In a few short weeks, our faith communities will embark on a significant journey that will shape our future. We are about to welcome new pastors or reaffirm our current pastor’s return. This is not just a routine event but a profound opportunity to extend hospitality and embrace.
Hospitality is a central theme and thread throughout the biblical narrative. My favorite biblical character, Peter, accepts the hospitality of Simon the Tanner in Joppa (Acts 9:43 and 10:6), and Peter extends hospitality to Cornelius’ messengers even though he is already a guest in someone else’s home. The Gospel writer Luke draws our attention to the custom of hospitality throughout his writings.
The word hospitality in the Bible comes from two Greek words. The first word means “love”, and the second means, “strangers.” It is a word that means “love of strangers.” Hospitality is, in essence, love in action.
Hospitality is the flesh and muscle on the bones of love. Welcoming new pastors (or reaffirming your returning pastor) occurs most effectively when we move to a posture of embrace. Why make such a big deal? An aspect of human beings is that we operate in this world as experts at exclusion because we prefer the comfortable and familiar neighbor over the “stranger” whose presence may not only challenge us but also completely remake our world, which is always a risk with welcoming new congregations into our hearts or welcoming new pastors into our community.
As the body of Christ, we will be afforded grace to refute the notion that “hospitality” should be reduced to friendliness and private entertaining. Through intentional welcome, might we convey to visitors the sense that community life together is essential and can’t be reduced to a polite “glad you’re here” but should be marked with fresh expressions of hope, anticipation, joy, and affirming acts of love?
Christian hospitality is how God re-creates us through Holy Spirit-inspired acts in the places, and with people, we are gifted by God’s grace.
View helpful and imaginative ways to welcome pastors→
