About a month ago, my roommate and I were talking with another friend of ours about the qualities we would like in future spouse. It was really fun and challenging because we each had to say five things but decided that we couldn’t say anything having to do with being a Christian, etc. because that was a given for all of us. It was very interesting to hear the things we came up with and what things we had in common. Here are the five things I said off the top of my head (in no specific order):
1. Leader
2. Kindness
3. Hospitality
4. Sense of Humor
5. Intellectual
After we said our five things, we had the opportunity to explain them. The one quality that I said that the girls were most curious about was hospitality. One of the reasons, I explained, for desiring this quality is that I have a heart to use everything God has blessed me with to bless others. One of the things I love about my roommate is that she shares this heart. We both desire to use our home for ministry. I remember when we were talking about moving in together… she specifically asked about my thoughts on having people over, not just for fun and parties but for bible studies and ministry. We definitely shared the same desire to host those in our home. Funny thing too, when I started writing this post, we literally just finished cleaning downstairs because she had her youth group over last night. It just warms my heart to know that our home is a place of ministry. That is my heart’s desire and I would want that to be my future spouse’s desire too. If it wasn’t, I also told the girls, it would probably get pretty annoying to him… me inviting people over all the time. :)
The reason I tell this story is because this morning my heart grew so much more towards this listening to my pastor, Jason, talk about hospitality. I remember my first time at a church. I was in the 10th grade and there was something within me so eager to learn and to study (not much has changed, praise the Lord!) I remember the youth pastor challenging the group to memorize the Beatitudes. I was so excited. I went home and memorized them... and apparently, I was the only one in youth group who did! However, I didn’t know the Lord. I knew about the Lord… but I didn’t know Him, personally. A few weeks later, the youth pastor cornered me in his office to “try to get me saved”. Yeah, that didn’t go over too well with me. As a matter of fact, I didn’t go back to church for a while. I was way too weirded out by his pushiness. But our God is a faithful God, amen? He continued to pursue me and I did go back… just to a different church. I had another bad experience but this time it was because of the youth. They just weren’t very nice. They weren’t mean but everyone had their own clique and I didn’t belong. I sat by myself a few times during the service then the youth minister and his wife would invited me to sit with them but I figured church just wasn’t for me... I just didn’t fit into that world. So, I stopped going, again. Yet, God is faithful. I still can’t remember why (other than the Lord calling me to himself) but I decided (about three months later) to try another church. I had seen several people at my school wear t-shirts from this church and I figured I’d just show up one day and check it out. So, I did. I had no idea where I was going or what to expect. I showed up at the front door and there was someone from the church that greeted me. This was new to me because this didn’t occur at the other churches I had previously checked out. It was refreshing. The person at the door helped me find where I was going and even introduced me to a few people along the way. This church was a lot bigger than I expected and I was thankful someone could help me navigate the maze. We found the youth room and I immediately started recognizing people from my school. The best part was that they recognized me as well and started to include me and show me around. It was something that made me feel at “home”.
This is exactly what Jason talked about today. He used Abraham as an example for hospitality (Genesis 18:1-8). I love the phrase Jason used, “we make ourselves servants to strangers”. Like Hebrews 13:2 says, “Do not forget to entertain strangers, for by so doing some people have entertained angels without knowing it.” Much like Abraham, yeah? I love that phrase in the original language. The Greek word for “entertain strangers” in this passage is philoxenia, which translates to "love of strangers"- Philos meaning "loving" and xenos meaning "a stranger".
Loving strangers is exactly what hospitality means, especially in our churches. It is a way to make people feel at “home” regardless of if our churches will be their church home or not. We don’t greet them and make them feel that way to fill the pews and grow our church. We don’t do it because we want something from our guests. We do it because we want something FOR our guests. Much like Abraham, we want to “comfort [their] hearts” (Genesis 18:5). We want people to leave our churches (much like I want friends, and those I am ministering to to leave my home) strengthened.
What about you, dear reader? Outside of the church walls and outside of your home… do people leave your presence comforted and strengthened? What about the person who is always in your office or cubicle telling you their life problems? Do they leave comforted? Or the girl at school who sits at your lunch table? Does she leave strengthened? What about the stranger on the street? Or the barista who makes your coffee?
That’s what I want to be: a strengthener… not only at church and in my home but in everyday life. Who knows… we may even have the opportunity to entertain angels unawares.
