I don’t know about you, but the word “hospitality” always makes me think of women with messy aprons bent over a dish of mac and cheese, their families chattering in the background. For a long time, I immediately zoned out upon hearing this word.
My “I’m a kid” excuse for looking over hospitality has evolved into an “I still live at home” mentality, the idea that, because I don’t have a HOME that’s mine, I can’t be hospitable.
But that’s so wrong. That’s not hospitality.
Church is not a building. And neither is hospitality.
Jesus himself said, “Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head” (Luke 9:58). He didn’t have a home, but none of us would say that he wasn’t hospitable.
If you have a heart, you can be hospitable. A Bible study from She Reads Truth on hospitality said that”the heart of hospitality” is “finding people on the margins and bringing them in.”
It’s nice to think of cozy images of people inviting others over for food and coffee and games . . . and not to say that that’s always a comfortable image, but I believe that it often is. Especially in the South. It’s just something we do. “Come on over for some barbecue” is an automatic excuse for Hospitality Bonus Points.
I believe true hospitality has a large element of uncomfortableness.
You don’t necessarily have time for that friend; your ego doesn’t want to be seen with that person; all you want to do is curl up tonight and read a book by yourself.
But you tell yourself no. You deny your own selfishness.
So, how can you as a high schooler or a girl still living at home practice hospitality?
- Write notes to widows and the elderly in your church.
- Be a part of nursing home ministries.
- Give time to people. (Coffee doesn’t have to be involved.)
- Listen to children and welcome them into your heart.
- Ask people how they’re doing . . . really. Stay up to date and remember details about their struggles.
- Offer to assist people on homework.
- Give your “enemies” or “betrayers” second chances.
