Hospitality

Do we share our love easily with someone different from us? We pride ourselves on maintaining a status quo of acceptable friends, but what about others in various difficult situations? 

We might not know our neighbours or even like our neighbours, but we need to hear God’s call and allow it to guide our faith and actions to love our neighbours on the streets, in schools, at work, and in our churches. 

While on vacation in South Carolina, my wife and I worshiped at First Zion Baptist Church. And though it was immediately clear that we were visitors in a strange land, this little church with a big heart welcomed us. . . 

I was struck dumb, my mind racing. What had I done or said to evoke such a question? I don’t remember how the conversation concluded. But I do remember its impact on me.

This welcome statement challenges me to reconsider whether there are people I’ve labeled as beyond God’s reach and therefore not truly welcome to worship...

The Apostle Paul was all in favor of hospitality. But his reasons for urging believers to be hospitable were visionary. He uses Romans 12 to tell people how to express it in their daily lives.