Blog written by Ryan Brandt, a member of a Community Group in Clifton Heights

Since I grew up in a Christian home and have been a believer for (at least) 10 years, I thought that by now I would have figured out Christianity. But I’m far from it. And today I realized that I understand even less than I thought. Why? Because I have been seriously misunderstanding what hospitality means in light of the Gospel. So, you might ask, what is hospitality?

My beloved community group has helped me find an answer. Two of our members—and also two of the most recent baptisms(!)—Denis and Laura Beiter, have taken into their home another member of our community group, Hannah Keel. Hannah was in transition, they saw a need, and they offered. As Laura remarked, “We have an excess of space, and Hannah needed a place.”

Going into this interview, I assumed that the Beiters’ decision was a difficult one because, among other things, they have four kids and two busy lives. I am neither a husband nor a father, but that sounds tremendously demanding. In any case, their answers surprised me, to say the least. After I probed him with questions, Denis said, “We use what we have, and, well, we have more space than time.” In light of their excess, they made room for Hannah; they became, as we say, hospitable. Awesome. But I suppose we are still left with the biggest question of all: Is hospitality really that important? It’s just cordially entertaining and taking in guests, right? Well…. or so I thought.

Have you ever noticed the frequency of the word ‘hospitality’ in the Bible? Or, rather, have you ever considered the significance of where the concept most frequently occurs? The truth is surprising. Paul and Peter, for example, command hospitality in the context of true Christian love, as a prerequisite or result of love (Rom 12:13; 1 Pet 4:9), or, alternatively, Paul places it under the requirements for an elder (1 Tim 3:2)—an elder! I guess it might be more important than I thought.

Or, as the author of Hebrews concludes, “Let brotherly love continue” (Heb 13:1). How does he say that this love continues? One might expect him first to respond that we should read the Bible, evangelize, or encourage, rebuke, and exhort. Or maybe you’d expect him to say, “Preach the Gospel!” But the author of Hebrews does not respond in this way; instead, he immediately continues, “Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for thereby some have entertained angels unawares” (Heb 13:2). This is nothing short of astounding. Hospitality seems to constitute one of the greatest ways in which we love. Why is this?

It’s a fair question, and I don’t think it’s asked enough. We are all too familiar with the picture of the hospitable elderly woman sharing milk and cookies with the neighborhood children. Less familiar but also hospitality is the situation with the Beiter family. But why is this so loving? Well, to answer briefly, this picture best represents the heavenly reality that we have in Christ. Hospitality brings us back to the Gospel. (Duh!) Jesus said that his mission is one that prepares a place for us. Do you not remember him telling us, “In my Father’s house are many rooms”? And, are not these very rooms prepared for us? Jesus continues to explain, “And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also” (John 14:2-3). The Gospel is therefore the good news that Christ goes before us so that we can follow after him. His death and resurrection grant us our entrance into the heavenly kingdom. The Beiters have offered their home; Christ offers the new heavens and earth! Are you beginning to see why hospitality is so crucial to the Gospel?

In a nutshell, our God is a hospitable God. He cordially ‘saves room’ for us. He is (shall we say?) not satisfied to share his divine glory simply amongst himself—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit—but he desires to bring us into fellowship with him as well. In other words, just as Laura remarked that they had excess and so shared it, so also the Lord has (infinite) excess and shares it with us. As the Gospel says, God does this by sending Jesus Christ to prepare the way, to make the paths straight, to point us towards the ‘room’ we have in him. As we die and rise with Christ, therefore, we become fellow heirs with Christ and thus sons and daughters of God! This is true relationship the way it was meant to be—that we partake of the divine glory in Christ. And this is the heart of the Gospel: Christ is a hospitable savior, and he lavishes us with hospitality. He is, then, the hospitality for which earthly examples are merely signs.

The point of this, we should say, is not to discourage those of us who do not share these ‘hospitable’ stories. As Denis and Laura would admit, no one is perfect, for all are sinners. The point is also not to highlight hospitality as we sometimes nearsightedly conceive of it. (Remember those milk and cookies?) The point, on the contrary, is the very thing that this hospitality points towards, namely, the Gospel—for a greater picture of hospitality could not be conceived! Indeed, how dare we think that physical blessings of hospitality are the end of the story. This is like a child confusing the bread and wine with the very blessings themselves, the very body and blood of our Lord. May it never be! The physical blessings are not the end but merely the beginning. If we share the former without the substance of the latter we have shown the Gospel to be useless.

Therefore, as we partake of Gospel hospitality, we remember that there is no greater love than dying to oneself in order to let another live; no greater grace than preparing a place for which you yourself must pay. Is this not why Paul and Peter so closely connect hospitality and love? Is this not why the Beiter’s hospitality is such a wonderful display of the Gospel? And so what Jesus was communicating, and what hospitality means for us today, is a humble and sacrificial love. It is a love that takes in ‘strangers,’ who, though once separated far from Christ, are now brought near; a mercy that relentlessly fails to return a wrong that is owed; and a grace that ceaselessly gives abundantly, even and especially when such generosity is undeserved. This is hospitality as shown in Christ. This is the Gospel

And so we dedicate our lives to God, the same God working hospitality through his Son, the one who was sent, not on his own regard, but for us, dead and helpless sinners; who gathers up a place for us to call our own, making us heirs with him and sons and daughters of God through his Spirit; and who often and incessantly pleads for us even while we vehemently rebel against him.

Our greatest thanks, then, must be to him who is ever more tenacious and determined than even our most deliberate and indomitable efforts against him. Praise God for his hospitality in Christ!