This may be a surprise to many Christians, but hospitality is actually commanded in Scripture. Generally speaking, hospitality is taking care of the needs of others — and one of our biggest needs is food. There are several places in the Bible where God calls his people to hospitality (Rom. 12:13; 1 Tim. 5:9-10; Heb. 13:2; 1 Pet. 4:9)

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Interestingly, it’s also a qualification for pastors (1 Tim. 3:2; Titus 1:7-9). Pastors, and therefore, their families, must be hospitable and lead by example. 

 

Have you ever stopped to wonder why this is commanded by God? God created the world in such a way that we need food constantly. Why is it that he made our lives revolve around food? The amount of time needed in order to plan, purchase, prepare, eat, and clean up meals is actually quite staggering. We must have food to survive and God made us with this need to eat multiple times a day. It would have been a real drag if the material he gave us to work with was beige, bland, and boring. Thankfully, God didn’t make this task dull but gave us endless possibilities to explore. Just think of the variety he’s given us! Taste, color, and texture — the options are endless! I don’t think we could ever exhaust all the possibilities of things we could make.

 

Now taking these things into consideration: the glory of food, the demand on our time that food requires, and the command to be hospitable, it makes me wonder why the Lord seems to put such an emphasis on something we sort of think of as busywork. We love food but begrudge the very real work involved in feeding others. We think of it as this unfortunate but necessary obstacle in the way of the really important things we could be doing. We try to do everything we can to make the work of feeding others quick, easy, and painless.

 

Maybe what we need is a perspective shift. Sure, we can microwave a frozen meal. We have so much blessing in regard to convenience. I have enjoyed the ease of a frozen pizza or boxed mac-n-cheese and I thank the Lord for it, guilt-free. But there’s something to be said for the smell of homemade dinner rolls wafting through the house, chocolate chip cookies made from scratch, or a mom who tries to figure out how to make vegetables taste good. Food is powerful. There’s a reason that after my grandmother passed away, the overwhelming theme that ran across all the memories of her many children and grandchildren, was that of sitting around the kitchen table. That table and her food is what we remember most because it translated into love, joy, comfort, and care. 

 

This is why I believe the Lord has given us this work to do. Think about it. As Christians, we believe the truth. The truth of God’s Word and the Truth himself, Jesus Christ. The Lord wants to draw the world to himself, revealing the truth of the Gospel, the good news that he came, died, and rose to forgive us of our sins. Jesus is God made flesh. He is real and tangible. We are called to taste and see that the Lord is good. Without him, we are lost and without hope. 

 

What an opportunity we have to translate the truth to all those around us. Through hospitality we get to show people what God is like. Hospitality to our children, our church, neighbors, family, and even strangers builds love and loyalty, security and gratefulness, delight and joy. It takes the truth about God and makes it tangible. We are translating to the world the very nature of God. We are pointing to him and saying he’s the Creator and he’s good! He’s the source of all love, joy, comfort, and care. Every meal joyfully and freely given to others is a small picture of the joyful and free grace given to us by Jesus, the true Bread of life for our hungry souls. Cooking meals and welcoming others to share it with you seems like such a small, insignificant thing, but this small thing yields big results.

 

It can feel overwhelming to step out in faith to obey the command to be hospitable. It requires sacrifice of our time and resources. It requires often thankless work. It bucks against our very real insecurities. What if the meal I make turns out awful? My house just isn’t nice or big enough. What if I ask someone to come and they reject the offer? What if there’s awkward silence and I run out of things to talk about?

 

We need to entrust our identity to the Lord, find our ultimate security in him, and reach out in faith that God will use our meager efforts, even if those efforts come with a lot of hiccups. The temptation is to look at someone who has been practicing hospitality for years, and expect to be doing exactly what they’re doing right off the bat. Just start somewhere. Over time, your ability and capacity will grow. God desires for us to take the resources he’s given us, whatever those are, and faithfully use them to bless others.

 

A good starting place is your own household. We should first and foremost be hospitable to the people that live in our own home. Do you have a husband, kids, roommates, or elderly parents? Get creative and take on the task of feeding the people closest to you with enthusiasm. Practice, learn new skills, figure out what they like, set the table, light some candles, make it festive. Remember you are loving them with a Gospel love. Work hard and give freely with a long term view in mind. This kind of love changes people.

 

Anne Fishels, an Associate Clinical Professor of Psychology at the Harvard Medical School, co-founded a non-profit organization called The Family Dinner Project. She created it in response to research she did on the effects that eating dinner as a family has on children. She found that family dinners are not only good for the body, but for the soul. Children who eat dinner regularly with their families show lower rates of depression, anxiety, and substance abuse.

 

It’s almost as if God knows what he’s talking about when he tells us to be hospitable. If eating together can have this sort of positive effect on our families, just think how much more when we extend this out to our church, neighbors, and strangers! Sure, food is fuel, but it’s also for fun and fellowship. It is a tremendous gift to be enjoyed before God with thanksgiving and with others. Not only will we receive nourishment for our bodies and souls, but God will use the love extended through this gift to draw people to himself. My husband said in a sermon once on community life in the church, 

 

“Life is found at the table with one another.”

 

In the command to be hospitable, you’ll notice that God doesn’t give us details on how to practice hospitality. He just tells us to do it. He gives us the freedom to be creative and tailor it to our circumstances and personalities. How it’s done and how often will depend upon many factors and seasons of life. 

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When Ricky and I were first married, we had a tiny apartment and I was brand new to cooking. I had very little experience in the kitchen, but I simply began by cooking for the two of us every day while occasionally having our neighbors, who lived below us, over for dinner.

 

Then the Lord gave me two daughters. My husband and daughters are my primary recipients of hospitality. Never do I want to be shoving them aside in order to bless those outside. I try to remember to be putting in the same level of thought and care when we eat as a family as I would for guests. My husband and daughters are my closest and first neighbors in the command to love my neighbor as myself (Mark 12:29-31).

 

As I’ve sought to be faithful with the built-in people God has given me to bless, he has graciously expanded my table. As a pastor’s wife, hospitality is a huge part of our lives and I wouldn’t have it any other way. We have been able to host small and large gatherings, parties and community groups, couples in need of counseling, friends where we mutually encourage one another, and strangers or acquaintances that need a place to rest. Sometimes we’ve hosted nice dinners with steak and the table set beautifully, and other times ordered pizza and pulled out the paper plates.

 

There are endless opportunities to get started. Have someone over for coffee and store bought cookies. Host a ladies night where everyone pitches in and brings an appetizer. Over time you will get better and more comfortable. When done unto the Lord, it becomes so much less about you and what you’re providing, and more about blessing others and glorifying God.

 

Don’t get me wrong. This is work and sometimes you just don’t feel like having someone over. There have been many times over the years when I have not felt like having anyone over and they were arriving in half an hour! It’s so much easier to watch tv, crawl into bed, and call it a day. I wonder though how many blessings we miss out on because we just don’t feel like doing something. We often let our emotions dictate our behavior. What if instead we chose to do something whether we felt like it or not, simply because it’s good and commanded by God? I think what you’ll find is that hospitality blesses you as much as it blesses the one you invited.

 

You may have heard the quote, 

 

“Everyone wants to change the world, but nobody wants to do the dishes.”

 

I think there’s a lot of truth wrapped up in that little sentence. It may seem more appealing or rewarding to do something bigger or flashier. I’m not going to lie, this is very ordinary work. You may not get a lot of recognition or accolades. But this is good work and it’s the type of work that grounds people to their Maker, blessing generation after generation. Who knows, it may even change the world.