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

After an afternoon of high pressure, complex patients and seemingly little-to-no acknowledgment for his efforts, my GP husband arrives home late again, exhausted. Struggling through the front door, he enters the house to be pounced on by the three children and welcomed by our guest who arrived twenty minutes prior. Our guest is a friend from church who arranged to discuss with us tonight their growing faith and thoughts of possible baptism in the coming weeks.

I have a flurry of thoughts:

• Do I suggest postponing the important discussion with the visitor or allow the evening to unfold, while my husband’s concentration (and emotional cohesion) folds up altogether by 8pm?
• What does self-care mean in the context of today and the week ahead?
• How do we glorify God and show hospitality and kindness to our guest in this context?

Let’s take a brief look at some of the costs and benefits of hospitality in the home, as well as my own oversights in this regard.

The costs and risks of allowing people into your life and home are plentiful, one being that of time. To the professional expected to function well at work and who requires time alone, time with family and time to eat and sleep, any space remaining in the calendar is precious and significant. In addition, we cannot avoid the financial costs of sharing our home: the utilities, the cleaning, meals, consumables and, sometimes, the care package we send away with a guest – from our bookshelf, pantry or wallet. The emotional cost of inviting others into your home is evident in the ‘long visit’, eg. where your ‘lunch catch-up’ shines such genuine care that your guests naturally share personal issues in detail and at length, ending in prayer time and a book recommendation six hours after arrival!

In my experience, the trend in my house is to welcome the guest rather than postpone a meeting, offer plenty of coffee as I intermittently put children in the bath or to bed. I regrettably watch my hard-working husband either fall asleep in the company of our guest who, shortly afterwards, states they must leave, or stay up late chatting about the meaningful issues of the Christian life, when perhaps an early night was a better choice. In some cases, difficult choices are validated quickly; in other cases, I still question what was right, wrong or the better option. In all cases, I have never regretted spending time with people in my home to eat, chat or pray if it means sharing the love of Jesus.

“I have never regretted spending time with people in my home to eat, chat or pray if it means sharing the love of Jesus”.

The benefits to you and your family and opportunities to edify others arising from a hospitable attitude can become immediately evident from the moment your guests arrive. The visitors will bless the younger members of your family in one small interaction of a ‘high-five’; your children, in their innocence, will bless your visitors just by showing off their latest craft activity or a piano piece. Through conversations and prayers, your end-of-day energy levels can be boosted, you can receive Christian encouragement, or gain a renewed perspective on work.

Lastly, I admit a few (of many) personal oversights in relation to hospitality and how I have welcomed friends and strangers into my home.

1. Distractions of tasks. My natural tendency as an introvert is to keep myself busy tidying the house, cooking the meal and generally keeping the social event running to schedule. It’s much easier to let my husband and children do the talking than for me to be the entertainer. Over time, I have learnt from Mary and her sister, Martha¹, of the importance of sharing lives, rather than sorting cutlery.
2. Self-Reliance. I can see in hindsight how little I have relied upon God to work in the hearts of our guests so that they, whether Christian or not, would have the assurance of God’s grace and love.
3. Low confidence. Of course, God can use me! In the rush of preparations at the imminent arrival of guests, it can be difficult to stop briefly to pray for the conversations and interactions with those I am meeting. It is still difficult to remember, when the doorbell rings, that the Lord expects me to ‘shine among them like stars’² for His glory.

Yes, hospitality is a choice and, as a Christian, it is an obligation. However, any sense of obligation we might feel is likely to be the Holy Spirit moving within us to make a choice against the sinful nature. If your home, time and money belong to the Lord, indeed are gifts from the Lord for us to use for His glory, they are to be given freely without constraint, without obligation and with a generous heart. Take hold of each opportunity with gratitude for the Lord, petitioning him to show you how best to love and care for others, as you demonstrate the love and care Christ has for us³. Stand in readiness to serve God with the resources He has graciously given you and anticipate change within as He transforms you to be more like Christ.

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