Who and How to Show Hospitality
The first step to start practicing hospitality biblically is to change your mindset. Rather than thinking of hospitality as a noun, an event, a specific party, think of hospitality as a verb. The Apostle Paul in Romans 12:13 uses a hunting word: “pursue” hospitality. Chase hospitality down. Run after hospitality. Take aim and diligently follow hospitality.
Last week, we took some time to define Biblical hospitality. We looked at the Biblical definition of hospitality and how Christians should understand hospitality biblically. Today, we are going to continue our discussion by focusing on the command and opportunities we have to pursue hospitality. Our culture has perfected the consumer good of hospitality. A western definition of hospitality is very much observable in the hotel and service industry. Hospitality can seemingly be purchased with a 5 star hotel with room service, comfortable beds, free robs and a gorgeous view. Thankfully, the Bible has much to say regarding what hospitality is in practice for the individual and wider Christian community. Let’s start by looking at 1 Peter chapter 4.
8 Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins. 9 Offer hospitality to one another without grumbling. 10 Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms. 11 If anyone speaks, they should do so as one who speaks the very words of God. If anyone serves, they should do so with the strength God provides, so that in all things God may be praised through Jesus Christ. To him be the glory and the power for ever and ever. Amen. (1 Peter 4:8-11)
Who?
Hospitality today is often delegated as something that women do. It is often conceptualized as a noun. A thing that only certain people should do because they are good or gifted at it. That is not how the Bible speaks about hospitality. Hospitality is not a gift some of us have, it is a command for all of God’s People. Notice how Peter is speaking broadly in verse 8 about love? Then later on in verse 9 connects love to hospitality. If hospitality is NOT a command for the whole Christian community, then neither is love. That would certainly be contradictory to a whole host of Old Testament and New Testament passages. Love is commanded, and one of the manifestations of love is hospitality.
There are some of us who are gifted in hospitality and some of us have to work a little bit harder. Just because something is hard, is not a valid reason for excusing ourselves from the command. 1 Peter 4 says we are to love each other deeply. As a body of Christ we are commanded to love one another and one of those aspects of loving others is through hospitality. Showing hospitality to others is a command from God, which can be really hard for some (introverts like me). Yet, despite the difficulty, demonstrating (embodying), offering hospitality is a central byproduct of the Christian life.
Elders are called to be exemplars of the Christian faith in their living. The two New Testament lists that speak extensively and prescriptively regarding the qualifications for servant leadership in the body of Christ include hospitality (1 Timothy 3, Titus 1). Think about that for a moment. In lists that are primarily about moral makeup and character, hospitality is included. Morality, from the 1st century apostolic teachings, included how a person treated an outsider. It was immoral for a Christian to neglect hospitality. This doesn’t just mean Elders are the only ones called to hospitality. This is an argument that strengthens the general command for all of God’s people. The Elder is to demonstrate and live in a manner that points others in the way of living that is Christ honoring. All the church should follow the example of the elders in so far as they are living exemplary lives for Christ. Therefore, as Elders are living in a Christ-like way by pursuing hospitality, so too the general Christian community is to live in a morally upright way by also pursuing hospitality.
We can look at verse 9 and see that Peters tells us to “offer hospitality without grumbling.” This makes a lot of sense when we see hospitality as a command rather than a gift relegated to a designated specialist part of the Christian community. If hospitality was only for those who were good and enjoyed being hospitable, Peter wouldn’t have needed to add in this remark about not grumbling. We have many examples in our culture of what grumbling looks like when showing hospitality, one of which is Al Bundy (The father from the 80s and 90s American Sitcom). He was hardly the most hospitable TV character. You can see the grumbling about hospitality in many online gathering spaces (like Facebook groups, Twitter, Reddit) as well. People don’t want to have others into their homes, so instead they go somewhere else. They allow somewhere else, or someone else to offer the hospitality, typically a restaurant, coffee shop or institute. God has called us to live by a different ethos than the world, to offer hospitality without grumbling.
As we continue to read Peter, we can see that we are told to use our gifts well (verse 10). Hospitality is a gift. Some of us are gifted undeniably with this gift. Yet the call to pursue hospitality is not negated by the reality that some are gifted specifically. All pure Christian hospitality originates with a motivation that comes from thankfulness in what God has given. We show love for God by extending generous charity towards others out of the abundance that God has given to us. Notice that Peter isn’t talking about physical things at the moment.
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Race is Real and Not a Social Construct
Christians do not need to adopt the Neo-Marxist theory of race as a social construct in order to do battle against the CRT of Neo-Marxism. It is better to recognize the truth that distinct races do exist in objective reality, and that good and bad attributes become characteristics of races as a result of the religion that dominates them. This includes both black and white.
After reading a number of books on Critical Race Theory (CRT) by evangelical and reformed authors, I have become convinced that sometimes good men get it wrong. Some of the writers I respect the most are saying that the existence of distinct human races is not real. It is just a social construct.
