Synthesis of Theology of Encouragement in Hebrews
Last week, I completed my paper for the PhD seminar in biblical theology. This will be my last paper – well, except for my prospectus and dissertation – for the PhD program at SEBTS. The title of this paper was “Theology of Encouragement in Hebrews”. (I’ve written about this research briefly in my posts “Theology of Encouragement in Hebrews“, “Peterson on Encouragement in Hebrews“, “Mutuality“, “A reminder of our priesthood from Hebrews“, and “Encouragement as Trajectory in Hebrews“.)
In general, there are two parts to a study in biblical theology: analysis and synthesis. Analysis includes exegeting relevant passages, placing them in their historical context and in the context of the book or section of Scripture. For this research, I primarily studied the passages in the Book of Hebrews that included the Greek terms for encouragement. Those terms are found in 3:13, 6:18, 10:25, 12:5, 13:19, and 13:22.
In the synthesis section of the paper, I attempted to combine the information found in the analysis section. In biblical theology, the information is gathered into categories and themes that represent the author’s intent and purpose in writing. This differs from systematic theology, which attempts to answer questions raised by modern culture.
I gathered the information concerning encouragement in Hebrews into these categories: 1) the trajectories of encouragement, 2) the sources of encouragement, and 3) the importance of examples in encouragement.
1. Trajectories of Encouragement
I’ve written about this previously in a post called “Encouragement as Trajectory in Hebrews“. Primarily, the author sees encouragement as both negative and positive trajectories, that is, moving away from undesirable actions and attitudes and moving towards desirable actions and attitudes.
2. Sources of Encouragement
Besides seeing a double trajectory in encouragement, the author also recognizes different sources of encouragement. The author expects his readers to be encouraged from Scripture (OT), from his own letter (Hebrews), and from each other.
3. Importance of Examples in Encouragement
The author also expects examples to offer encouragement to his readers. For Hebrews, examples are primarily found in Old Testament saints (Chapter 11, for example) and leaders (13:17). (Interestingly, the author of Hebrews does not offer his own life as an example, as Paul often does in his letters.)
A study in biblical theology does not normally address modern implications. However, for those of us who believe that Scripture is important and even authoritative in our lives, we must make the next step and decide how to apply biblical theology.
So, I will leave that exercise to you, my readers. How would you apply these three themes of encouragement from the Book of Hebrews? How do we encourage today using different trajectories? Should we still seek encouragement from Scripture and from one another? Are examples still important for encouragement? What other implications do you think this study has for us today?
Gospel and community based discipleship
As I’ve mentioned previously, I’m reading the book Total Church: A Radical Reshaping around Gospel and Community by Tim Chester and Steve Timmis (see my posts “Total Church Principles” and “Gospel, community, and beyond“). In this post, I want to talk about the seventh chapter of this book: “Discipleship and training”.
Remember that the authors have suggested that the church should be both gospel-centered and community-centered. What is the implications of this dual focus on discipleship? For me, community-based discipleship has been the focus of much study and many conversations over the last several months. So, I was interested to read what the authors had to say. They did not disappoint. Here are some excerpts:
It is in the family of God that I am able to care and be cared for, love and be loved, forgive and be forgiven, rebuke and be rebuked, encourage and be encouraged – all of which are essential to the task of being a disciple of the risen Lord Jesus. Too often, however, churches are not contexts for making disciples so much as occasions for acknowledging relative strangers. Experience teaches that there is also an inverse ratio at work: the larger the group, the more inevitable is the superficiality of the relationships. Instead of churches growing beyond the point of being able to sustain meaningful life-on-life family relationships, an alternative (and maybe essential) strategy would be to begin new congregations through church planting. (pg 112-113)
All too often people equate being word-centered with being sermon-centered. People argue for sermons by arguing for the centrality of God’s word, assuming that the word and the sermon are synonymous in Christian practice. It assumes God’s word can only be taught through sermons. Or people assume that the alternative to sermons is anarchy or relativism with no place for the Spirit-gifted teacher of God’s word, as if Spirit-gifted teachers can only exercise their gift through forty-five-minute monologues.
