BEING HOSPITABLE ISN’T ABOUT US

If you are afraid of hospitality – that you don’t have much personal strength or personal wealth – good. Then you won’t intimidate anybody. You will depend all the more on God’s grace. You will look all the more to the work of Christ and not your own work. And what a blessing people will get in your simple home or little apartment. – John Piper

Living in America, there are certain expectations put upon people when it comes to their HOMES. Nice dwellings are often coveted and idolized. Families are willing to go into an incredible amount of debt for nicer places. A beautiful home is often see as a sign of SUCCESS, WORTH, and STATUS.

I saw on a FB AD (news article thingy) that Beyonce just purchased a 200 million dollar home.

As Christians, we know it’s not a sin to have a nice home but we also know that we are NOT to store up treasures here on earth but in Heaven.

¹⁹ “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. ²⁰ But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. ²¹ For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. – Matthew 6

Regardless of what kind of home we live in, as Christians, we are commanded to be HOSPITABLE.

Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for thereby some have entertained angels unawares. – Hebrews 13:2

Show hospitality to one another without grumbling. – 1 Peter 4:9

Contribute to the needs of the saints and seek to show hospitality. – Romans 12:13

But hospitable, a lover of good, self-controlled, upright, holy, and disciplined.- Titus 1:8

Do not neglect to do good and to share what you have, for such sacrifices are pleasing to God. – Hebrews 13:16

We cannot let our HOME or what we HAVE be the FOCUS of our HOSPITALITY.

If we’re taking a PRIDE in our belongings, what we can offer to our guests, and in our home itself then it takes the reason for being hospitable away from SERVICE and makes it about SHOWCASING.

We should never want to be show-offs as believers. Everything we have belongs to God and should be considered BLESSINGS.

What we own should be used for HIS GLORY and not ours.

Of course, this is a HEART issue. A Christian who has been blessed with a lovely home and a large income should never be automatically seen as prideful or sinful. God often blessed His children with ABUNDANCE in Scripture. Abraham, Jacob, and others had an IMMENSE AMOUNT OF WEALTH. The sin would come back to the HEART and HOW the blessings are USED: for self or for God?

THE OTHER SIDE OF THIS IS FEELING SHAME IN NOT HAVING A NICE HOME AND THINGS.

Women may not want to open up their homes to others because they’re embarrassed by their house and belongings. This usually comes from a place of COMPARISON.

And ladies, I have TOTALLY been here.

I don’t live in a huge home with an open floor plan and HGTV styling. We have mismatched pieces of furniture and old wood cabinets. Our carpet is stained on the stairs and GASP – We have popcorn ceilings!!!! 😉

It’s soooooo easy to feel “less than” when we compare to what others have. We may not want to be as OPEN with others because of our financial circumstances. But do you see how centered in SELF this is? Because if God blessed you with wealth, would you still feel ashamed? Nope. You’d probably be EXCITED to show your new home and new stuff to people. THIS IS NOT THE HEART OF CHRIST.

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Think of Jesus Himself. HE IS GOD. ONE WITH THE FATHER AND THE SPIRIT. CREATOR OF ALL THINGS. HE IS KING! And yet, He didn’t come to earth born of an earthly prince and princess but a POOR carpenter and his wife. He wasn’t even born in a HOME but a cave type barn: smelly, dirty, infested with bacteria I am sure. And this wasn’t random – it was SOVEREIGN.

For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you by his poverty might become rich. – 2 Corinthians 8:9

HOSPITALITY NEEDS TO BE ABOUT SERVING OTHERS

Regardless of what we do or do not have, where we do or do not live, what we can or cannot serve….WE ARE COMMANDED TO BE HOSPITABLE.

Opening our home to others is a wonderful gift and a neglected discipline in the church. But we easily forget the whole point of hospitality. Think of it this way: Good hospital-ity is making your home a hospital. The idea is that friends and family and the wounded and weary people come to your home and leave helped and refreshed. And yet, too often hospitality is a nerve-wracking experience for hosts and guests alike. Instead of setting our guests at ease, we set them on edge by telling them how bad the food will be, and what a mess the house is, and how sorry we are for the kids’ behavior. We get worked up and crazy busy in all the wrong ways because we are more concerned about looking good than with doing good. So instead of our encouraging those we host, they feel compelled to encourage us with constant reassurances that everything is just fine. Opening our homes takes time, but it doesn’t have to take over our lives. Christian hospitality has much more to do with good relationships than with good food. There is a fine line between care and cumber. In many instances, less ado would serve better. – Kevin DeYoung

Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. And God is able to bless you abundantly, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work. – 2 Corinthians 9:6-8

Let’s keep the FOCUS on GOD and on OTHERS. Serve what you CAN. If you can serve a feast, be sure you’re not serving in order to be praised but to honor the Lord and HIS BLESSINGS upon you. If you can only provide crackers and water, then SERVE those crackers with JOY! This will be done by the Spirit working in you. SEEK HIM. PRAY FOR THIS JOY.

In Mark 12, we read about the “Widow’s Offering.” She gave so little but it was all she had…and she gave it to Christ. She had no husband to provide for her. This was a MASSIVE offering for her.

⁴³ Calling his disciples to him, Jesus said, “Truly I tell you, this poor widow has put more into the treasury than all the others. ⁴⁴ They all gave out of their wealth; but she, out of her poverty, put in everything—all she had to live on.”

WE NEED TO BE WILLING TO GIVE, LADIES.

Give of whatever we have and the most IMPORTANT thing we are to give is THE GOSPEL.

For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. – Romans 1:16

So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ. – Romans 10:17

Because we often associate hospitality with our homes, here are some ways in which we can use those homes for the good of others. We can offer our homes for:

– List By Curtis Thomas

I also want to encourage you to reach out to your physical neighbors. Invite them in. Safely, of course. 😉 But welcome them into your home and get to know them. Even before you possibly have them over for a meal or a visit, maybe make them cookies or a dish? You could even do a service for them like mow their lawn, take their trash down to the curb. BE A SERVANT. SHINE YOUR LIGHT AS A SERVANT – A BELIEVER AND FOLLOWER OF JESUS CHRIST, LORD AND KING.

31 So whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God. 31 So eat your meals heartily, not worrying about what others say about you – you’re eating to God’s glory, after all, not to please them. As a matter of fact, do everything that way, heartily and freely to God’s glory. – 1 Corinthians 10

Serve wholeheartedly, as if you were serving the Lord, not people, – Ephesians 6:7

Do your best dear sister with WHAT YOU HAVE.

BE A BLESSING.

THINK ON CHRIST.

SERVE.

But if anyone has the world’s goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does God’s love abide in him? Little children, let us not love in word or talk but in deed and in truth. – 1 John 3:17-18

“I have one desire now – to live a life of reckless abandon for the Lord, putting all my energy and strength into it.”
― Elisabeth Elliot