God’s hospitable nature is a strong supporting theme of God’s missionary nature.

Hospitality and Its Key Theme in Missions

Hospitality is making room for others. In the New Testament, it is the term philoxenia, “loving the stranger” or “loving another,” which is the opposite of xenophobia, “fear of another.” When we back up a bit and look at the nature of God, God is a missionary God. In the Garden of Eden, we see God taking the initiative to cross barriers of fallenness and brokenness and making Himself known. Throughout the Scriptures, we see God taking the initiative to make room for broken sinners, to make His enemies His friends. God’s hospitable nature is a strong supporting theme of God’s missionary nature.

Old Testament Examples of Hospitality

when we welcome and make room for another person, we are actually welcoming God and making room for God

There are a couple of key Old Testament examples of hospitality. One is from Genesis 18, that somewhat serves as a paradigm, where Abraham welcomes the visitors in the beginning of chapter 18. The chapter tells us that Abraham was welcoming the Lord. The first thing that we see in Scripture is that when we welcome and make room for another person, we are actually welcoming God and making room for God first. One of my favorite examples in the Old Testament is the example of Boaz, who was a good law keeper and leader in Israel. He made room for Ruth, who was a stranger. She was a widow, she was vulnerable, and she was not of the people of Israel. She became a believer in Israel’s God. He made room for her in the corner of his field, he made room for her at his table, and ultimately, he redeemed her literally by marrying her and giving her a hope and a future. King David was the great-grandson so she is in the line of Christ. We see Boaz making room for a stranger, which results in redemption and a future.

New Testament Examples of Hospitality

Jesus often was the physical guest who, by proclaiming God’s kingdom and the good news, becomes the spiritual host.

Jesus is the best example when it comes to hospitality. Somebody said, “The Son of Man came eating and drinking” (Matthew 11:19). Especially if we look through Luke’s Gospel, Jesus is at the table as a guest of other people, probably because Jesus did not have a home. The Son of Man had no place to lay His head (Luke 9:58) and so He was, in most cases, the guest and the visitor. He famously invited Himself to Zacchaeus’ house, the tax collector, a sinner. Jesus loved to share table and fellowship, and break all kinds of Jewish cultural customs by sitting at the table with sinners and tax collectors. At the table, we do not know what actually was said, but we see the outcome. Zacchaeus became a true child of Abraham, and that happened at the table as they shared fellowship together. Jesus often was the physical guest who, by proclaiming God’s kingdom and the good news, becomes the spiritual host.

Contemporary Missional Examples of Hospitality

One of my favorite examples of contemporary missional examples is Rosaria Butterfield, who wrote the book The Gospel Comes With the House Key. She talks about radically ordinary hospitality. She tells about her street in Durham, North Carolina, where she keeps the coffee going, keeps meals going, and invites her neighbors in; and sometimes they fire up the grill on the front lawn. It is an atmosphere of welcome, of prayer, and of proclaiming Christ. That is one of my favorite contemporary examples. Another example is seen in the Schaeffer family. I’ve always admired Francis Schaeffer for his philosophy, apologetics, and teaching Christian worldview, but the real foundation of Francis and Edith Schaeffer’s ministry in Switzerland was opening their home to people seeking truth for meals, for conversation, for study, and for time together. So many sceptics and so many people doubting truth entered into a relationship with God because they sat at the table, went on walks, or had conversations with the Schaeffer’s.