But our concern is not to reject the sermon. Monologue continues to have its place as one of the ways in which the Bible can and should be taught. It stands alongside other complementary methods such as dialog and discussion. Being word-centered is not less than being sermon-centered. Our contention is that being word-centered is so much more than being sermon-centered. (pg 114)James says, “Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says” (James 1:22). We must not only listen to the word – we must put it into practice. Churches are full of people who love listening to sermons. But sermons count for nothing in God’s sight. We rate churches by whether they have good teaching or not. But James says great teaching counts for nothing. What counts is the practice of the word. What counts is teaching that leads to changed lives. We must never make good teaching an end in itself. Our aim must be good learning and good practice. And that is a radically different way of evaluating how word-centered we are. (pg 116)
Let us make a bold statement: truth cannot be taught effectively outside of close relationships. The reason is the truth is not primarily formal; it is dynamic. The truth of the gospel becomes compelling as we see it transforming lives in the rub of daily, messy relationships. (pg 118)
Here are some thoughts that I took away from this chapter:
- Discipleship does not occur in classes or large group settings. Discipleship occurs as we share life with one another.
- The church has placed too much emphasis on the sermon and on the pastor/teaching pastor/senior pastor. The church must shift the emphasis to each believer being responsible to teach and disciple others. I do not think most believers will do this as long as they can count on their pastor to do it for them and as long as the emphasis is placed on the sermon.
- Our goal is obedience both for ourselves and others. Our goal is not attendance or memorization or knowledge or education. We witness obedience through relationships. If our model of church or method of meeting hinders this type of close relationship, then we should change our model of church or method of meeting.
- The church continues to follow strangers – preachers, writers, speakers that we do not know. We cannot model their lives because we do not know their lives. But, discipleship comes through relationships as we help one another and walk together.
What do you think?
Your everyday, ordinary life
Almost two years ago, when I was part of a group blog called “Life in the Journey“, I wrote a post called “Your everyday, ordinary life“. One of the quotes in my post yesterday reminded me of what I had written in that post two years ago.
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As I’ve mentioned before, I’m reading various sections of the New Testament in The Message. I finished reading the book of Acts Saturday night, and I was looking through a couple of passages Sunday morning, when I read this passage:
So here’s what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life—your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life—and place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for him. Don’t become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You’ll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognize what he wants from you, and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you.
I’m speaking to you out of deep gratitude for all that God has given me, and especially as I have responsibilities in relation to you. Living then, as every one of you does, in pure grace, it’s important that you not misinterpret yourselves as people who are bringing this goodness to God. No, God brings it all to you. The only accurate way to understand ourselves is by what God is and by what he does for us, not by what we are and what we do for him. (Romans 12:1-3 The Message)
I love this sentence: Take your everyday, ordinary life—your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life—and place it before God as an offering. This is truly the desire of my heart, and I believe it is the type of worship that God desires – worship that comes from the everyday, ordinary life that has been transformed by God… “by what he does for us, not by what we are and what we do for him”.
Yes, God is concerned about our obedience in the big things, but when we learn to lay before him our “sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life”, then we begin to understand what it means to worship him in spirit and in truth. I’m not sure that we can worship God in the big things, if we have not learned to worship in our everyday, ordinary life.
For two of the last three Sundays, I’ve been teaching on the topic of “trust in the Lord” from the Proverbs. The main text was Proverbs 3:5-6 – Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths. (ESV) As I studied the phrase “trust in the Lord” in Proverbs, I realized that if we truly trust in the Lord – that is, find our security or safety in him – then that trust will demonstrate it through our lives in obedience (Prov 16:20), humility (Prov 28:25), and complete submission to him (Prov 29:25).
