The Red Letter Words Of JesusSample

Reframing Hospitality

My friends Seth and Angela have had eclectic people orbiting their lives as long as I’ve known them. They are always bringing relationally needy folks along and adding dignity to their lives. They have met physical needs of food, clothes, and showers, but they also have sought to meet their relational needs. Angela also invites kids into discipleship opportunities providing rides to and from school. She has provided holiday meals for a home full of eclectic friends who would not normally convene. Seth and Angela take their physical neighbors as seriously as they have taken those on the fringes. They are hospitality geniuses.

We need to reframe hospitality with a greater eye for those on the fringes. Hospitality is not cooking exquisite food and vacuuming your carpet so Christians can study the Bible in your living room. This is great, but it’s not the aim of biblical hospitality. If there is one genius we have misunderstood and under-understood, it’s biblical hospitality. Biblical hospitality is a readiness to accept all outsiders into your life and home. The point is not to impress but to love. If hospitality is alive in our personal environment (life, home, schedule), we will eventually develop a culture of this in our collective environments (churches, businesses, teams, meetings). There are outsiders in close proximity to us all the time; we just don’t see them.

Jesus was the most hospitable person who ever lived. He was always focused on outsiders and outcasts on the fringes who had no real clout or position. Parties, meals, and social spaces were bridges into personal relationship. Social outcasts entered His space just to sense His presence and power. Jesus gave them priority over the socially respected and dignified. If you find yourself completely insulated from people on the fringe, you aren’t living like Jesus.