(borrowed from some small group community friends out of DC)

Radical Hospitality: The Requirement of Leadership

In Paul’s first letter to the young pastor Timothy, he gives instructions concerning the challenge and process of establishing leaders for the church. One of the traits required for leadership is hospitality. Based on the other things we’ve seen in Scripture concerning the true nature of hospitality, I don’t think Paul was looking for “nice” men here. He wasn’t looking for men with culinary ability, domestic skills, and a subscription to Southern Living; rather he was looking for men who were willing to take the lead in embracing uncertainty, taking risks, and welcoming strangers for the purpose of letting God’s power and presence invade the lives of people.

As leaders, we’ve got to take the lead in creating a community that is risky in its welcome. We’ve got to recognize hospitality as part of our job description. That doesn’t mean we have to possess the gift of hospitality or be the most hospitable person in the group. It just means that we’ve got to place a high priority on its importance, create an environment where people feel safe and secure, and identify those with hospitality gifts and unleash them to use their gifts freely in our groups and our lives.

Most importantly, it means we must make hospitality a priority in our personal lives. Over the past few weeks, we’ve given you ideas about how to create an environment of hospitality in your groups and ministries. Today, we want to help you practice hospitality in your personal life. Here are five specific things to consider:

1. Be on the front lines of welcoming others at our weekly worship gatherings.

2. Meet at least one new person this weekend and invite them to lunch. Then, invite them to be a part of your group or ministry.

3. Look at your resources and give something away to someone who needs it more than you.

4. Invite someone over for dinner.

5. Initiate a conversation with a homeless person. Get to know their name and their story. If possible, have that conversation over dinner.

John Piper said, “Freely you have received. Freely give. Is there any greater joy than the joy of experiencing the liberating power of God’s hospitality making us a new and radically different kind of people, who love to reflect the glory of his grace as we extend it to others in all kinds of hospitality?”