Video Transcript: Given To Hospitality

Henry - welcome back Today, we're going to talk about given to hospitality. In a  lot of ways. We're just going deeper, because I believe, like things that happen  in the host ministry is something that is really intangible but relational. Yet it's  skills, but it's an attitude of heart. It's like taking agape love and getting very  practical, not just with people we would expect to give it to, but people that  would not expect it. In a sense, that's really what this is. So today we're going to  talk about giving to hospitality. And we read in Romans 12:13, contribute to the  needs of the saint and practice hospitality. So this practice of hospitality is core  to the call to be a Christian leader.  

Abby - Yeah, and I Timothy 3:2 also talks a lot about, if you're a leader or an  overseer, you must be lists all these things you know, blameless, this hospitable, able to teach. So hospitality is an essential trait for leaders and Christians alike.  

Henry - So in the Greek and lot of these words, there's this concept of given to  hospitality. You know, practice hospitality, given to hospitality. It's practice  hospitality, the translation, but that the Greek is actually given to hospitality.  That's kind of an interesting like thing to think about, right understanding. Now, it was radical in the early church.  

Abby - It's very counter cultural commitment, you know, it's and I think in our  day, it kind of can be too but especially in their society, you know, welcoming the marginalized was not something like hospitality. Was for those that you know  maybe had the status to be hospitable when it's like we can be hospitable,  whether we have a lot of things or don't have a lot of things.  

Henry - It became a distinct testimony of the gospel in a divided society, you  know, our society is divided.  

Abby - I think that is a very true statement.  

Henry - Well, you know, I think of the difference between me, my generation,  you and your generation. So we were a much more unified culture. We felt like  now again, there were a lot, there's an illusion to all of that, to some extent. But  today it's noticeably different. People are very much triggered social media,  probably  

Abby - social media, I was gonna say, I think, has played a huge role in that,  because people can so easily attack others, almost under this, you know,  illusion of anonymousness through the lab. And I think it also like people  constantly get reinforced by seeing the media that they agree with and the  people that they agree with backing them up. And it just kind of creates this very 

argument and divided experience, right?  

Henry - And with the advent of technology and the concept of cultural branding,  which we have talked about for many years around here. So cultural branding is  essentially the the you sell something or services or movies or everything to a  specific culture that holds to your specific values. So political parties often use  cultural branding, so their product is to understand cultural branding and how to  position their message to a group of people. So the cultural brand, let's look at  the cultural brand of hospitality in the Roman Empire. So here's the cultural  brand in for hospitality in the Roman empire.  

Abby - So I already kind of said that before, but it was very much so reserved for the wealthy and the powerful and those that had the social status to even  reciprocate, you know, being hospitable to each other in hosting at maybe their  glamorous place they lived, or whatever, like that.  

Henry - Oh, in fact, the hospitality was connected to philanthropic giving. So like  the Pliny the Younger, when he died, he showed his hospitality through, you  know, giving bath houses and, you know, in but even when he was a living,  living, he would have that, you know, we invite the wealthy to come and see  what our gift is. So, and you show, and you showed lavish hospitality to those  who you knew, right?  

Abby - So it was a very much show, an exclusion of those. Maybe were poor or  maybe marginalized in society.  

Henry - Exactly. It was interesting. Julius Caesar, when he wanted to get political votes, he would show have a public dole. He would give, he called it a form of  his hospitality. He would give food to certain people, citizens, so that they would  then have an uprising of popular support for him. There you go. But the dole did  not include everyone, the marginalized. It included a very specific  

Abby - people that would have the power to, you know, vote him or whatever. Henry - Let's call it political hospitality.  

Abby- So Christianity is a huge contrast. This Christian hospitality is rooted in a  selfless love that isn't about what you receive in return. Isn't about how much  power you might personally have or wealth that you have and included  everyone. 

Henry - Yeah, it was an unconditional truth. 

Abby - So hospitality in action. Again, we kind of talked about some of the other  PowerPoints, but again, just to reinforce that, you know, Christians were the  ones that made sanctuaries for the poor, for the traveler. They're responding to  crisises, they're caring for the sick, all of that that was, again, so much of that  hospitality in action.  

Henry - You know, in researching for this class, we came upon so many stories.  And here's just another name, Bishop Dionysus during the plague of Cyprian.  And just the love that was shown. And as a leader, he's directing the troops to  win the God that really the game of love, that, so to speak, the contest Can we  really love unconditionally, even people we don't know? Just incredibly amazing, 

Abby - such a huge role in evangelism. Once again, what we're saying here,  where it's breaking down, class, ethnic divide, social barriers you know, even  how Jesus, in His parable, so many times, shows that breakdown, like even in  the Good Samaritan parable and things like that, where it's like this sort of love  and hospitality and an inclusion of people, even people that were viewed as an  enemy, you know, pray for those who persecute you, all of that you know, and  again, that role of welcoming a stranger into your home or your faith community  as an opportunity to share the gospel,  

Henry - there's almost like a theological thing at stake here, and that's that  concept is we come into the world of nothing and we exit the world with nothing. One thing we have in common with everyone is we didn't ask to be born that  was given to us. But death is something unless Jesus comes back, we all  experience. So at early a few years ago, we did this Tales from the grave. Yeah,  so the Tales from the grave and we would feature, we'd learn the story of  someone and in the commonality of death is is the motivation for hospitality,  because in the end, we know we share with every other human being a Truth  that without Jesus Christ, there is no hope, rich or poor. You know, just like the  Christians experience hospitality across every segment, the truth of the gospel  applies across every segment. Yeah, so it was, it was as if that blindness to  status, but the love for all people is that foundational truth, just like the everyone has in common certain things, right? Image bearer of God, they don't know  about their birth, they don't know the day of their death. But so many other  commonalities too, like, you know, there's an intrinsic value in every human  being that Christians saw. And they saw that and took that very seriously.  

