Christian Hospitality

It was the French painter Jean-Baptiste Isabey who visited Vienna in 1815 to paint a memorial of the historic Congress of Vienna where the boundaries of Europe were redrawn. French diplomat Talleyrand insisted that he be placed in the center of the portrait. Isabey was disheartened to hear the Duke of Wellington make a similar request. How do you honor both men with the same request? Isabey's creative solution showed the Duke of Wellington entering the room with every eye upon him while Talleyrand was seated in an armchair at the center of the picture. Isabey had found a special way to show honor to both great men.

As Christians, we are to show honor one another (1 Peter 4:9; 3 John 1:8). One of the most touching ways we show honor is through hospitality. Making people, especially strangers, feel welcomed and loved is much needed in a fast-moving, no-time-to-talk world. Our Scripture passage is from a tiny book, 3 John, with a big message on Christian hospitality.

Scripture Passage: 3 John 1:1-14

Main Thought:
Christian hospitality is borne through prayer, faithful to the saints, and true to the love of our LORD Jesus Christ.

Outline:

Hospitality starts with hopeful prayer.
Hospitality recognizes and provides for the children of God.
Hospitality cannot coexist with selfishness.

1 The Elder, To the beloved Gaius, whom I love in truth: :2 Beloved, I pray that you may prosper in all things and be in health, just as your soul prospers. 3 For I rejoiced greatly when brethren came and testified of the truth that is in you, just as you walk in the truth. 4 I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in truth. (3 John 1:1-4, NKJV)

1. Hospitality starts with hopeful prayer.

The Apostle John begins this letter with a greeting to his friend and brother in the LORD, Gaius. He calls Gaius "the beloved" (3 John 1:1, NKJV) indicating the depth of love between the two of them. This is a title which every Christian wears. In Christ, you are accepted in the beloved of God (Ephesians 1:6). No matter who you are or what you are in this world, you are, through Christ, accepted in the beloved family of God. This is the first lesson in how we should view ourselves and how we should relate to one another in the body of Christ. John demonstrates this in the book of 3 John.

John also affirms that he loves Gaius "in truth" (3 John 1:1, NKJV). In his previous letter (the book of 2 John), the beloved Apostle explains that to walk in love is to walk in truth. Your life must reflect the truth of God in order to reflect the love of God. True Christian love is simply not possible without a life consistent with God's truth. One who utters obscenities during the week and, from the same mouth, utters praises to God is not doing so in true Christian love (James 3:8-10). Love demands truth shared between the two parties in a love relationship. John says that this Gaius is one that he loves in truth. Here is the second lesson in the very same verse for you and I -- you cannot hold people dear in your heart without upholding the truth of God in your life. The opposite is also true -- you cannot walk in the truth without walking in love. Many times we Christians insist on being right to the point of alienating and degrading the honor of the very people we claim to love.

In the next 3 verses, John writes of his joy in hearing that Gaius is still walking with God in truth. He says there is "no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in truth" (3 John 1:4, NKJV). Such good news from a brother or sister in the LORD, especially one you led to Christ or worked with in ministry of the church, does bring great joy. It proves that God is faithful to keep His promise: "He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus" (Philippians 1:6, NIV).

I have watched a number of children I kept in extended sessions for four and five year-olds. Now those same children are still involved in church at middle-school and high-school age. This is a real joy to me as I had the opportunity to minister to them at a very young age.
I also have a good friend and brother in the LORD, Clarke Kennedy, who serves the LORD in a missionary organization, Operation Mobilisation. He still brings me encouragement and joy for every time we speak I find him walking faithfully with God.

Pray for the children of God in your life. Pray as John did (3 John 1:2) that they might prosper in all things just as they are prospering spiritually. Some have taken this verse as a promise that God wants you to be healthy and wealthy. But this is not what the verse means. It was a very common greeting for people during the first century even among pagans. It is certainly good and proper for you to honor your brothers and sisters by praying that they might prosper in all things. But God's best for each person is something of a mystery:

To some He grants material wealth for the furtherance of His kingdom work around the world.
To some He grants physical health to serve Him faithfully in His church.
To some He grants neither wealth nor health as a model of faith and faithfulness to God through the most difficult of circumstances.

