November 22, 2025 – Hospitality

What is Hospitality?

I enjoy having a full house.  Give me a crowded table, good food, endless coffee, and noisy conversations.  It brings me joy, it stretches my patience, it pushes me to lean on Jesus for strength.  But having a discussion about hospitality is more than the food, visiting, and coffee (though that is part of it).  Hospitality is love of strangers, in its most basic form.  According to “GotQuestions.org” it is “the quality or disposition of receiving and treating guests and strangers in a warm, friendly, generous way.” This love of strangers and love of the brothers expresses itself in hospitality.  It is a generosity with our money, possessions, and time that flows from a desire to care for someone in God’s strength.  Romans 12:9-13 (LSB)  “Let love be without hypocrisy—by abhorring what is evil, clinging to what is good,being devoted to one another in brotherly love, giving preference to one another in honor,not lagging behind in diligence, being fervent in spirit, serving the Lord,rejoicing in hope, persevering in affliction, being devoted to prayer,contributing to the needs of the saints, pursuing hospitality.” These verses lay out a beautiful description of biblical love that culminates in hospitality.  Being devoted to one another, giving preference to one another, serving the Lord, rejoicing, persevering in affliction, praying, contributing to the needs of your fellow believers, pursuing hospitality.

The Motivation for Hospitality.

Our pursuit of hospitality shows our love for the brethren and strangers.  But even more so, in showing hospitality we are actually loving God.  “And the King will answer and say to them,’Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did it to one of these brothers of Mine, even the least of them, you did it to Me.’ Matthew 25:40 (LSB).   Our obedience to His command to show hospitality is a direct reflection of our understanding that we are not serving the person in front of us, but rather, we are serving our Sovereign God.  He planned out the good works for us to do.  He is the One to receive all glory when we obey in this way.  Our motivation to obey Him must override our natural preference for ease or convenience.  We must overcome our natural desire for selfishness and independence.  When we are motivated by love for God, we begin to see our money, possessions, and time for what they really are.  Not mine to do with as I please, but His to direct and command me as He pleases.  It pleases Him to place us in the body of Christ and give us instructions in building unity and love for each other.   Romans 12:9-13 gives us the framework of this concept of love.  Hopefully I can help you by clarifying the practical outworking.

Hospitality is not optional.

I think the only way I can really explain how to practice hospitality is by showing you when hospitality has gone wrong.  Maybe you have been to someone’s house who had the mistaken idea that hospitality was not her “gift”.  You walked in and could tell you were the inconvenience that they felt obligated to deal with.  You sat down and discovered you were in for a rough time.  You had to drag the conversation along and felt like they just wanted to get this over with from the beginning.  After a brief visit you were made to understand that it was time to go and she was busy.  You left thirsty, literally and figuratively, not knowing whether the person meant to invite you over or if you went to the wrong house.  This might sound a little extreme but it is not so far from reality.  Hospitality seems like an optional or specialty gift that does not include everyone.  After all, if God meant for everyone to show hospitality, wouldn’t He give us all a big house, lots of money, and an open schedule?  Fortunately, that is not how it works.  God commands all believers to pursue hospitality.  It is not dependent on your home or wallet or personality.  We know this to be true because on the flip side of the inhospitable home, you may have been blessed to experience a home where you were welcomed in wholeheartedly.  You were made to feel at ease because you could tell you were wanted, and expected to be there.  You were made to understand that they wanted to share whatever they had with you.  You left feeling encouraged in the Lord and filled with joy.  The size of their house didn’t come into the equation at all!  God equips us to be hospitable because God is the One who gives us everything we have to begin with.  When we give someone money for an unexpected hardship, we are giving something that was God’s blessing to us.  When we share our food with someone, the same truth applies.  When we are generous, it is from God. 

But….

But I have no money to spare! But I have a tiny house! But I have no time! But I have anxiety about people being in my home! But I don’t do people! But I have enough friends!  Does that pretty much sum it up?  There could be more, but let’s move on to the solution.  Hospitality does not have to be expensive, terrifying, or tedious.  Remember, we are sharing what GOD has given to us.  If you truly have no money to spend on anything extra, then invite people in to whatever you already have.  If you eat beans and rice everyday, invite someone to eat beans and rice with you.  If you are truly terrified of having people in your private home, start with a few people that you can trust and you know will not be terrifying to talk to for a few hours.  Start small but don’t stay small.  Stretch yourself to include one new person that you haven’t talked to very much.  Before you know it, you will be depending on God to help you in everything, including the fear of man.  If you truly live in a postage stamp of a house, then only invite one or two people over at a time.  Maybe God is calling you to minister to the widows or college students far from home.  If you truly have no desire to know people or be friendly and generous, examine your heart to make sure you are of the faith.  1 John 3:14 (LSB) “We know that we have passed out of death into life, because we love the brothers. The one who does not love abides in death.”

Key to Hospitality.

If we boil down the qualities of a hospitable person to one thing, it would have to be a genuine desire to know and care for others, all motivated by love for God.  When our desire is focused on loving others, it will become easier to pay attention to the needs of the saints, to give preference to the other person, to be devoted to prayer for that person, to show them honor, and to pursue hospitality towards them.   Our thoughts cannot be on ourselves or how much we are sacrificing in love for others.  “And my God will fulfill all my needs according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus.” Philipians 4:19 (LSB).  If we don’t do hospitality, we are saying that God has not provided for us so we cannot be generous.  We know this is not true so we must die to self and be others focused.