A Heart for Hospitality
by: Allison Hill
At the beginning of this year, I felt the Lord impressing upon my heart to focus on hospitality within my life and home. I had just completed reading through the Bible the previous year and was struck by the thriving community within the New Testament churches. The early church, when it was walking in godliness, was united and loving. It was full of brothers and sisters serving one another in love and affection, sharing out of their abundance, and cheering one another on in the faith. I realized that this type of authentic, godly community is still possible within the church today. Not only is it possible, but commanded, and it can start with a heart that loves hospitality.
As a believer and especially as a pastor’s wife, I feel a great sense of responsibility to be hospitable. In 1 Peter 4:8-9, Peter instructed the early church to love one another earnestly and to “show hospitality to one another without grumbling.” Paul exhorts believers in Romans 12:9-21 to outdo one another in showing honor, seeking to show hospitality, and even feeding and caring for your enemies. One of the qualifications Paul gives for pastors in Titus 1:6-9 includes being hospitable. So we see that hospitality is the way of the believer, and it must be the way of the pastor. Pastors are leading their churches by example. We can be a great help or hindrance to our husbands in this way. I have found that helping my husband by way of hospitality results in us both closing our front door after guests leave with smiles on our faces and thankfulness for those the Lord has placed in our lives.
But what if the idea of having church members or neighbors in your home to share a meal terrifies you? What if you are not a bubbly, social personality who loves entertaining? The good news is the gospel changes us. We are no longer who we once were. As believers, We have new hearts, as well as the very presence of God who dwells within us, empowering Christians to do the work of the Father. If we are commanded to show hospitality, the Lord will graciously give us all we need to accomplish His will in this way.
Hospitality does not have to be something that intimidates us or causes us fear. We are raising three small children ages four, and under, so I understand that hospitality does take some work and even discipline at times with budgeting and time management. It also can look differently dependent upon seasons of life. In my current season of raising young children, I teach a small discipleship group in my home once a week during afternoon naps. They don’t always nap the entire time, and some days one or two don’t nap at all, but I’m learning that deep community grows in day-to-day living and openness even in those moments.
I personally do enjoy cooking and having people over for meals, but in this season I seem to always be reminding myself to keep things simple. I want to have pure motives when opening our home. If I am trying to impress others in any way, I am not showing hospitality as unto the Lord. So I have a few tried and true meals that we rotate, which don’t require me to spend hours in the kitchen to prepare. I can genuinely enjoy our guests and our time together without stressing over complicated dishes or an unnecessary amount of sides.
One other practical way I have found to serve our church body is by hosting dessert fellowships immediately following our quarterly business meetings. The church where we are serving is my husband’s first pastorate. It didn’t take long to realize that some church meetings simply need to be concluded with a slice of cake and a cup of coffee. I usually have several ladies bring a dessert, and we all set them up before our evening service. These fellowships have been something that close our nights with laughter and a sweetness that can so easily be missed.
While I have seen the Lord so clearly at work in our lives by way of hospitality, I have also experienced hurt and disappointment at times. As with anything involving your heart and affections, there is the potential to have your feelings hurt or for things to not go the way you imagined. But even in the midst of pain, the Lord continues to show us that obedience to His word and His plan is always worth it. The blessings we have experienced in knowing our church family more fully have far outweighed any potential negativity. We have grown in patience, kindness, gentleness, and thankfulness by stepping out in faith and trusting the Lord to work on our behalf for our good and His glory.
My husband is currently teaching through the book of James on Sunday mornings. This short letter is full of so many rich truths on practical Christian living. In preparing for this past Sunday, I came across the Message paraphrase of James 3:17-18, which describes a life marked by godly wisdom.
“Real wisdom, God’s wisdom, begins with a holy life and is characterized by getting along with others. It is gentle and reasonable, overflowing with mercy and blessings, not hot one day and cold the next, not two-faced. You can develop a healthy, robust community that lives right with God and enjoy its results only if you do the hard work of getting along with each other, treating each other with dignity and honor.”
May we be people who do the hard work of serving and loving each other, just as Christ has done for us.
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Alli is married to Gentry Hill, and they have three children, Hadley, Dempsey, and Emery. They live in Poteau, Oklahoma, where her husband serves as Senior Pastor of First Baptist Church Poteau. Having both grown up in the homes of pastors, they are passionate about the local church and discipleship. Alli enjoys teaching Bible studies, children’s classes and having people in her home.
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