God can be glorified no matter your level of health or wealth. The prayer that your brother or sister in Christ might prosper in all ways is proper when what you desire is the LORD's will -- the LORD's best. And take great joy in God's work in that person's life, just as did John. This is where Christian hospitality begins -- in your prayer for God's best in the life of your brothers and sisters in Christ.

5 Beloved, you do faithfully whatever you do for the brethren and for strangers, 6 who have borne witness of your love before the church. If you send them forward on their journey in a manner worthy of God, you will do well, 7 because they went forth for His name's sake, taking nothing from the Gentiles. 8 We therefore ought to receive F3 such, that we may become fellow workers for the truth. (3 John 1:5-8, NKJV)

2. Hospitality recognizes and provides for the children of God.

John commends Brother Gaius for his faithful support of the traveling preachers who came to his city. John also mentions "strangers" (v5) who had been helped by Gaius. Thus we see a man who exercises Christian hospitality to the body of Christ and also to strangers who need such help.

The practice of hospitality has deep roots in the life of Israel where the nomadic life depended on the kindness of people to strangers who traveled through their area. In Leviticus, Moses gave a command from the LORD concerning such hospitality:

The stranger who dwells with you in your land, you shall not mistreat him. The stranger who dwells among you shall be to you as one born among you, and you shall love him as yourself; for you were strangers in the land of Egypt: I am the LORD you God (Lev. 19:33-34, NKJV).

The New Testament also provides such commandments concerning hospitality for your brothers and sisters in Christ and also for strangers. The word for hospitality in the Greek literally means "love for strangers" (Greek "philoxenia"). This love manifests itself through meeting the needs of people who pass our way. We should be "distributing to the needs of the saints, given to hospitality" (Rom. 12:13, NKJV) and "Let brotherly love continue. Do not forget to entertain strangers, for by so doing some have unwittingly entertained angels" (Heb. 13:1-2, NKJV).

The challenge for us is to recognize the needs around us and provide for those needs of our brothers and sisters in Christ. We need to be open to extending such hospitality to others, even to strangers. Gaius was commended for being faithful in such support. As believers in the LORD Jesus Christ, we need to faithfully care for one another. We need to receive the brothers and sisters who pass through our church fellowship with love and kindness for such hospitality is befitting those who love in truth. John uses the word "faithfully" (v5) with emphasis because your brothers and sisters in Christ need to know they can count on you.

This is part of the nurture and spiritual support we need to survive and thrive in a fallen world.
It is necessary for the needs in the body of Christ to be met.
It is the pattern of the church to support those who go out from the local church to minister in Jesus' name.

Christian hospitality also produces a witness to the body of Christ that encourages others. John commends Gaius for the brethren and strangers "have borne witness of your love before the church" (3 John 1:6, NKJV). After a service at the North Atlanta Chinese Baptist Church, I met a lady who visited that day. She found the church because during the last ice storm, she was driving by and saw all the cars in the parking lot. It impressed upon her the commitment of these believers to not only worship God in such conditions but to have a service open for the community. She had a need to be in church and God used the faithful commitment of His people to encourage one of His children to get back to church.

Is Christian hospitality limited to church? John's second letter indicates the believers were meeting together in their homes (2 John 1:10). We see this in the early church in the book of Acts also (Acts 2:46). Our homes should bear witness to the world of the love of Christ by such hospitality, the "love for strangers." This is not easy. How many times do you fear a knock on the front door, not wanting any visitors to disrupt your plans for a quiet time at home? Yet, God not only gives the command to be hospitable but He also gives the grace and the strength to carry it out in His name.

Gaius supported those who had gone forth as traveling preachers and missionaries for these people did not receive support from the Gentiles or unbelievers. God's people should not expect the unbelievers to support God's work. "We, therefore, ought to receive such, that we may become fellow workers for the truth" (3 John 1:8, NKJV). I saw a message on a church billboard that speaks to how we should accomplish this task: "God wants you to give what is right not what is left!" When you give to support those who take no support from the place in which they minister, you become a fellow worker in their ministry. Imagine the joy that will be yours in Heaven when you meet all the people you have touched through the ministry of those you supported in times of need. What a grand celebration it will be!

