The Hospitable Leader DevotionalSample

The writer of Hebrews finishes his letter, as was common in other scriptural letters, with a list of moral exhortations. It was a way to practically apply the teachings that had preceded it. His first sentence starts by encouraging believers toward loving one another more and more, followed by showing hospitality to those who are strangers (who may end up being angels!). In The Hospitable Leader, a stranger is defined as someone who is, “anyone who seems strange to you. Or to whom you may seem strange.” We frequently think of a stranger as someone who we simply aren’t acquainted with, but a more robust concept of a stranger is someone who you may be reluctant to engage with because you don’t understand or know them. A spouse, in some instances, can be a stranger, inasmuch as you come from different backgrounds and don’t understand each other’s perspectives.

In the time when Hebrews was written, hospitality was strongly encouraged in large part because journeys were arduous and inns were potentially dangerous.  It was helpful to have hospitable people along your journey who would take you in, even if you were a stranger to them. This love and hospitality would make you feel safe and allow you to continue on your journey. 

This sentiment seems symbolic of our entire lives: Many of us are on arduous and difficult journeys, and we’ll find places that profess to offer safe havens but are in fact even more dangerous than the journey itself. By welcoming those on a journey into our lives and treating them hospitably, we offer a place of rest and peacefulness that helps them toward their goal. By enacting this extraordinary hospitality, we become influential leaders of diverse groups of people. Our influence is no longer limited to those who are in our usual path or who are like us, but we welcome in those with different perspectives who can also aid us in our mission. Not only does hospitality help the stranger, but hospitality helps us. A stranger may be an angel; when we think we’re helping someone else on their journey, they may actually be there to help us on ours.