On Hospitality
The value of hospitality has been a value upheld by different cultures and societies for a very long time. The idea is to show kindness, invite someone into your home or to do something with you and just, generally, treat them with kindness. One of the problems with American culture is that some of us have failed to uphold the value of hospitality as of late. Advancements have been made that have left behind a value that is so upheld by other cultures and for so long.
If I were to give more than a few examples, I would need a whole other article to do so. For the sake of time and space, here are just a few historical and modern examples of the value of hospitality.
The Ancient Greek term for hospitality was Xenia. Hospitality is our modern idea and tern for the same value. We see the value of Xenia throughout Ancient Greek works, most notably Homer’s the Iliad. One of the most famous examples is found in Book 6 when Glaucas starts fighting with Diomedes. Before the physical combat ever starts, Diomedes recognizes Glaucas and reminds him, “[w]e have old ties of hospitality! / My grandfather Oeneus long ago / Entertained Bellerophon in his halls / For twenty days, and they gave each other / Gifts of friendship” (VI. 221–5). After Diomedes says this, due to the importance of hospitality or Xenia, they agree not to fight and go their separate ways. Even though hospitality was shown by their grandfathers rather than them, the value was so important in that culture, they agreed to uphold it by not fighting.
In the early days of the Christian church, hospitality was one of the defining features of the church. In the book of Acts, which records the early days of the church, the community of believers valued hospitality so much that, “And all who believed were together and had all things in common. And they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all, as any had need” (Acts 2:44–45). The early church thrived upon the idea that if anyone was in need, they ought to have been taken care of and provided for.
For the past two weeks I have been in Lusaka, Zambia, and I have gotten to experience firsthand the kindness and hospitality of friends and strangers alike. One of our good friends from Zambia allowed us to see his farm on one of the days, he drove us an hour and a half out of the city to see the farm and several living quarters on the property. While we were there, he did two things out of the kindness of his heart. He fed us with food that took several hours to prepare and that he bought, and he also promised to let us stay in one of those living quarters the next time we visit.
In this strange time of Covid travel, one of the requirements is getting a negative Covid test before being allowed to travel, no less than three days before your date of travel. During our stay in Livingstone, we had a driver who showed complete kindness in allowing us to ride with him throughout the day and he was willing to go get the necessary certificates for the tests and wait in line as we waited in the van. That was pure kindness, the hospitable aspect was allowing us to use his van throughout the day and do so as comfortably as we wanted. Being here, I have seen how hospitality is a natural part of the culture and is encouraged by most everyone.
In a world that has been so concerned with the idea and value of hospitality, there are some people of the United States that seem to forget that it is a necessary ideal to uphold if we are to truly love the people of this world. Even more so for Christians, how can we proclaim the love of Christ and follow the command to love our neighbor if we do not open our house to those that need to be welcomed in? Or how can we demonstrate that we are followers of Christ if we don’t uphold a value that has long been accepted and praised by various cultures?
If we are to let people know that we follow Christ in the manner that he said we were supposed to do so, “By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another” (Jn. 13: 35), we ought to at least balance security and hospitality. A balance is all that is needed, we can still value protection as long as we don’t sacrifice being hospitable.
One of the problems with American society is that we become so worried about security and protection, we end up not able to trust anyone. We become so focused on our own wellbeing, we forget and don’t end up showing hospitality.
I have always looked to my father for advice and as an example to follow, one of his best actions as of late has been his attempt to be more hospitable. He values both security and hospitality. One of the actions he has taken recently to ensure practice of both is the building of a separate apartment on our property to ensure that someone might have a place to stay or live for several weeks if needed. We ended up using it and having someone stay with us. My mom and dad ended up both being inspirations to my brother and I during that time. For several days, I would come home for dinner and my mother would not only feed our whole family, but also fed him. Simply out of the want to be hospitable.
Hospitality is important and it has been for so long. Especially for Christians as we strive to follow the commands set forth by Jesus. Let’s keep important and let’s strive to be better at showing it, even when it is difficult to do so.
