How can we ensure our communities reflect Christ-like hospitality today? The stark window of Judges 19:15 “ So they stopped to spend the night in Gibeah, and the Levite went in and sat down in the city square, but no one took them into his home for the night.” What went wrong in Gibeah • A covenant town ignored God-given standards of love for the traveler (Leviticus 19:34). • Refusal to open the door exposed deeper moral rot that would later erupt into violence (vv. 22-26). • God preserved the record as a sober warning: withholding hospitality invites societal collapse. Hospitality re-anchored in Jesus • Matthew 25:35 – “I was a stranger and you welcomed Me.” Christ identifies Himself with the guest. • John 13:34 – His “new command” to love moves hospitality from custom to covenant obligation. • Hebrews 13:2 – “Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for by so doing some have entertained angels without knowing it.” The unseen realm still watches. • Romans 12:13 – “Share with the saints who are in need. Practice hospitality.” A present-tense lifestyle, not a one-time gesture. Principles that safeguard Christ-like hospitality today 1. Recognize every person as an image-bearer. Treating someone as disposable insults the Creator (Genesis 1:27). 2. Keep margin in your schedule and budget. Hospitality requires time, space, and resources set aside intentionally (Proverbs 3:27-28). 3. Welcome without partiality. James 2:1-4 condemns seating the wealthy up front while ignoring the poor. 4. Link meals with ministry. Jesus “came eating and drinking” (Luke 7:34); a table is often the doorway to gospel conversations. 5. Protect the vulnerable. True hospitality provides safety—opposite of Gibeah’s threat. Guard children, women, and the marginalized while you open your home (Psalm 82:3-4). 6. Involve the whole church family. Elders model (1 Timothy 3:2), but every believer shares the call (1 Peter 4:9). 7. Remember the ultimate Host. Revelation 19:9 pictures the Marriage Supper of the Lamb. Each earthly invitation previews that eternal banquet. Practical action steps • Keep a designated “guest fund” for groceries, bedding, and transport. • Schedule a monthly open-house meal; invite neighbors you seldom speak to. • Offer your spare room—or couch—for missionaries, students, or displaced families. • Partner with local shelters: cook, clean, donate. • Create a church directory of willing hosts for emergency stays. • Teach children to greet newcomers; hospitality is discipled, not inherited. The witness that results When believers swing doors wide open: • Strangers glimpse God’s kindness (Titus 3:4). • Divisions crumble as shared tables replace suspicion (Ephesians 2:14). • The gospel gains credibility; outsiders “glorify God on the day of visitation” (1 Peter 2:12). • The church stands in sharp contrast to Gibeah’s darkness, shining the light of the One who “came to seek and to save the lost” (Luke 19:10). |
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