Again, this trust is demonstrated in big ways in our lives – our families, our jobs, moving to a new location, etc. – but it is primarily demonstrated in the small, everyday, ordinary decisions that we make – the way we speak to a friend, the way we spend a small amount of money, the way we get upset when our favorite television show is pre-empted.
Trust God in the small things, and the big things will fall into place. Worship God in the small things, and the big things will fall into place. Forget about God in the small things, and the big things will be for ourselves and not for God.
I’m learning – I hope others are learning – that God is interested in my everyday, ordinary life. Can others see God demonstrated in your everyday, ordinary life?
Gospel, Community, and Beyond
Just over a week ago, in a post called “Total Church Principles“, I mentioned that I am reading the book Total Church: A Radical Reshaping around Gospel and Community by Tim Chester and Steve Timmis. In that post, I discussed the first part of the book in which the authors discuss the principles behind the church as both gospel-centered and community-centered. In the second section of the book, they discuss practical implications of the church as centered on both the gospel and community. In this post, I will discuss the first four chapters in this section: Evangelism, Social Involvement, Church Planting, and World Mission.
I’ve decided to discuss these four chapters together because they all share something in common: they all focus on how the gospel-centered and community-centered church must reach beyond itself to impact the world. To begin, here are a few quotes that stood out to me:
Major events have a role to play in church life, but the bedrock of gospel ministry is low-key, ordinary, day-to-day work that often goes unseen. Most gospel ministry involves ordinary people doing ordinary things with gospel intentionality. Whether it is helping a friend, working at the office, or going to the movies, there is a commitment to building relationships, modeling the Christian faith, and talking about the gospel as a natural part of conversation. People often ask if they can come see our ministry at The Crowded House [the group of churches with which the authors are involved]. But all there is to see is ordinary people doing ordinary things. There are no projects, no programs, no “ministries”. (pg. 63)
We want to make three assertions about the relationship between evangelism and social action:
1) Evangelism and social action are distinct activities…
2) Proclamation is central…
3) Evangelism and social action are inseparable… (pg. 78-79)There need be no second-generation churches if the church is constantly reconfiguring itself through church planting. Second-generation “Christians” are those without their own living experience of the gospel. Second-generation churches are those who have lost their gospel cutting edge. It may be that a fiftieth church anniversary is not an occasion to celebrate the faithfulness of God but to lament the stagnation of his people. (pg. 96)
There are two main things that I take from these chapters… two things that I have not thought much about before, but that I’m thinking seriously about now.
1) Evangelism should be a community activity. This doesn’t mean that groups should go door-to-door. Instead, it means that as I meet someone and begin introducing them to Jesus Christ, I also begin introducing them to the community. As the authors say, recognizing evangelism as a community activity takes seriously how the Holy Spirit uses and gifts people differently.
2) A church – as a Christian community – may not be intended to remain “together” forever. In fact, if it is our responsible to proclaim the gospel, and if that gospel includes community, then we must be willing to share both our words about the gospel and to share our gospel community. This may mean (and probably does mean) that our community will need to divide into multiple communities in order to reproduce itself.
I’m still enjoying this book very much. I’m especially enjoying thinking through the practical implications of the church being both gospel-centered and community-centered.
What do you think?
Philippians and death
On Saturday evenings, we’ve been getting together with a group of friends to share a meal and fellowship. We’ve also been discussing the book of Philippians. Instead of choosing a particular passage from Philippians to discuss, we’ve been reading the entire book each night and talking about the entire book.