What is a social construct? It is a convention adopted by society that has no basis in objective reality. For example, Peter Pan is a social construct. We all know who he is, but he is not real. He exists in the mind for entertainment purposes. A dollar bill is a social construct. It only has value because society has given it value. In reality, it is only paper and ink.
Social constructs are usually identified with Neo-Marxist thinking. For example, Neo-Marxists say that binary sexual identification is not real. The concept of sex that separates humans into male and female is a social construct. They push the concept that, in reality, there are a multitude of sexes (they prefer the term gender). As another example, the traditional family is a social construct. The idea of a male and female parent with children is a convention created by society to oppress other legitimate families like those who have two males as parents.
I am hearing from my respected brethren that race is not a biblical term, and therefore the concept of race does not exist. At the same time, these same men will say that there is only one race, and that is the human race. The human race includes all of us because we all come from the same Adam. There is no difference between us other than the degree of melanin (pigment) in the skin.
It seems rather contradictory to me to assert that the concept of race is not real, but then to turn around and use the term race to describe all of the descendants of Adam. There are no races, but yet, there is one race.
It is true that the Bible does not use the word race in any English translation. More common terms are nation, tribe, clan, and peoples. However, the Bible does not use the term “banana” either, but that does not mean it is wrong to use the word banana. Historically, mankind has been divided into races. Three prominent races are whites, blacks, and Asians (with variations in-between). They have differed in more than pigmentation of the skin. They have been associated with not only the color of the skin, but with the texture of the hair, the shape of the eyes, and even in physical speed and agility. If you have ever watched a college NCAA basketball game, you will see what I mean. I don’t believe that speaking this way is racist. It may be more racist to avoid reality and to say that all athletes are the same in ability whether white or black. We need to learn to be honest.
Race has been associated with the word nations or peoples who have a common geographical boundary, a common language, and a common religion. This is certainly not necessarily true of our experience here in the United States, but our nation is a rather new experiment in societies, and it appears to be disintegrating rather quickly. The United States was once a Christian nation, and this common religion provided a basis for the unity of the various races among us. We have changed religions and therefore we no longer have any basis for peace. A nation without a common religion will not long endure, just as a nation without a geographical border or a common language will not long endure.
Now, although we all do descend from Adam, and we all are sinners needing a Savior, we do still exist as distinct races (who probably have more in common than not). Jeremiah identified the Ethiopian as a man who could not change the color of his skin (12:23). Just as important as noting the color of his skin, the prophet noted that the man was an Ethiopian (Cushite) who probably lived south of Egypt, and who could be identified with a nation that had geographical boundaries, a separate language, and a separate religion. In the New Testament the Ethiopian eunuch became a Christian, which certainly teaches us that the gospel came as a blessing for all nations and races.
The Book of Revelation speaks of the New Jerusalem as being a dwelling place for the nations and the kings of the earth (21:24). Nations will not disappear, even in the very presence of God himself. All the distinct nations along with their kings shall be one in Christ.
God allowed various distinctions to develop among the descendants of Adam. God loves diversity in colors, flowers, fruits, the two sexes, and even races. However, absent from most discussions today about race is the fact that nations (and often the distinct races that define them) will always adopt a particular religion. This religion will have the major impact on the character that nation. For example, while our white American forefathers were writing the very complicated United States Constitution, blacks in Africa, who were sold as slaves by blacks to white Europeans and Americans, could not read or write. Why? The grace of God! Christianity conquered the continent of Europe and not Africa.
Christians do not need to adopt the Neo-Marxist theory of race as a social construct in order to do battle against the CRT of Neo-Marxism. It is better to recognize the truth that distinct races do exist in objective reality, and that good and bad attributes become characteristics of races as a result of the religion that dominates them. This includes both black and white. Most of the average guys that I know in the pew think that this “Neo-Marxist social construct invention” is nonsensical. There is nothing to be gained by denying the obvious.
Larry E. Ball is a retired minister in the Presbyterian Church in America and is now a CPA. He lives in Kingsport, Tennessee. -
When the City of Man Creaks
Written by A.W. Workman |
Tuesday, January 10, 2023
When the city of man begins to creak and groan we may naturally feel a good deal of fear or disorientation. I don’t think there’s any way around this. But this creaking is also an opportunity for humility, for renewed faith in the New Jerusalem, and for identification with the historical and global Church. In this way, no matter if the cracks get worse or if they get patched, we will be able to maintain hope, to serve our brothers and sisters and even the perishing, and to point to what is coming.Eating out just hasn’t felt worth it these past couple months that we’ve been back in the US. While restaurants in the states are open again, most are understaffed and alarmingly expensive. The lack of staff usually means pretty poor service, and even the quality of food usually strikes us as not what it used to be. Hearing others in the US voice similar sentiments means it’s not just those of us who have been living overseas who notice these differences. The food service industry is creaking, trying to lurch back to what it was before the pandemic. There is this sense that—convenience though it is—we can’t count it like we used to.
