We were created for relationships. The only thing about creation that God said was “not good” was that Adam had no other humans around him - he was alone. Even after sin and brokenness came into the world, relationships have always been critical.
God began early on to create relationships not just with an individual, but with a family - the people that would become Israel. He made them for relationship with Himself and with one another. His law, in large part, governed their relationships. Most of the ten commandments dealt with human relationships.
The problem is that this side of heaven we experience deep relational longing. We so want and need relationships, but often find they leaving us lacking in some way. We love our parents and can’t stand them. We “fell in love” and got married, and then we didn’t. We had deep friendships but they disappointed us. All of this is also rooted in our alienation from God in relationship.
The gospel of Jesus Christ brings us into a new, eternal relationship with God by ending our alienation caused by our sin and rebellion. The gospel begins to restore the human relationships as well by teaching us to forgive as we have been forgiven (among many other things).
That brings us to the matter of hospitality. Hospitality is encouraged in the scriptures, whether it is the frequently expressed concern for the “alien and stranger” in the Old Testament, or the commands for hospitality in the New Testament. Hospitality is a requirement for the role of elder in the local church!
Hospitality is the place where we begin to take our restored relationship with God, and our desire for healthy relationships with others, and stretch our wings. Because our alienation is ended, we add one place at a table for someone who needs relationships in some way. It might be that person at church standing by themselves, or it might be an international student who really feels that internal alienation.
Why not just find the relationships that fill us up, and stick with them? In some sense, we do that. We have a limited amount of time and we can’t be deep friends with hundreds of people. Hospitality seems to flow from the way God welcomes us into his family. It is the treatment God has given us beginning to stretch us and make us a little uncomfortable. It is a way that we love as we are loved, and welcome as we are welcomed. It is believing that we are made for relationships, and that people need to be invited and welcomed into them.
The strange thing is, in addition to being a very loving thing, often times the Lord brings surprising rewards. We find a new friend or a new delightful connection, even though we thought we were just trying to show the kindness we’ve experienced to another.
Thanks for taking some time to think about hospitality with us!
Some verses:
In Him,
Don