Written by Kara Benson, volunteer with Iron Rose Sister Ministries in Arkansas
When I read through the lists of themes for the Iron Rose Sister Ministries articles for the new year, my eyes landed on the topic of “welcoming.” I knew exactly what God story I wanted to share.
My husband and I moved from Searcy to Little Rock in the summer of 2019. When we arrived at our new apartment complex, we were welcomed by over twenty members of the Lord’s church who showed up on that Saturday morning to help us move in. In less than thirty minutes, the brethren had unloaded the truck and moved everything into our new apartment. Lance and I were astonished. Here were people who sacrificed their Saturday morning to help us move in when they hadn’t even met us yet. Here were people who truly believed we were united through the bond of Christ. Here were people who loved us and welcomed us before they knew us.
In Matthew 25, the Son of Man comes in His glory and separates the sheep from the goats. To the sheep on His right, He invites them to come receive their heavenly inheritance: “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, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me” (verses 35 and 36). Currently, my chosen secular job is in the hospitality industry. But for Christians, hospitality is a calling and a command. Hospitality is a spiritual work as much as it is a physical work. This unpaid labor of love is so much more important – eternally so.
Oftentimes, it seems we have a picture of a perfect home in our head – everything put away, everything cleaned, and all of the kids’ toys picked up. We feel like we must present perfection to anyone who walks through our front door. However, that is not real life. Sisters, I’m not saying it is wrong to want to clean your house before company comes over. But a problem arises when the lack of perfection prevents us from opening our homes to others. In Galatians 1:10, Paul writes that if he were still trying to please men, he would not be a servant of Christ. Are we trying to please people or are we more concerned with pleasing God? Let’s not let the world’s standards (everything looking perfect) become more important than God’s standards (practicing hospitality).
When Paul and Luke were shipwrecked on the coast of Malta, Publius (the chief official of the island) welcomed them into his home. Publius entertained Paul and Luke for three days even while “his father was sick in bed, suffering from fever and dysentery” (Acts 28:8). Even though he was enduring a struggle, even though his family member was sick, he prioritized showing hospitality. At times we may find ourselves weighed down by a busy schedule or simply uninterested in the inconvenience of hospitality. Despite difficult life circumstances, do we invite others into our homes, our lives, and our hearts?
In 1 Timothy 5:9-10, Paul instructs Timothy in the qualifications for a widow to be placed on the list of those financially supported by the church. Such a widow “is well known for her good deeds, such as… showing hospitality.” Romans 12:13 says, “Share with God’s people who are in need. Practice hospitality.” Are we practicing hospitality with our Christian family or only our friends and biological family?
Has someone ever done something nice for you and then ruined it by complaining about it? The apostle Peter writes, “Offer hospitality to one another without grumbling” (1 Peter 4:9). We can easily undo our good works by complaining about them. Sisters, I will share with you a time in which I failed. After returning from our honeymoon, we moved everything out of a storage unit and into our one-bedroom apartment. We were so blessed by the many wedding gifts and storage bins covering the floor that we couldn’t walk around the main room without stepping over packages and squeezing around stacks of boxes. Within our first week in our first apartment together, my husband invited over a family of five. Everything was shoved into the bedroom and the door was forced shut so we could have enough walking space and set up a folding table to make enough room for our guests. I was livid. How dare he inconvenience us so much in our new apartment? Wouldn’t there be time later for showing hospitality, when everything was cleaned and put away? Any good I did that day was negated by how much I complained before and after.
Hebrews 13:2 teaches, “Do not forget to show hospitality to strangers, for by so doing some people have entertained angels without knowing it.” Through these two personal stories I have shared and many others, God has taught me about the practice of filoxenía (“hospitality” in Greek). In Romans 16:23, Paul writes, “Gaius, whose hospitality I and the whole church here enjoy, sends you his greetings.” Among the Christians in Rome, Gaius was known for his hospitality. Let us be a people who are known for their hospitality.