What Does the Bible Say?

Jesus said, "I was a stranger and you welcomed me." (Matthew 25:35)

Hospitality is a mark of Christian discipleship, a quality of Christian community, a concrete expression of commitment to grow in Christ-likeness by seeing ourselves as part of the community of faith, "not to be served but to serve" (Matthew 20:28). By practicing hospitality, we become part of God's invitation to new life, showing people that God in Christ values them and loves them.

Hospitality streams through Scripture. In Deuteronomy, God reminds the people of Israel to welcome the stranger, the sojourner, the wanderer. Why? "For you were strangers in the land of Egypt" (Deuteronomy 10:19). We, too, were once strangers to the faith, residing outside the community where we now find rich resources of meaning, grace, hope, friendship, and service. We belong to the body of Christ because of someone's hospitality. Someone invited us, encouraged us, received us, and helped us feel welcome—a parent, a spouse, a friend, a pastor, or even a stranger. If we had not felt welcomed and supported in some measure, we would not have stayed.

Jesus says, "I was a stranger and you welcomed me" (Matthew 25:35). "Just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me" (Matthew 25:40). We would change our behaviors toward strangers if we lived as if we really believed this! Taking Jesus seriously changes congregational behavior.

At every turn, the disciples seem ready to draw boundaries and distinctions that keep people at a distance from

"For you were strangers in the land of Egypt." (Deuteronomy 10:19)

Jesus. They have a thousand reasons to ignore, avoid, and sometimes thwart the approach of people, reminding Jesus that some of these people are too young, too sick, too sinful, too old, too Roman, too blind, or too Gentile to deserve his attention.

But Jesus teaches, "Whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me" (Matthew 18:5). Hospitality has us seeing people as Jesus sees them and seeing Jesus in the people God brings before us. But Jesus' hospitality extends beyond the cordial welcome we offer when someone appears at the threshold of the church and then feel good that we've completed our obligations.

"Whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me." (Matthew 18:5)

Jesus tells a parable about himself, saying, "Then [the king] said to his slaves ... 'Go therefore into the main streets, and invite everyone you find to the wedding banquet'" (Matthew 22:8-9).

Paul implores the followers of Christ to practice an active hospitality. "Welcome one another, therefore, just as Christ has welcomed you, for the glory of God" (Romans 15:7). The grace received in Christ places upon Christians the joyful gift and challenging task of offering others the same welcome they themselves have received. The letter of Hebrews cautions, "Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for by doing that some have entertained angels without knowing it" (Hebrews 13:2).

"Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for by doing that some have entertained angels without knowing it." (Hebrews 13:2)

God intends for people to live their lives interlaced by the grace of God with others, to know the gift and task of community from birth to death, to have the interpretive structures of faith to sustain them through times of joy and periods of desperate agony, to have the perspective of eternity, and to "take hold of the life that really is life" (1 Timothy 6:19).

The early Methodists practiced hospitality in ways so radical in their day that many traditional church leaders found their activities offensive. Founder of Methodism, John Wesley preached to thousands on roadsides and in open fields in order to reach coal miners, field laborers, factory workers, the underclass, and the poorest of the poor. He invited them into community and nurtured in them a strong sense of belonging as he organized societies and classes for mutual accountability, support, and care.

According to Wesley, before people ever consciously come to faith, they have inner desires for relationship to God that are stifled, forgotten, neglected, ignored, or denied. By God's grace, people may be more ready than we realize to accept the invitation and initiative of Christ that comes through gracious hospitality. Through the practice of Radical Hospitality, the early Methodists as well as the church today express the gracious welcome of God in Christ. God seeks relationship to people. Just as God's grace triggers in people the interest and eagerness for relationship, God's grace shapes the invitational posture of congregations to reach out in love.

What Is Radical Hospitality?

Romans 15:7:

"Welcome one another, therefore, just as Christ has welcomed you, for the glory of God."

Radical means "arising from the source" and describes practices that are rooted in the life of Christ and that radiate into the lives of others. Radical means "drastically different from ordinary practice, outside the norm"; and so it provokes practices that exceed expectations, that go the second mile, that take welcoming the stranger to the max. By radical, don't think wild-eyed, out of control, or in your face. Instead, imagine people offering the absolute utmost of themselves, their creativity, their abilities, and their energy to offer the gracious invitation and reception of Christ to others.

Churches characterized by Radical Hospitality are not just friendly and courteous, passively receiving visitors warmly. Instead, they exhibit a restlessness because they realize so many people do not have a relationship to a faith community. They desire to learn about inviting and welcoming more people and younger people and more diverse people into their congregation.

Churches practicing Radical Hospitality offer a surprising and unexpected quality of depth and authenticity in their caring for the stranger.

In these churches, newcomers intuitively sense that:

• I'm being invited with them into the body of Christ.

The word radical intensifies expectations and magnifies the central importance of this invitational element of our life together in Christ. Radical Hospitality goes to the extremes; and we do it joyfully, not superficially, because we know our invitation is the invitation of Christ.

Aspiring to Radical Hospitality, following Jesus' example of gathering people into the body of Christ, inviting them to the banquet of God's gracious love requires intentional focus on those outside the community of faith. Jesus' example of hospitality demands an unceasingly invitational posture that we carry with us into our world of work and leisure and into our practice of neighborliness and community service. It involves seeing ourselves...