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From Luke’s Journal June 2024  |  Vol.29 No.2  |  Christian Hospitality

The biblical Greek noun that is translated into English as “hospitality” is “Philoxenia” (see Romans 12:13, Hebrews 13:2, and 1 Peter 4:9).

It literally means showing love to strangers. In this day and age, ‘hospitality’ usually refers to an industry and occupation. It is a means of generating income by providing lodging and meals to strangers. When we practice hospitality at home, we often show love to friends rather than strangers.

Before the establishment of churches, most people would live and die within the vicinity of their hometowns. Only peddlers and sailors would venture to unfamiliar territories. With the establishment of churches, Christians began to travel for evangelism and to escape persecution. The establishment of Christian networks also provided safety and common languages for travellers. Early Christians were keenly aware of the experience of being strangers to the world. They could therefore readily welcome strangers into their homes.

When I started my medical degree in Sydney, I had a young family. We joined a church that was predominantly Chinese from Southeast Asia. I felt quite at home living in Sydney as most of the medical students were Asians and we mostly socialised with Asians. Soon after graduation, we had to look for a rural town to complete my rural general practice (GP) training. We made some visits to places that offered this. One of the places we visited was Tamworth, where we attended church on Sunday. I think we were the only Asian family in that church of about two hundred people. After the service, a European-Australian family invited us to their farm for lunch. We had a good time getting to know one another over a meal. We decided to move to Tamworth.

Over the subsequent twelve years in Tamworth, we became part of the church. We were able to invite many new doctors and medical students over for meals. Having been strangers in a new place drove us to care for those who were in similar situations. Our family had the joy of meeting many new friends.

When both of our children started their tertiary education in Newcastle, we decided to relocate there. In this new place, attending a new church, we used mealtimes to get to know people from church. We also tried to reach out to international students at the university when our children were studying. We found it harder for us to meet strangers in a bigger city.

My wife and I travel to Southeast Asia two or three times a year for ministry and to visit relatives. The people in the places we visit are poor. They hardly have enough food for themselves and therefore could not usually afford to provide hospitality in a meal. We were often able to take them out to restaurants as part of our care for them. In the Philippines, we usually stay in motel-style accommodation with the other members of the mission team. Once, I became quite ill just when we arrived. We were there three days earlier than the other team members were due. The pastor of the hosting church (and his wife) let us use their bedroom and provided us with meals. It was so good to have a place to rest and recover, and be cared for.

By contrast, in Malaysia, we would usually stay in rooms provided by our relatives and offered plenty of food to eat. The amount of food offered to us was often too much for us to consume. However, no one from the churches where we ministered would invite us home for meals. They would invite us out as a group to have meals in restaurants. It was difficult to have deep and meaningful conversations in a big group inside noisy restaurants. Eating out is relatively cheap in Malaysia and the taste of food is important in Chinese culture. This is why hosts are reluctant to invite people into their homes for a home-cooked meal. Many people also live in small houses or apartments and so they feel embarrassed to invite guests into their homes.

There is a major difference between Western and Eastern hospitality. With the influence of Christianity, Western hospitality focuses on the guests. The hosts take the opportunity to get to know their guests. Conversely, Eastern hospitality focuses on the hosts. The hosts take the opportunity to showcase their homes and culinary skills.

In Southeast Asia, the availability of drinking water is very important as it is often unsafe to drink water from the tap without first boiling it. We would also need to drink more water as our bodies acclimatise to the much higher atmospheric temperature. One Saturday evening we travelled to a rural town in Malaysia where I would preach in a church the next morning. When we arrived at our relative’s house, we realised that they had run out of drinking water. It would take too long for water to boil and cool down. At that moment, I had a deeper appreciation of what the Lord said in Matthew 10:42, “And whoever gives one of these little ones even a cup of cold water because he is a disciple, truly, I say to you, he will be by no means lose his reward”. It was a bit embarrassing for the host, but we requested him to drive us to the shop to get some bottled water so that we could all get enough rest that night. Since then, we always made sure that we have plenty of cool drinking water in our backpacks.

It often takes someone who has been a visitor to be a considerate host. It is only when we have gone through the inconvenience of being away from home that we know how to show love to visitors in our homes. As Christians, we are told to practice philoxenia. I hope what I have written will give you some encouragement to do this and so that you may experience the joy of welcoming strangers into your home.

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