Last Saturday was our fourth time to read through and discuss Philippians. Interestingly, we continue to find things that we need to talk about. The topics drifted toward a conversation about death, afterlife, resurrection, hades, end times stuff. We realized that Paul talks about death, suffering, and resurrection alot in Philippians. Here are a few passages:
I want you to know, brothers, that what has happened to me has really served to advance the gospel, so that it has become known throughout the whole imperial guard and to all the rest that my imprisonment is for Christ. (Philippians 1:12-13 ESV)
Yes, and I will rejoice, for I know that through your prayers and the help of the Spirit of Jesus Christ this will turn out for my deliverance, as it is my eager expectation and hope that I will not be at all ashamed, but that with full courage now as always Christ will be honored in my body, whether by life or by death. For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. If I am to live in the flesh, that means fruitful labor for me. Yet which I shall choose I cannot tell. I am hard pressed between the two. My desire is to depart and be with Christ, for that is far better. But to remain in the flesh is more necessary on your account. (Philippians 1:18b-24 ESV)
For it has been granted to you that for the sake of Christ you should not only believe in him but also suffer for his sake, engaged in the same conflict that you saw I had and now hear that I still have. (Philippians 1:29-30 ESV)
Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. (Philippians 2:5-8 ESV)
Even if I am to be poured out as a drink offering upon the sacrificial offering of your faith, I am glad and rejoice with you all. (Philippians 2:17 ESV)
Indeed he [Epaphroditus] was ill, near to death. But God had mercy on him, and not only on him but on me also, lest I should have sorrow upon sorrow. (Philippians 2:27 ESV)
Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith – that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead. (Philippians 3:8-11 ESV)
Not that I am speaking of being in need, for I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content. I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need. I can do all things through him who strengthens me. (Philippians 4:11-13 ESV)
In these passages, and others, Paul talks about death, suffering, resurrection, etc. We had noticed before that Paul also talks alot about unity in Philippians – specifically having the “same mind” or “thinking alike”. I won’t list all of the passages, but here are some of the references: Philippians 1:27; 2:1-4, 21; 3:15-16, 18-19 (negative example); 4:2-3.
As our discussion progressed, we wondered aloud if some of the Philippians were thinking wrongly about death and suffering. Perhaps this is why Paul had to focus on these two concepts: thinking the same way and death/suffering. Perhaps, some of the Philippians were beginning to question the wisdom of following Christ, because those who follow Christ were being persecuted, imprisoned (like Paul), and even killed.
Thus, they were attempting to follow Christ with a wrong understanding of what it means to successfully follow Christ. In this letter, one of Paul’s intentions, then, was to help them think rightly about what it means to follow Christ – even to the point of suffering and death. Yes, Paul and the Philippians were suffering. Yes, Paul was in prison. Yes, some believers were turning their backs on Paul. Yes, Paul was often in need.
But, God had shown himself faithful in all of those circumstances. And, as Paul pointed out, all of this was worth knowing Jesus Christ. Plus, Paul says, the Philippians should recognized that even though Christianity seemed to be “losing” from the world’s perspective, in fact many in the Praetorian Guard (think, Secret Service) and many in Caesar’s household (think White House residents and staff) were beginning to listen to the gospel and follow Christ (1:13; 4:22).
What an encouragement for us today! Many times, it seems that our walk in Christ may be in vain. We don’t necessarily see “fruit”. But, our goal should be to continually follow Christ and know him, regardless of our circumstances and situations. We should be honored to suffer for Christ just as we are honored to believe in him.
Also, this is a warning. Perhaps the church has been looking at success from a worldly perspective. We want to control governments and law making. We want to force people to live in certain ways. We want to make our lives easier. But, this is never the focus of the gospel. “Success” is measured as obedience to Jesus Christ as Lord… even to the point of suffering and death.
So, how do you measure success? Do you look at suffering and death as defeat? Or, like Paul, can you look at your circumstances and trouble (assuming your are suffering for Christ and not your own bad decisions), and praise God for his faithfulness?
But I like X
A friend of ours is dealing with addiction. This is not an addiction to illegal substances, but an addiction to legal substances. It is an addiction none-the-less.
Because of some current circumstances, our friend has been separated from this addiction for over a month, and will be separated for several more weeks. Many friends have been trying to help break this addiction. Or friend recently told me, “I don’t want to give up X. It might be good for me, but I like X.”
But I like X.
Isn’t this the source of many of our problems? We refuse to stop doing something because we like it. We refuse to start doing something because we don’t like it. Our likes and dislikes become the deciding factor concerning what we do or don’t do. In reality, we become our own master – our own lord – our own god.
