True Hospitality

What is that...exactly?

It's something that we're called to provide. We're even cautioned not to avoid it because in exercising hospitality, some have hosted angels without knowing it. It surely sounds a loving thing to do, but what -- exactly -- did the Bible writers intend when they exhorted us to be hospitable?

Is hospitality a party? A cook-out? A sports-centered get-together? A dinner invitation for entertainment's sake? Are we to imagine that deacons and elders are actually bound by a command to entertain the members of their flock? Can you imagine the strain of such a requirement?

Or maybe, true biblical hospitality is more about meeting a need? Specifically, the need of the traveler. Our family has never been invited to a meal by any of our church pastors, but we've been welcomed and fed by another church's pastor every time we're in their town far away, and it has been a blessing, spiritually and practically speaking. I doubt though, that many of their own congregants have been afforded the same privilege...you know, there being only 24 hours in a day and 7 days in a week and all.

I got to thinking about this as the girls and I have been reading through the Little House on the Prairie series...again. Toward the end of On the Shores of Silver Lake, Pa is out of town and Ma and her girls are alone in the surveyor's shack. They are the only folks enduring the hard winter for who-knows-how-many miles around.

The trend started before Pa left, and only picked up momentum once he did leave: traveling men were looking for room and board. Rough men. Working men. Drunken, rioting men that caused Ma so much concern that she commanded her daughters upstairs to the loft with a strong board to place across the inside of the door as a barrier. Eventually, she did have to charge a small token for her service, and when the weather was no longer dangerous, she stopped hosting overnight boarders inside the home. But the point is that she never sent anyone away that had a need that she could fill.

And neither did Abraham and Sarah -- they pulled together a meal for their visitors. Lot protected his visitors with all he had. Rebekah's father welcomed the weary servant sent by Isaac's father. Laban sheltered Jacob when he was on the run.

Today, we've become civilized to the point that there isn't much call for this biblical example of hospitality. We have hotels and restaurants for strangers to get what they need. It's probably a detriment to our individual edification that we don't need to get our own hands dirty or risk our safety because we have big government and non-profit organizations to accomplish the task. And while a part of me is glad that our society is organized in this way, I long to be hospitable...

I want to be prepared. I want to be one of the Lord's "go-to" girls when one of my Sisters or Brothers has a need. I'm not talking about being the Hostess with the Most-est: preparing dinner for friends, or having a neighbor over to lunch on chicken salad sandwiches -- that's all superfluous. Fun. Good practice, perhaps. But not entirely necessary -- not meeting a need. Dare I say, not the brand of hospitality that the Bible calls me to.

So, all this to say that I think I'll try to clear my dining table of 5 years worth of pictures, and get myself a good crock-pot menu plan. That way, the next time I go to church and introduce myself to the visitors who don't yet know a soul in the room (or maybe the city), I can say,

"Hey, would you like to follow us down the street to our house for lunch and fellowship?"

instead of just,

"It was nice meeting you; I hope you'll come again. Buh-bye."