Practicing Hospitality in The Body of Christ

When I was a teenager in my senior year in high school, my father allowed me to invite my friends over to our house after home football games for food and fellowship. We didn’t have a lot of extra money to buy food for a large group of hungry teenagers, but we put out what we had. It was at this time that I learned how powerful hospitality is. Soon, my friends were contributing to the party every week, and those times became one of the memories that my classmates still talk about 50 years later.

Being hospitable means being given to generous and cordial reception of guests, providing or suggesting a generous and friendly welcome, and offering a pleasant or sustaining environment. Synonyms for hospitality include kindness, attentiveness, thoughtfulness, consideration, and manners. Sounds like the character traits your mother, grandmother, or kindergarten teacher taught you in your formative years. Perhaps you were in a home or school setting where this was modeled more than verbally taught, but most of us are aware of the positive effects hospitality has on us and others.

Paul the apostle wrote a letter to the church in Rome that included a section on our different functions in the Body of Christ. He listed some of the specific gifts that Holy Spirit imparts to us to serve one another in Romans 12:4-8. In verses 9-13, he gives instructions on how we should operate towards one another no matter what specific gift or gifts we possess. The last things he mentions in verse 13 are to contribute to the needs of the saints and to practice hospitality. I have heard over the years people in the church say, “I have the gift of hospitality” or “She/he has the gift of hospitality”. According to Romans 12:13, we all have the responsibility to practice hospitality. Some may find it easier to do the practical ministrations of hospitality, but all of us can be kind, thoughtful, attentive, generous, and mannerly.

Hospitality starts with those we are familiar with, our families, friends, and those we see on a regular basis. It then extends to those we encounter on an irregular basis and even an occasional meeting. Hospitality also starts as an attitude of the heart before the actions go forth. Anyone of any age and status can practice hospitality. Jesus demonstrated this attitude many times during his ministry on the earth. Remember when He fed the 5,000 and the 4,000 in cooperation with the contributions of a few fish and some bread loaves? And then, when He washed the feet of His disciples in the upper room? He also made dinner for His disciples on the beach after His resurrection. As we move toward a new start in a new physical building soon, I am asking that God give us a renewed desire to obey the Word found in Romans 12, that we start even now to consider the needs of others and practice hospitality on whatever level we can. Let’s start now to love, serve, and prefer one another. Over the next few weeks, there will be an opportunity for you to volunteer and be trained for our greeter/hospitality team if that is where God wants you to serve. 

Missaha Nichols