The same heart behind hospitality—whether to strangers or close friends—is also seen in the way we care for suffering Christians outside our homes as well, as we love our brethren and the outcast. Our motivation for hospitality should flow from the commands of Scripture, yes, but also from our desire to help and be involved with those around us. Even when your heart is in the right place regarding hospitality, it can still be intimidating. With practice, you’ll grow more comfortable with your guests, and there are tips and tricks that make it easier.

Steam rose from the waffle maker, filling the house with the aroma of brunch. We bustled about, setting the table, imprisoning the dog behind a baby gate, and ensuring toppings and sides were ready. When guests arrived, we sat down at the table, prayed, and dug in to both the food and conversation.
My parents, and many members of the church I grew up in, valued hospitality. We regularly had both believers and unbelievers in our home for brunch or dinner. Since we lived close to the airport, friends or friends-of-friends sometimes dropped in to spend the night or nap on a long layover. Even as an introvert, there was something thrilling about having guests in our home—and not just because in Dubai almost everyone had a fascinating accent and different culture to enjoy. For us, it was always delightful to introduce non-Americans to waffles, tacos, and peanut butter.
Once I had small children of my own, hospitality seemed more intimidating. What if guests thought they had to leave when we put the kids to bed? What if we had to reschedule because of sick children? What if the toddler was having a day-long meltdown? These were the worries that hindered my hospitality, but no matter what stage of life you are in, reasons may always be found not to open your home.
Why Be Hospitable?
If I hadn’t grown up in a community that loved hospitality, I wouldn’t naturally think of having people over for a meal. I can cook, but most of what I make is not that exciting. I love being with others, but too much social interaction exhausts me.
Despite those excuses and the uncertainties children add to the picture, we’ve chosen to prioritize hospitality. This is in part because of the joy it’s brought to our lives but also because Scripture commands us to.
Consider the following verses: “Contribute to the needs of the saints and seek to show hospitality” (Rom. 12:13). “Show hospitality to one another without grumbling” (1 Pet. 4:9). “Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for thereby some have entertained angels unawares” (Heb. 13:2).
The passage from Hebrews is reminiscent of Jesus’s words from Matthew 25:34–36, where he explains that our care for other human beings is like caring for Jesus himself. Contrary to our culture’s idea of having friends over for a dinner party, the focus of hospitality is not entertainment.
Hospitality is simply opening your home to others. Most dictionaries add that it includes a “generous disposition” of the host to guests. This isn’t grudgingly having neighbors over because you “have to.” Nor must the table be set with fine china, cloth napkins, and the best tasting food.
The context of Hebrews 13:1–3 emphasizes the goal of loving our guests when the author writes,

Let brotherly love continue. Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for thereby some have entertained angels unawares. Remember those who are in prison, as though in prison with them, and those who are mistreated, since you also are in the body.

The same heart behind hospitality—whether to strangers or close friends—
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Everyone is confronted with who Jesus is as the resurrection and the life. People either believe that He is the Son of God who came into the world to bring salvation to sinners through faith in His name, or they reject that He is the resurrection and the life and remain a slave to the devil. The question to all men and women is the same that Jesus posed to Martha: “Do you believe this?”