9 I wrote to the church, but Diotrephes, who loves to have the preeminence among them, does not receive us. 10 Therefore, if I come, I will call to mind his deeds which he does, prating against us with malicious words. And not content with that, he himself does not receive the brethren, and forbids those who wish to, putting them out of the church. 11 Beloved, do not imitate what is evil, but what is good. He who does good is of God, but F4 he who does evil has not seen God. 12 Demetrius has a good testimony from all, and from the truth itself. And we also bear witness, and you know that our testimony is true. (3 John 1:9-12, NKJV)

3. Hospitality cannot coexist with selfishness.

John wrote this letter to Gaius because of great concern he had for the churches in his area of the world. One specific church had a leader named Diotrephes. Diotrephes was causing strife in the body of Christ because he would neither receive nor support the traveling brothers and sisters in Christ who came to his church with the word of God. Sadly, John gets right to the heart of Diotrephes' problem: he "loves to have the preeminence" (3 John 1:9, NKJV). Diotrephes loved to be first in his church. Rather than wanting to see God glorified in all things great and small, Diotrephes wanted the glory for himself. This selfishness prevented him from exercising Christian hospitality toward others, even to the Apostle John himself (v9)!

Selfishness cannot coexist with hospitality. Selfishness is a love for yourself. Hospitality is a love for others. Look at how low such selfishness and pride can take someone. Diotrephes, loved to be first so he:

Did not receive or support traveling church leaders (v9).
Maliciously attacked those church leaders, impugning their character and ministry (v10).
Forbade people in the church from receiving or supporting any church leader, except himself by implication (v10).
Put people out of the church if they supported these church leaders (v10).

John sort of summed up Diotrephes in verse 11 by indicating that he "has not seen God" (3 John 1:11, NKJV). John also provides some principles related to Christian hospitality that we can take away from this letter and use in our own growth process.

Do not imitate what is evil but what is good: Diotrephes was a bad example of hospitality. Everyone could see what he was doing in his church. On the other hand, Demetrius (v12) was a good example of a dedicated Christian who "has a good testimony from all" (3 John 1:12, NKJV). You and I need verbal instruction in what we should or should not do. In a fallen world, positive instruction overcomes the ungodly influence of Satan, the world system, and our own fleshly lusts. But we also need examples, models of the right way to do things. God raises up such people to live His truth before us so that we can better learn from their example. Daniel Webster once said, "The clearest and strongest argument I have for God is an Aunt living in the hills of Vermont." So watch for those godly men and women who practice true Christian hospitality -- a love for the brethren and even strangers, an openness to befriend others who are new, a faithful support and encouragement to the body of Christ -- and follow their example!

Always be teachable: Proverbs 10:8 tells us that "A wise man receives commands" (NKJV). In other words, one who is wise is one who accepts the word of God and godly counsel from others. A wise man or woman or child is one who is teachable. Diotrephes was selfish, wanting to be the "top dog" as we say today. As a result, he would not listen to the word of God nor to the church leaders (3 John 1:9). He was not a wise man for he learned nothing from what God wanted to teach him through the traveling preachers and missionaries. Our command is to continue to seek instruction from God's word (1 Peter 2:2), to learn and grow in God's truth (1 Tim. 4:13-16), that we may be equipped for every good work that God has planned for us (2 Tim. 3:14-16). This means that each of us, no matter how much we think we know, needs to be teachable.

Strive for consistency in your life: Demetrius was a model of consistency in his life. John commends him as having a good testimony even "from the truth itself" (3 John 1:12, NKJV). His life modeled the truth he had learned. What you learn each Sunday, put into practice as Demetrius did. Don't try to do everything all at once, for this will only frustrate you walk with God. But receive the truth and put it into practice one step at a time. Strive for consistent practice of that truth. Then add to your learning and do the same thing again. In this way, you will, like Demetrius, have a life that models that truth you have learned.

Reflect on YOUR Life:

Christian hospitality seems difficult in a world that seems to move at the speed of fiber-optic cable (light). Yet it is a clear teaching from God's word. So take this lesson and begin with prayer for your brothers and sisters. Include the strangers who are your neighbors and coworkers. God will lead you in how to open up your life and even your home to these people. Imitate the positive example of those who have welcomed you into their own life. Support your brothers and sisters. As John concludes, "Greet the friends by name" (3 John 1:14, NKJV).