Abby - Going back to that concept of being given to hospitality, a little more  about that. 

Henry - Well, hospitality the Core expectations for leaders. Leaders modeling  humility and service. I mean, once you start creating relationships, things start  happening. Philemon and Aphia, hosting the churches in their own home. You  

know it. You know we're talking about this as we're studying, and you look at  certain things in life that you're given to, that you, in fact, there's some things  you must be given to, such as driving a car. Can you imagine  

Abby - you have to be when you're doing it? You have to be fully given to that.  You can't be half in, half out, or you seriously put yourself at risk, or someone  else at risk,  

Henry - right? In fact, you have to be given to it every single time you get behind the driver's wheel. Like you can't be given like 25% of time, 50% of the time,  80% of the time. It's a 100 time  

Abby - when someone isn't given to it. So say they were texting or something  that is when, again, accidents can happen. Yes, not 100%  

Henry - Yeah, you're given to this. And think about that concept for the spread of Christianity, for the spread of the church, for the our command give. So it's  almost as if, wherever we go, the grocery store, we're given to it. If someone  comes in our neighborhood and they need help, we're given to it. We are so  given to it that we're given to it more than we are given to our wealth, right?  

Abby - Yeah, it's kind of so important when you think about being given as a  leader to hospitality, it's like every single time you choose to be hospitable, you  have to be fully given. You can't half be hospitable, like, you know, you have to  be fully given to it. And I liked the point you brought up too, where it's like, it's  like, it is such a heart issue, like you have to surrender your heart to hospitality  when you're doing it. And, yeah, just really have to be willing to fully give  yourself to it  

Henry - generosity, kind of defining the Christian faith. That's, I mean, the grace  of God lavished on us in the sacrifice and the shed blood of Jesus Christ, given  for all of us. It's like, it's almost sacramental in that concept of, you know, we  often say in the form of communion, Christ's body that was given for us, yeah,  you know, the given to Redemption was Jesus Christ, were given to hospitality.  And so different in the early church from the Roman culture. Again, it's that. It's a concept of, here's two brands of culture, yeah, a brand that basically thinks  about itself, and a brand that says, we think about you because Jesus thinks  about you. 

 Abby - Amen to that. Yeah. And it really the growth and protection through  hospitality, you know, acts of charity. It really did actually start to soften Roman  authorities. And, you know, it opened up doors for the gospel to just again, keep  spreading throughout the entire world. Yeah, it's a core identity to have  hospitality.  

Henry - You know, it's almost like this whole reflection could just be said, You  know what? It's a core identity. You know, in in we spend, you know, 12-15  minutes here, reiterating what's been said. Because there's actually layers of  this deep truth. Yeah, and it is, there could be a Bible study at your church  where you could help people see this right, this truth.  

Abby - Yeah, I think it's so important to take this pause and talk about it being  your core identity. Because, you know, I think even for myself, I know that I I  know I can be hospitable, but I think there's times, again, in our current culture,  where it's very easy to just do what you're comfortable with, not be hospitable,  and just keep, you know, doing what you do. And you know, it doesn't even feel  like you're doing anything wrong when you're not actively being hospitable. But I think it's a huge opportunity as a leader, as you're in this course, as we're  teaching it, to just really stop and get in the word pray and just really go, am I  having this be a core identity of me as a Christian?  

Henry - I think that's really the takeaway from this presentation. And to back to  the driving the car metaphor, do I basically go by the rules of the road? Apply  this metaphor to hospitality 10% or like driving a car 100% Yeah, you know, and  I've seen some of the most effective people in my life who mentored me, and  one commonality was they were given to hospitality. One of our kind of co  founders, Rich DeVos and and he was an early mentor. I think everyone should  get mentors. If you don't have a mentor, please just pray about this. And if you  have one mentor, get two or get three. Even my age, I am still looking for  mentors at age 63 because there's things I don't know, but I remember, you  know, as a, you know, younger person in my 30s, I would watch Mr. DeVos in  action, and 100% of the time that I saw him, he was exhibiting the hospitality, to  the point where his staff would whisper to me, Oh, we have to keep he's, you  know, meeting People too much, you know, they would like, they would do  everything they could to get him not to drive the car, right? Yeah, so, and I think  that's the that's the encouragement here. This isn't about making you feel guilty  about what you're not.  

Abby - Opportunity to grow in hospitality and realize that, you know, this is  something that, as a Christian, we are called to do, and it's an it's a beautiful  thing. It's an exciting thing to be a part of. Yes, it is.