We are continuing our wonderful study of Jesus Christ from the Gospel of John, as we look to answer the question, “Who is Jesus?” from what our Lord said about Himself. In John 6, we saw that Jesus is the bread of life. In John 8-9, we read that Jesus is the light of the world. In John 10, we studied that Jesus is the door of the sheep and that Jesus is the good shepherd. Each one of these pictures Jesus paints complements the others, giving us a full image of who Jesus is, what He has done for us, and what it means for us to believe in Him.
When we look at these four statements Jesus made, we see an ideal picture of the Christian life. Something, though, seems to be missing at this point in our illustration of our Lord and what it means for us to follow Him.
We read in Psalm 23 that the Lord is our shepherd, and we know the first half of the psalm focuses on the shepherd’s care and provision for His sheep. The psalm does not end there, however. The valley of the shadow of death comes as we follow the good shepherd. Having the good shepherd does not mean we avoid that valley, but that Jesus walks through the many challenges, trials, and tribulations of life with us.
That brings us, then, to this important query: How does the Good Shepherd walk with us through the valley of the shadow of death? John 11 speaks to this very question, as the focus on Jesus’ identity now shifts from ‘shepherd’ to ‘resurrection.’ Resurrection presupposes death, because we cannot have resurrection without death.
Jesus makes this statement – I am the resurrection and the life – in the context of the death of His dear friend, Lazarus. Here we see the meaning of Jesus being the resurrection life, and how our good shepherd assists us to navigate and triumph over death itself.
The narrative of Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead takes place in five scenes, helping us understand the Savior as the resurrection and the life.
The opening scene involves Jesus and the disciples.
As we read Jesus’ words and actions in the opening of this narrative, we learn that He is motivated by two factors. First, He is driven by the glory of God. Everything Jesus does tends toward God’s glory. He is most concerned that God be glorified through this circumstance of an illness. Second, He is inspired by love for His people who are in distress and suffering. Jesus is not a god who is indifferent to the plight of others, but He is the living God who loves His people and acts out of love for them.
God always operates in this way toward His people, which is a glorious truth. His motives of displaying His glory and loving us are never at odds. We often do not see how what He is doing either glorifies Him or is a result of His love toward us, just as the peoples’ reactions depicted in the narrative. Nothing about Jesus’ response to Lazarus’ illness makes sense from a human perspective. John wants us to understand that Jesus’ plans often confound us because His goals are much greater than ours. The confusion, though, is never the end of the story!
The second scene focuses on Jesus and Martha.
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God alone is sovereign in the response to our humble presentation of the gospel. No pushing, cajoling, arm-twisting, pressuring, or hard sell is needed. None! This truth should bring great peace and freedom to every believer who has ever invested in another by sharing the gospel of Christ. What God desires of his followers is faithfulness, just plant and water.

This is a story about evangelism. But it just might be different than any you’ve read about the intentional act of sharing the good news of Jesus Christ with an unbeliever.
Picture a kind-hearted woman in her 70s. We’ll call her Mary. She’s a woman who did not grow up in an active, vibrant, Bible-preaching faith community. Her experience was staid and stale, so lifeless she would rarely if ever talk about faith with her friends—and assuredly never with a total stranger. Who would invite a friend into a faith experience when you’re not even convinced that your own spiritual heartbeat has a healthy pulse? The faith in Christ that Mary knew and experienced was understated, dare I say bland, and therefore unequivocally private.
Yet the words of Jesus found in Matthew 28, commonly referred to as the Great Commission, are as true for Mary as they are for missionaries living and serving around the globe right now. “And Jesus came and said to them, ‘All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you.’”
God commissions all his people to tell others about the love and grace they have found through faith in Jesus Christ, so that they too might become his disciples—people who confess Jesus as Lord, walk faithfully in his ways, and become lifelong learners of God’s truth, all because they  experienced a heart transformation that causes them to walk in submission to the teachings of Christ.
Who Will Tell Them?
Today, Mary is now at a much different place on her faith journey. God called her to leave the staid and stale behind. In its place is a church that loves God passionately, preaches the gospel consistently, and encourages believers to read their Bible regularly and walk in the ways of Scripture. The vibrancy of her newfound faith community has quickened her heart. The growth that she is experiencing on the journey, alongside other faithful believers, is something that she deeply longs for others to experience. I know this because she’s shared this with me with moist eyes. Her spiritual heartbeat is healthy.
Recently, as she was spending time with a group of long-standing friends, Mary was presented with an unexpected opportunity to fulfill her call to the great commission. In the middle of their lunch, she sensed the leading of the Holy Spirit to do something that she’d never done before—tell others about Jesus.
She admitted that in the moment she became incredibly nervous. (Which, in my experience, is completely normal.)
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