Hospitality Part 3

Hospitality Towards Other Believers

The agape (unconditional love) that we are to show to others always implies hospitality (filozenia).(1) Another type of love that we are to exhibit is referred to as “love for each other” (filadelfia). The connection between filadelfia (love for each other) and filozenia (hospitality) is striking and is a reminder that although a particular Christian might be a stranger to us, he or she is still a brother/sister and should be treated as such.(2) This is not a recommendation to host people at our homes who we know (although that is a good idea) but to host fellow believers who we don’t know. When was the last time you opened your home to such a person?

We might hear an objection to strong emphasis on hospitality today because of the extreme need for hospitality in bible times. People who failed to receive hospitality could face death because of a lack of hotels/hospitals and so on. Travelling conditions were quite different. However perhaps there are such clear injunctions in the bible, not simply because it was practical, but because it had spiritual value in its own right.(3)

There is a significant problem in both the church and wider culture today of shallowness in relationships. It is often difficult is getting past the surface-level friendliness and engage people on a deeper, more meaningful level.(4) Perhaps church services pander to such surface level friendships by bringing us together in short bursts regularly but without demanding any deeper relationship. Maybe, by seeing the same people each week we can be fooled into thinking we are in a good relationship with others, but years can go past without real relationship. If this is the case then the church will struggle to become anything more than a group of friendly strangers, and our hospitality will not resemble biblical hospitality.


Instead of saying to ourselves in church, "How quickly can we get out of here," we should be saying, "How can these folks help me in my growth with Christ, and how can I help them?" Instead of pondering, "Will I let them into my life," we should resolve to answer, "HOW will I let them in?" (5)

Hospitality Towards Non-Believers

Hospitality can and should be extended to the stranger, whether or not s/he is part of the Christian community. What qualifies a person to receive hospitality is not their faith, but their humanity - they are made in the image if God.(6) When we invite our neighbors into our homes, we are likewise inviting them to enter our world and see Christianity in action in the home, warts and all. Hospitality is inextricably linked to evangelism and mission precisely because the invitation to experience the presence of Christ in our homes is part of a robust theology of evangelism and making disciples.(7)

Matthew 25 is an anthem for Kingdom conduct with hospitality at its centre:

Several points of application can be gleaned:
1) Jesus identifies himself with strangers.
2) Service to strangers is equated with service to Christ himself.
3) Hospitality has eternal overtones.

The radical claim of Jesus is that hospitality to the stranger is a defining mark of a saved believer – an essential characteristic of one who is part of God's Kingdom and is loyal to its King, Jesus the divine Stranger.(8)

(1)Orchard Keeper, http://cbumgardner.wordpress.com/2007/11/25/christian-love-and-christian-hospitality/
(2)Ibid.
(3)Ibid.
(4)Jason Foster, Christian Hospitality: A Way of Life. Online at http://faithepchurch.org/files/Documents/Discipleship%20Resources/Hospitality.pdf accessed August 2010, 53.
(5) Ibid.
(6) Stephen W. Sykes, Making Room for the Other: Hostility and Hospitality in a Christian Perspective, online at http://www.elijah-interfaith.org/uploads/media/Hostility_and_Hospitality_in_a_Christian_Perspective.pdf accessed August 2010, 62.
(7) Jason Foster, Christian Hospitality: A Way of Life. Online at http://faithepchurch.org/files/Documents/Discipleship%20Resources/Hospitality.pdf accessed August 2010, 5.
(8) Ibid, 10.