Hospitality

Question: Do you have the gift of hospitality?  Hospitality is a special gift but like everything else there needs to be a balance.  Sometimes people pay so much attention to detail that they miss the purpose of why they do what they are doing, for instance, you invite some guests over for dinner so you work on making everything just right.  You pay attention to every detail from the way you dress to the appearance of the house also making sure that the food is the best to your ability plus making sure that the table is set just the right way.

Is all this preparation a bad thing?  No, but what you need to be careful of is this, while you are paying so much attention to detail trying to make everything perfect you can neglect the guests that you have invited.  Sometimes instead of making your guests feel comfortable and at home you can make them feel very uncomfortable.  Sometimes people can be so detail oriented, trying to impress their guests that they lose the whole purpose of having their guest at their home in the first place.  There isn’t anything wrong with making everything look nice and the meal taste good but when that takes priority over people there is a serious problem.  Most people that come to your home are coming there to visit with you not to check out your home to see if it meets their requirements or the white glove test.

In bible days it was a regular practice to invite strangers into your home that were travelers and had no place to stay for the night.  Being left out in the square could have been very dangerous.  Over the years I have invited many people over to my house for a meal, some I knew and many I didn’t know and I still make this a practice.  

This is what it says about this in Hebrews 13:1-2, “Keep on loving each other as brothers. Do not forget to entertain strangers, for by so doing some people have entertained angels without knowing it.”  I don’t think I have had any real angels in my home but I like the company and I think it is a godly practice and a good way to have fellowship with other believers.

There was a man in the Old Testament that invited two men into his home and they were angels, his name was Lot, it is found in Genesis 19:1-3, “The two angels arrived at Sodom in the evening, and Lot was sitting in the gateway of the city. When he saw them, he got up to meet them and bowed down with his face to the ground. ‘My lords,’ he said, ‘please turn aside to your servant’s house. You can wash your feet and spend the night and then go on your way early in the morning.’  ‘No,’ they answered, ‘we will spend the night in the square.’  But he insisted so strongly that they did go with him and entered his house. He prepared a meal for them, baking bread without yeast, and they ate.”

In this situation Lot thought that it would be very dangerous for them to be left out in the square all night.  My situation is somewhat different; most of the people I invite are from the various churches I have visited.  And thanks to my wife having the gift of hospitality, most of the guests before they left said that they felt very much at home, or something close to that, for which we were very thankful.  

I would say that most believers that have bible knowledge might think of the story of Jesus, Mary and Martha when it comes to talking about hospitality in the Word.  I talked about this subject not long ago and I didn’t plan on talking about it again so soon, but when I sit down in front of my computer many times I have no idea what I am going to talk about so here I am again.  In the story about Jesus, Mary and Martha, Mary sat at Jesus’ feet listening to Him and Martha was busy with preparation and detail, there was nothing wrong with what Martha was doing but while she was so busy paying attention to detail she was neglecting her guest, the problem was she had her priorities mixed up.  Jesus should have been the focus not the preparations.

So if you have the gift of hospitality thank the Lord for it but don’t lose the balance; keep your focus on the people you invited.  Remember you may be entertaining angels unaware.  Something to think about!  Have a super day and may God bless you and yours!! PS don’t forget to thank and praise the Lord.