- 1 Timothy 3:2-7 (NKJV) A bishop then must be…hospitable
Several times a year Sonja and I host “new member’s pot lucks” at our home. They provide a good lesson in being hospitable.
First of all, hosting a potluck requires planning ahead. There is the inevitable trip to the grocery store to pick up a few things. Then there is the quick “once over” for the house which involves vacuuming, picking up on the toys (not mine, the grandchildren’s :)), making sure there is toilet paper in the guest bathroom, cleaning the litter box, setting the table, lighting candles, and a dozen other little details. All this is done – hopefully before the doorbell rings. And then the guests start arriving…
The porch light is on, I greet our guests at the door with a smile and a warm welcome, I collect their coats and pocketbooks, I introduce them to the other guests and then I turn them over to Sonja or invite them to sit in the den until dinner is served.
Bottom line, I do everything I can to make them feel welcome and wanted.
The point is this. Hospitality requires thinking of others and their needs. Hospitality means that you put your own preferences, schedules and interests aside for the sake of other people’s comfort. Bottom line, being hospitable requires denying yourself.
Perhaps that is why hospitality is such a rare commodity in this self-centered world we’re living in. But I suppose we shouldn’t feel too bad about it, even Peter had to admonish the Christians of his day to: “Be hospitable to one another without grumbling.” (I Peter 4:9)
The ONE THING 