to satiety.”
Benedictines and Hospice Welcoming the stranger
More Benedictine Rules on Hospitality and the stranger
Dorothy Day’s Rule of Life
WHO SAYS? Authority, standard, influence
In 1 Timothy 3:2, 7 episcopas is an administrative term focused on leadership, which is called kalon ergon (a noble task, a beautiful work) a good activity (epithymeo a positive desire); not simply a function but born of the interiority of the person, the attributes, characteristics noted in the list to follow. Paul is concerned that Timothy remember the public nature of The Church; in chapter 2, vv 1-4 he is concerned for “all people” to pray for them that they might “be saved and come to a knowledge of the truth” that we might live a peaceful and quiety life, godly and dignified in every way. This is good and is pleasing in the sight of God our Savior. Eusebia (“godliness” in Scripture) is a civil virtue which combines the inner and outer spheres of life (2:2; 3:16; 4:7, 8; 6:3, 5, 6, 11).
Church leadership in particular bears responsibility to demonstrate the virtue (1 Tim 3:2; Titus 1:8), as does the widow (1 Tim 5:10), but is to be practiced by all Christians “without grumbling” (1 Pet 4:9). Who are “strangers” and what “friendship” should be shown them? The application may vary among us. As an academic, I am concerned with the “hospitality of ideas,” hearing other points of view. As a church member, I care for fellow believers as I am able. As a citizen of my neighborhood and my country, the friendship I extend to strangers is a demonstration of what Paul calls a “beautiful work” (1 Tim 3:1, 2), an explanation of leadership.
Additional Resources. The Conversation Exchange encourages open dialogue. David I. Smith, The Spirit of the Foreign Language Classroom (Kuyers). David I. Smith, The Gift of the Stranger: Faith, Hospitality, and Foreign Language Learning. David I. Smith, Learning from the Stranger: Christian Faith and Cultural Diversity. (Kuyers).