I was reminded of this recently when we read through Philippians:
Brothers, join in imitating me, and keep your eyes on those who walk according to the example you have in us. For many, of whom I have often told you and now tell you even with tears, walk as enemies of the cross of Christ. Their end is destruction, their god is their belly, and they glory in their shame, with minds set on earthly things. But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body, by the power that enables him even to subject all things to himself. (Philippians 3:17-21 ESV)
Paul had just told the Philippians that he was willing to give up everything that was important to him – everything that formed his identity even – in order to know Christ.
But, what about those who cling to what they like? Paul says that they are “enemies of the cross of Christ”. I’ll admit it: I’m often an enemy of the cross. It’s true. Many times I choose what I’m going to do based on what I like – my belly becomes my god. And, at that time, I “walk as an enemy of the cross of Christ”.
Of course, there are times when obeying Christ that we do things that we like. It’s not as if the Christian life is all drudgery. In fact, I usually enjoy the things that God wants me to do. However, our “likes” cannot be the deciding factor in the way that we live. When we do some things we like, we may be following Christ. But, when we do some things we like, we may be walking away from Christ.
When I first explained this to my friend, there was very little recognition that this passage could be applied in this situation. My friend refused to be recognized as an “enemy of the cross”. Instead, my friend simply repeated, “But I like X”.
My friend talked to my wife a couple of days ago. In the midst of the conversation, my friend said, “Pray that I would no longer have a desire for X”. This is the first step away from living life based on “But, I like X”.
By the way, I’m not the only person to talk to our friend about this addiction. It’s great to see the community helping someone break this grip on our friend’s life, and it’s great to see our friend finally asking the community for help.
Matthew 18 and Discipline
Two years ago, I wrote a blog post called “Matthew 18 and Discipline“. I remember studying this passage and writing about it while our family was on vacation at the beach. I’m planning to teach from this passage again in a few weeks. I think this passage is about reconciling relationships between two brothers/sisters, not necessarily about “church discipline”.
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Yesterday, in response to my blog post “Local church again…“, a couple of people brought up the question of church discipline as it relates to structure and leadership. As I was thinking through this issue, and as I was reading through several passages about discipline, I found something new – at least, new to me. Now, I am not supposing that this is new to everyone, but since it is new to me, I thought I would post it here in case it was helpful to anyone else.
Here is the Scripture passage:
If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault, between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have gained your brother. But if he does not listen, take one or two others along with you, that every charge may be established by the evidence of two or three witnesses. If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church. And if he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector. (Matthew 18:15-17 ESV)
So, here is the interesting part… there are several commands given in this passage, and they are all given to the same person… that is, the person who is sinned against! (Now, before you ask about this, yes, I know that Jesus also says you should go to your brother if he has something against you.) Let’s step through this…
Brother A sins against brother B. Who is responsible for going to whom? Brother B is responsible for seeking reconciliation – that is, the one who is sinned against. In fact, brother B is commanded to go to brother A alone. (The commands that Jesus gives are 2nd person singular imperatives – “go and tell” – thus, they are given to the individual – brother B.)
If brother A does not repent, then who is responsible for taking two or three others? Again, brother B is responsible, and again Jesus commands brother B to carry out this step. (The command that Jesus gives is a 2nd person singular imperative – “take”.)
If brother A still does not repent, then who is responsible for telling the church? Once again, the command is given only to brother B, so the same brother who was sinned against is responsible for telling the church. (The command that Jesus gives is a 2nd person singular imperative – “tell”.)
Finally, if brother A does not repent when brother B tells the church, then who is responsible for treating him “as a Gentile and a tax collector”? Once again, it is brother B. Interestingly, Jesus does not say anything at all about how the two or three witnesses or the church should treat the unrepentant brother. Instead, the brother who is sinned against (that is, brother B) is once again given responsibility for how to treat brother A. (Jesus’ command is given to “you” as a 2nd person singular pronoun – “let him be to you”.) This is perhaps the most interesting point to me.
