19 Gifts of the Spirit by Leslie B. Flynn

Author:Leslie B. Flynn
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780781408776
Publisher: David C Cook

12

The Gift of Hospitality

A postman from Oregon and his wife recently traveled halfway across the country to a strange city where she was to be hospitalized. The only people they knew there were a young professor and his wife who had worshiped briefly in the postman’s home church more than five years before.

Reports the postman, “During the first week, my wife received good care in the hospital. People we had not known before opened their homes to me so that each of my nights was spent in the warmth of Christian love and fellowship. I stayed in three different homes and had a place to lodge for as long as we were in that city. One woman baked a birthday cake for my wife, though they had never met until the cake was presented at the hospital” (“I Was a Stranger,” Eternity ).

The advantages to the postman—no lonely motel and less expense. The benefits to his wife—she knew she had friends in the city praying for her, and her birthday was brightened. The dividends to the hosts—they discovered anew that it is more blessed to give than to receive, that entertaining strangers brings its rewards.

The postman speculates that his experience was more the exception than the rule. Perhaps the families he contacted were more dedicated or more comfortably situated to help than the average Christian is. He asks these basic questions, “Why were these homes opened to me? And why was I bold enough to present my need for Christian love and support?” In answer he points out that the Bible has much to say on this matter. We are to bear each other’s burdens, to do good to all men, especially to the household of fellow believers, and to practice hospitality.

Peter commands us, “Use hospitality one to another without grudging” (1 Peter 4:9). Amplification might read, “Gladly open up your homes and welcome each other as guests, especially those who need a meal or a room overnight—and don’t complain about the inconvenience.”

Though hospitality is not included in any of Paul’s lists of gifts, the context in which hospitality is mentioned seems to earn it consideration as a separate gift. After Peter speaks of hospitality in verse 9, he immediately goes on in the next two verses to say that whatever gift a person has should be faithfully exercised. The link in Peter’s thinking between hospitality and gifts strongly implies that hospitality is a gift.

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