Hospitality

Romans 12:13 Practice hospitality.
1 Timothy 3:2 Now the overseer must be above reproach … hospitable …
Hebrews 13:2 Do not forget to welcome strangers, for by so doing some people have welcomed angels without knowing it.
1 Peter 4:9 Offer hospitality to one another without grumbling.

The word in all four of the above verses is the same Greek term: philozenos. It is a beautiful term; a compound word that combines philos (love) with zenos (strangers). A hospitable person is a stranger-lover. 

If Agape Bible Church is obedient to these commands from God’s holy Word, we will be stranger lovers. People will visit and walk out saying, “One thing is for sure about that church – they really love strangers.” 

A stranger is someone who is an outsider. He doesn’t know anyone and doesn’t have anyone to watch out for him or take care of him. She can’t enjoy the warmth and comfort everyone else enjoys, because she doesn’t know anyone. She is new to everything, doesn’t know how things are done; she isn’t used to the surroundings. She doesn’t know the inside jokes. She’s an outsider.

So how do we love someone like that. We love them by including them. We take the initiative to draw them in to our group and make them insiders. 

The hospitable person, when faced with the hard work of putting forth the emotional effort required to engage a stranger and draw him in will not regard that effort as burdensome. God wants us to do it willingly and joyfully – not reluctantly. (1 Peter 4:9 Offer hospitality to one another without grumbling.) 

The practice of including outsiders is extremely important. It is not just a nice little thing that we tell our kids to do at school. Scripture speaks of it in most serious terms.

Heb.13:2 Do not forget to welcome strangers, for by so doing some people have welcomed angels without knowing it.

Matt.25:34-46  "Then the King will say to those on his right, `Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. 35 For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in…
37"Then the righteous will answer him, `Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? 38When did we see you a stranger and invite you in…
46"Then [those who did not invite strangers in] will go away to eternal punishment, but [those who did invite strangers in] to eternal life." 

Hospitable people are not the types who will have to worry on Judgment Day about having God ask why they left some angels out in the cold with nowhere to go. They will never hear the Lord say to them, “Why wouldn’t you take Me in?” But non-hospitable people will face both questions.

When someone new comes to the church we all tend to greet them, which is wonderful, but hospitality involves much more than a greeting. If we are lovers of strangers we will draw them in to our circle of love and care. We will not have the attitude that says, “It is their responsibility to make friends and get involved.”  Breaking into an existing clique is next to impossible unless someone in the group draws you in. We must be like Gaius in 3 John 5  Dear friend, you are faithful in what you are doing for the brothers, even though they are strangers to you.