What does all of this tell me? It tells me that relationships with my brothers and sisters are MY responsibility. They are not the responsibility of other believers. If my brother or sister sins against me, it is MY responsibility (and no one else’s responsibility) to reconcile with my brother or sister. I would even extrapolate this to say that if my brother or sister feels that I have sinned against him or her, then it is MY responsibility (assuming the brother or sister does not approach me first) to reconcile with my brother or sister.
It would seem, if we take Jesus’ words at face value, that church discipline depends upon each believer – that is, discipline is all of our responsibility. Furthermore, neither structure, nor organization, nor leadership are necessary for effective church discipline, at least, not according to this passage. Perhaps, church discipline is not effective because I have not been upholding my responsibilities.
What does not come naturally…
A few days ago, Dave Black wrote the following on his blog (Thursday, April 23, 2009 at 8:53 a.m.):
It’s good to be back on the farm. Today I’m helping Nathan and Jessie spread manure, working on a book manuscript, and beginning construction on a new hay shed. It is all work and it is all ministry. Some of this work is beyond what comes naturally to me. There is much growth and grace in that. I find writing more congenial to my personality than pounding nails. I am more delighted to be a facilitator than a leader. It is more natural for me to execute than to plan. Like you, I am sometimes put into positions I did not chose and for which I am not naturally suited. I have more than a little empathy for the student who finds Greek drudgery. Some students clearly have more language aptitude than others. But if I am a serious Christian, I cannot do only what comes easily to me. I don’t enjoy traveling. By that I mean I don’t enjoy cramped airplanes and long lines at airports. But I still accept many invitations that require air travel because, like Paul, I use travel to serve the kingdom.
Did you catch this: “Some of this work is beyond what comes naturally to me. There is much growth and grace in that”… and later, “But if I am a serious Christian, I cannot do only what comes easily to me”.
It is often uncomfortable to grow spiritually, but we are led to do things that do not come naturally or easily to us. But, if we desire to grow in maturity, we do them anyway, trusting God’s grace always – not our own abilities.
As I mentioned a few days ago, hospitality is something that do not come naturally to Margaret and me. But, we do it anyway, and we can see that God is growing us in this area.
What does not come naturally or easily to you? Are you willing to do it anyway?
Jesus is an elephant
In case you haven’t seen it yet, the title of this post is in reference to a statement made by Stephen Colbert to Bart Ehrman during a recent interview. (See the interview here.) During this interview, Ehrman claimed that the gospels record different versions of the crucifixion of Jesus, suggesting that the accounts are not historical. As evidence, he mentions the accounts of the different sayings of Jesus in the different gospel accounts.
I’ve scanned the blogosphere for posts that related to this interview:
According to Dave Pierre’s account here, Ehrman made several statements during the interview, including the following: “The Bible shows that, in fact, some of the earliest teachings of Jesus aren’t what became the standard doctrines of Christianity”.
According to Darren’s account here, Ehrman’s main point was that “the earliest Christians didn’t think Jesus was divine”. Unfortunately, Dave Pierre (above) did not include this point, and Darren does not include any of the quotes which Dave Pierre included.
According to Wyatt Robert’s account here and mr palm’s account here, Ehrman must not have said anything, because there are no Ehrman quotes recounted in either post.
Based on these four witnesses, and using Ehrman’s own logic, it is clear that Ehrman was never interviewed by Colbert and that these people made up their accounts of the “interview” to serve their own interests. How do we know this? Because they included different information about the so-called interview. Since the accounts of the “interview” differ, it is obvious that the “interview” never occured, or at least, if it did occur, the “accounts” are highly exaggerated.
Hospitality – vacancy or no vacancy?
Two years ago, I wrote a post called “Hospitality – vacancy or no vacancy?” God was just beginning to teach our family about the importance of hospitality. In many ways, he is still teaching, and we are just beginning to learn. Hospitality is not natural for us. But, I’ve found that as we open our home to others – in spite of our natural inclinations – God begins to change our heart.
