Hospitality Is About More Than Food

“Contribute to the needs of the saints and seek to show hospitality.”

Romans 12:13

I have a confession: I am a hopeless extrovert. I love being around people. Put me in a good conversation or in a group and I’m immediately rejuvenated. Having people in my house is better than shot of espresso. In God’s mercy, I married an introvert. She loves people, but her battery gets depleted in a group setting. She charges up to have people over and needs a rest when they leave. I’d say these two types probably describe a large number of people. Neither are superior and both have their shortcomings, but both types are called to, “seek to show hospitality.” One thing I’ve come to learn over the years is that hospitality is about more than food.

When I think of hospitality, I immediately think of having someone over to my house, feeding them a meal, and spending the evening in good conversation. And while that has biblical precedence (think Abraham and the angel of the LORD in Genesis 18), I think we can miss the heart behind hospitality when we simplify it to a meal in our homes. Here’s what I mean: The word we translate as “hospitality” is literally “philoxenia”. Do any of those parts look familiar? It literally means “love” (philo) for the “stranger” (xenia). So when we are commanded to show hospitality, we are commanded to show love for the stranger.

Who

How does this change the way we should think of hospitality? For one, this should sharpen the focus of whom hospitality is primarily directed toward. We are most hospitable when we are reaching out and loving the the person we know the least. It is tempting to think that hospitality is simply inviting your friends over for supper once a week. And while I would highly encourage that activity, that is not the intent behind the word hospitality. Hospitality is bringing in the stranger and showing love to them. Just like Abraham provided for strangers who came to him, we also should, “not neglect to show hospitality to strangers” (Heb 13:2).

What

Also, this should broaden the scope of our hospitality out from just mealtime. If hospitality is loving the stranger, then surely inviting them in to feed them is one way to show that. But it would be inappropriate to think that we cannot be hospitable if we are not feeding people in our homes. Just because you can’t cook, or don’t have a large space, or don’t have the resources to provide a meal does not mean you cannot be hospitable. There are so many reasons that in-home hospitality isn’t feasible (sickness, not living in your own space, age, etc…). And yet, all Christians (introverts and extroverts) are commanded to be hospitable. Hospitality can look like greeting a stranger on Sunday mornings and getting to know them. It can mean bringing someone into a conversation that you don’t know very well. What about writing letters, making introductions, even sending a meal? All of these can be ways of loving the stranger around you. And yes, if you can, use your home as a place to bring in the stranger and cook them a meal.

Now What

We were once alienated from the people of God, strangers from the covenant of promise, and yet God brought us near through the blood of His Son (Eph 2:12-13). As the hymn goes, “Jesus sought me when a stranger wandering from the fold of God. He to rescue me from danger interposed His precious blood.” We get a chance to love the stranger as a beautiful gospel picture to the lost world. Let us, “Show hospitality to one another without grumbling” (1 Peter 4:9), let us reach out most specifically to those who are the least known, and let us seek to be hospitable using all resources at our disposal. Who knows? Maybe in our hospitality we come to find that we, “have entertained angels unawares” (Heb 13:2).

Jacob Crouch 2023