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Hospitality 

Hospitality is making space for people to be with us and to become within community— to be who they are and to become more like Christ. In Scripture, strangers are people who live in a society other than their own. Elsewhere the word strangers is translated “foreigners,” “aliens,” and “sojourners.” Strangers are people who aren’t yet assimilated into our community. Hospitality means making space for strangers.

In Leviticus, God commanded His people to treat strangers with hospitality. It’s a cascading command, beginning with not mistreating them, then treating them as if they belong, and finally loving them as ourselves. God’s command is to love outsiders and strangers as we would love our own families.

Also, consider Jesus’ teaching on loving our neighbors in Luke 10:25-37. In this passage an expert in the law asked Jesus, “Who is my neighbor?” (v. 29). Jesus responded with the parable of the good Samaritan as a picture of what it means to love others as family. Through this parable it becomes clear that our neighbor is anyone, especially those who need the Gospel.

As Jesus told this parable, He was telling His story. The story of how He entered the world of human suffering, pain, and sin that had left us for dead. The story of how He picked us up, carried us to safety, paid our debts, and healed our wounds. Hospitality and loving the stranger are at the core of wise living because they’re core to the purpose and passion of Christ. This leads us to the third aspect of hospitality: loving as you’ve been loved. 

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