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Hospitality – vacancy or no vacancy?
A couple of weeks ago, some new friends came to visit from out of town. We wanted to be able to offer them a place to spend the night, that is, to offer them hospitality. Unfortunately, we currently do not have bed space for a couple (perhaps we should change this?). However, some friends of ours did open their homes in a true demonstration of hospitality. Because of this, I began to think about hospitality again. What is our responsibility to other believers? What is our responsibility to strangers? I thought that I would start with Scripture (that seems like a good place to start):
Contribute to the needs of the saints and seek to show hospitality. (Romans 12:13 ESV)
Therefore an overseer must be above reproach, the husband of one wife, sober-minded, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach… (1 Timothy 3:2 ESV)
Let a widow be enrolled if she is not less than sixty years of age, having been the wife of one husband, and having a reputation for good works: if she has brought up children, has shown hospitality, has washed the feet of the saints, has cared for the afflicted, and has devoted herself to every good work. (1 Timothy 5:9-10 ESV)
For an overseer, as God’s steward, must be above reproach. He must not be arrogant or quick-tempered or a drunkard or violent or greedy for gain, but hospitable, a lover of good, self-controlled, upright, holy, and disciplined. (Titus 1:7-8 ESV)
Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for thereby some have entertained angels unawares. (Hebrews 13:2 ESV)
Show hospitality to one another without grumbling. (1 Peter 4:9 ESV)
These verses translate various words as “hospitality” or “show hospitality”:
1. φιλοξενία (philoxenia) – “hospitality” (noun)
2. φιλόξενος (philoxenos) – “hospitable” (adjective)
3. ξενοδοκÎω (xenodokeo) – “show hospitality” (verb)
Also, I have previously discussed a different verb (Ï€ÏοπÎμπω – propempo) in a post called “Sending with hospitality…” This verb seems to denote sending someone on a journey with help that they may need on the journey. It can even mean accompanying them on their journey.
Etymologically, the words above for “hospitality” are built on roots meaning “loving strangers” or “thinking about strangers”. However, we know that etymology (looking at the source of words) does not always tell us the meaning of a word.
So, what do the Scriptures above tell us about hospitality? Well, for one thing, hospitality should be demonstrated toward those we know and toward those we do not know (strangers). Hospitality should be a characteristic of elders and widows (who would normally be older), but it should also be a characteristic of all believers. Attitude is important in showing hospitality – i.e., we should not complain (grumble) about showing hospitality to someone. Also, it seems that hospitality should normally cost us something.
When I look through this short list, without even actually answering the question “What is hospitality?”, I would have to say that I am not a very hospitable person. (This means, of course, that is 1 Timothy 3 and Titus 1 are “qualification” for elders, then I’m not qualified. But, of course, everyone knew that when they saw the “qualification” of “blameless”.) In fact, I know very few hospitable people. I do not even know many hospitable Christians. Now, I’m sure that I know some, but I think this characteristic has been overlooked and relegated to insignificance for far too long.
I started thinking seriously about hospitality almost three years ago when my family went to Nicaragua for a week. We stayed with a family that would be considered very poor by American standards. Yet, this family gave us their best room to sleep in – with our own private bathroom. They also fed us at least two meals per day – three meals when we were in their home in the evening. They also waited for us to come home each evening in order to spend time talking with us. Now, this “talking” thing was very interesting, and they also showed hospitality in this. I know a little Spanish (I can say, “This is my pencil” and “Where is the bathroom?”) and they knew a little English. But, each night, they provided ways for us to communicate. Two evenings, they invited friends who spoke more English to come over. For the remaining evenings, they purchased a Spanish-English dictionary.
What did I learn from this experience? I learned that hospitality is costly, and that I do not practice hospitality. Has anyone else been the recipient of hospitality? If so, please tell us about it and tell us what you learned.