Category: Good Works

Hospitality vs. Entertainment

Published on by Kim1 Comment

by Mary Clare Freel

As we consider the subject of hospitality, let’s clear up a common misconception about what is involved. We need to distinguish between hospitality and entertainment. Often we will say, “We entertain a lot.” There is a big difference between hospitality and entertaining.

This excerpt from Karen Mains’ book Open Heart, Open Home says it best:

We think in terms of entertaining as women’s chance to demonstrate her skill and the quality of her home. Entertaining has little to do with real hospitality. Secular entertaining is a terrible bondage. It’s source is human pride. Demanding perfection, fostering the urge to impress, it is a rigorous taskmaster that enslaves. In contrast, spiritual hospitality is a freedom that liberates. Entertaining says, I want to impress you with my beautiful home, my clever decorating, my gourmet cooking. Hospitality, however, seeks to minister. It says, “This home is not mine. It is truly a gift from my Master. I am his servant, and I use it as he desires.” Hospitality does not try to impress but to serve.

Entertainment always puts things before people…Hospitality, however, puts people before things.

It doesn’t mean a seven-course dinner. Casual entertaining is very popular right now. Proverbs 15:17 says, “Better is a dinner of herbs where love is, than a fatted calf with hatred.” Pancake suppers, baked potato suppers, soup and bread, or grilled cheese sandwiches all are great options. This does not have to be on the Lord’s Day for lunch; you can set aside one night a week, or every other week, for company.

Keep an eye out for those who may be alone and enfold them into your family, such as the elderly or widowed, college students, or singles. It is easy to have outgoing, familiar people over, but we need to reach beyond the comfortable to those who are quiet, shy, perhaps awkward, who stretch the boundaries of our love. You never know how God may use you in their lives and them in yours.

Our homes are not fortresses in which to hide from the world. They should be more like hospital wards where sin-sick souls may find healing, where blind eyes are made to see. A home of a Christian is to be a lighthouse from which shines the glory of God, drawing sinners away from the world into fellowship with His Son.

God's Call to Practice Hospitality

Published on by Kim

by Mary Clare Freel

The pattern of hospitality starts with leadership. Elders and deacons are servant leaders and pattern hospitality to the body they serve. They are given to the church for the very purpose of equipping the saints to minister in the body of Christ. See I Timothy 3:1-7 and Titus 1:5-9.

A word to elders’ wives: Much falls on you here. Your attitude towards hospitality is a key element in your husband’s success as an elder. A good deal of shepherding can take place in the context of your home.

But all believers are expected to practice hospitality. The rest of you are not off the hook. The congregation cannot leave hospitality in the hands of the elders. Some are gifted with hospitality, but we are all told to practice it. It is a way that our love for each other is acted out.

Let love be without hypocrisy. Abhor what is evil. Cling to what is good. Be kindly affectionate to one another with brotherly love, in honor giving preference to one another; not lagging in diligence, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord; rejoicing in hope, patient in tribulation, continuing steadfastly in prayer; distributing to the needs of the saints, given to hospitality. Romans 12:9-13

Note, we cannot pick and choose how to love. We are responsible for all the commands above. Love is very practical — not a mushy feeling that fluctuates like the weather. None of these aspects are always easy, nor are they always convenient, but all are important.

As Christians, our homes belong to Christ, and we cannot have the mindset that, “This is all mine, and I don’t want any of it messed up.” We have been purchased by the blood of Christ, and all we have is provided by God to use for His glory — money, time, food, clothes and our homes. We are stewards and must use them wisely, but always with a loose grip.

If all this sounds foreign to you, and the idea of serving someone is repugnant to you, maybe it is time to search your own heart. Maybe you have never considered where you are in relationship to God. If you have not humbled yourself before Him in repentance and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, that is the matter at hand for you. Your are not one of His servants. Either you are a slave to your own sin or you are a servant of the Lord Jesus Christ. There is no greater goal or higher purpose in all of life than knowing and serving the Lord Jesus Christ. To have a relationship with the Lord of the universe is what you were created for.

The home is a useful tool in the service of the King. Consider how to serve God with your homes. Pray and ask Him to show you opportunities and make you willing. Be ready to respond accordingly because opportunities will certainly come your way. They may come in the form of little children. I used to find myself grumbling about the neighborhood kids playing at our house so much. They are food vacuums and mess makers. Jesus reminds me in the gospels that to give a cup of water to a little child is a way of serving Him. It may not be children. It may be distressed souls. It may be a neighbor suffering in her marriage. It may be the elderly. It may be anyone.

Be proactive in hospitality; don’t just wait for the perfect opportunity. Invite people over. Volunteer to host church activities, depending on the room you have. Manage your home well so you are not thrown off by spur-of-the-moment guests. You don’t have to be a great housekeeper to be hospitable, but it sure helps to be organized. Keep your pantry stocked. Efficient cleaning routines are helpful. Involve your children.

Be sensitive to those who live in your home when considering hospitality (i.e., roommates, parents, your own family). In your zeal, don’t forget to be considerate of them. If you are unable to practice hospitality in your home, you can offer to help to host a fellowship dinner with a friend at her house. A heart of service is the key. God knows your heart and will honor your willingness to use what you have for His glory.

I hope you see from Scriptures that it is the responsibility and privilege of all in the body of Christ to share in the ministry of hospitality. In our next post we will discuss the various ways hospitality is used for the advancement of the kingdom of God.