Food service is not the only system struggling to regain its pre-pandemic efficiency. International air travel has still not recovered either. We’ve never had the kind of travel difficulties that we’ve experienced over this past year. Even business behemoths like Amazon seem past their, ahem, prime. More seriously, crime has also skyrocketed in many American cities, with the understanding in some places that if you are the victim of certain crimes, you are on your own.
The strange thing about all this for highly-educated millennials like us is that we’ve hardly ever known the systems around us to get worse, perhaps with the exception of our elected government. By and large, we’ve only known the infrastructure and services offered in the West to (eventually) get faster, more efficient, and more user-friendly. This was also the worldview of our parents’ generation. Progress in the systems we rely on for life necessities or conveniences has been assumed. The pandemic and its aftermath have challenged this assumption and, whether temporary or long-term, the systems around us are showing their weakness.
Systems don’t last forever. The prophecy of the twelve eagles was right—Rome would fall. The Roman legions would leave places like Britain in 409 and never come back. Which meant the structures of empire that the Romanized residents of Londinium (London) relied upon would have slowly but surely broken down. A thousand years later the Portuguese would successfully sail to India – thereby causing the economic collapse of the Central Asian silk road. Trade routes that were kept safe by the wealth and power of regional regimes would become frequented by violent robbers and be slowly abandoned by the caravans. Empires rise. Empires decline. At some point a certain generation realizes that things are breaking faster than they can be repaired, and life is likely going to get a lot worse before it someday gets better.
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The Breath of God
The Holy Spirit of God, who first hovered over the waters of creation, spoke through prophets and Apostles, and was poured out at Pentecost as a witness to Christ’s promise of another Paraclete (comforter, sustainer, equipper, counselor). Jesus continues His ministry to His disciples by means of the Spirit as His personal, representative agent. The Spirit’s work, at all times, is to draw attention to Christ.
Creation
The ancient hymn Veni Creator Spiritus, composed in the eighth century and part of the Roman breviary of Vespers, is a hymn extolling the Holy Spirit. John Dryden’s magnificent translation renders the opening lines this way: “Creator Spirit, by whose aid the world’s foundations first were laid.”
The activity of the Holy Spirit as Creator finds expression in the second verse of the Bible! Describing the undeveloped creation as “without form and void” and in “darkness,” the author describes the Spirit of God as “hovering over the face of the waters” (Gen. 1:2). Forming a bookend at the close of this opening chapter of Scripture comes the pronouncement of the creation of man: “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness” (Gen. 1:26). The use of the pronoun “our” is a reference to the triune Godhead, which includes the Holy Spirit. From the very beginning, the Holy Spirit has been the executive of the creative activity of God. In the creation of the world, as well as the creation of man in particular, the Holy Spirit was the divine agent.
Pentecost
At the dawning of the new covenant era, Pentecost would be demonstrative of a similar work of creation, or, better, re-creation. Fallen humanity is to be transformed by the Spirit to a degree unknown under the old covenant.
In an action that was meant to be symbolic of Pentecost, Jesus, in an incident that followed His resurrection, illustrated Pentecost’s significance by breathing on His disciples and saying, “Receive the Holy Spirit” (John 20:22). The action is a reminder of the opening sequence of Genesis: the Holy Spirit, the “breath of God,” is the agent of the “breath of life” (Gen 2:7; John 20:22). As God breathed life into Adam, so Jesus, “the last Adam,” breathes new life into His people. Jesus becomes, in Paul’s language, “a life-giving spirit” (1 Cor. 15:45). Pentecost was an epochal event, signifying the dawning of a new era.
Midway between creation and re-creation, Pentecost is the point after which it can be said, “the end of the ages has dawned” (1 Cor. 10:11). Historically, at nine o’clock in the morning, the Spirit gave the disciples a clear understanding of Jesus’ role in redemption and consummation, equipping them with extraordinary boldness in making Jesus known. The gift of tongues that accompanied the outpouring of the Spirit enabled folk from different countries to hear the gospel in their own languages. In an instant, the curse of Babel was arrested (Gen. 11:7–9). Spirit empowered disciples were thus motivated and enabled to take the message of reconciliation to the nations of the world in the certainty that God would accomplish that which He promised (Luke 24:48; Acts 1:4). What appears to be a blessing for the gentiles proves to be a judgment upon Israel. The very sound of the gospel in languages other than their own confirmed the covenantal threat of God issued in Isaiah: “For by people of strange lips and with a foreign tongue the Lord will speak to this people” (Isa. 28:11).
What was to be a blessing for the nations proved to be the very instrument of hardening to Israel, until the “fullness” of the gentiles is brought in (Rom. 11:25).
With this interpretation of Pentecost, repetition cannot be envisioned. Though history records many “outpourings” of the Spirit in extraordinary displays of revival, none of these, strictly speaking, is a repetition of Pentecost. Pentecost marked the major turning point from old to new covenantal administrations. The days of type and shadow were replaced by days of fulfillment and reality.
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