Hospitality

Just wanted to pass on a great post on hospitality. I don't routinely read the blog that this post comes from, so this isn't an all-encompassing endorsement. But these are some awesome tips on extending Biblical hospitality, that I'm going to be striving after.

Romans 12:13 "Contribute to the needs of the saints and seek to show hospitality"
1 Peter 4:9 "Show hospitality to one another without grumbling."

Based on the Word, hospitality is most often a ministry to the saints, not an evangelistic endeavor. I know that totally messes with our heads, but it's true! Hospitality is one way that we're supposed to be ministering to one another.

One great comment from the blog post is this: "A good way to sabotage the effects of hospitality is to apologize for your home--a messy room, a simple meal, the paper plates." There are very few homes that I've been to in which the hostess doesn't apologize for something. I think it makes the guest feel uncomfortable. The focus is taken from Christian fellowship to an element that the guest probably didn't even notice or doesn't care about anyway. Quickly, the conversation has turned from the positive to the negative. Like I said, very uncomfortable.

This is not to say that we ought to just give up and let our houses be messy because we're focused on "more important things." In everything, there is a balance. And God is definitely glorified by a house that is kept nicely.

Anyway, the following (well-balanced) blog post is great, so check it out!
http://purplecellar.blogspot.com/2008/02/hospitality-tips.html