Do you confuse hospitality with entertaining? It’s easy to mistake one for the other—especially in our culture that’s obsessed with creating, capturing, and sharing visions of the “good life.” There are whole TV networks, social media platforms, and sections in your local bookstore to inspire you to welcome others into your home with style and grace. Undoubtedly, entertaining is an artform, and it can be done to God’s glory.
But entertaining is not the same thing as hospitality. Hospitality does not require you to set up an Insta-worthy table for your dinner guests or to offer overnight guests 300-thread-count bed sheets. Biblically speaking, hospitality means “to love strangers.” Throughout God’s Word, we see examples of hospitality as gracious invitations to welcome outsiders and sojourners. It’s a willingness to open your tent door to strangers (as was the case for Abraham in Genesis 18), or share a meal with tax collectors and sinners (as was the case for Jesus in Matthew 9 and many other occasions).
Perhaps we need a refresher on biblical hospitality. Are you a hospitable person? Are you willing to share whatever resources you have with those God puts in your life? Let’s allow God’s Word to shape our view of hospitality. Here are 20 Bible verses to start your study.
20 Bible Verses About Hospitality
- Leviticus 19:10 (ESV)
And you shall not strip your vineyard bare, neither shall you gather the fallen grapes of your vineyard. You shall leave them for the poor and for the sojourner: I am the Lord your God. - Leviticus 19:34 (ESV)
You shall treat the stranger who sojourns with you as the native among you, and you shall love him as yourself, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt: I am the Lord your God. - Proverbs 19:17 (ESV)
Whoever is generous to the poor lends to the Lord, and he will repay him for his deed. - Isaiah 58:7 (ESV)
Is it not to share your bread with the hungry and bring the homeless poor into your house; when you see the naked, to cover him, and not to hide yourself from your own flesh? - Matthew 10:40-42 (ESV)
Whoever receives you receives me, and whoever receives me receives him who sent me. The one who receives a prophet because he is a prophet will receive a prophet’s reward, and the one who receives a righteous person because he is a righteous person will receive a righteous person’s reward. And whoever gives one of these little ones even a cup of cold water because he is a disciple, truly, I say to you, he will by no means lose his reward. - Matthew 25:35 (ESV)
For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty, and you gave me drink, I was a stranger, and you welcomed me. - Matthew 25:40 (ESV)
And the King will answer them, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.’ - Mark 9:41 (ESV)
For truly, I say to you, whoever gives you a cup of water to drink because you belong to Christ will by no means lose his reward. - Luke 10:30-37 (ESV)
Jesus replied, “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and he fell among robbers, who stripped him and beat him and departed, leaving him half dead. Now by chance a priest was going down that road, and when he saw him he passed by on the other side. So likewise a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. But a Samaritan, as he journeyed, came to where he was, and when he saw him, he had compassion. He went to him and bound up his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he set him on his own animal and brought him to an inn and took care of him. And the next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper, saying, ‘Take care of him, and whatever more you spend, I will repay you when I come back.’ Which of these three, do you think, proved to be a neighbor to the man who fell among the robbers?” He said, “The one who showed him mercy.” And Jesus said to him, “You go, and do likewise.” - Luke 14:12-14 (ESV)
He said also to the man who had invited him, “When you give a dinner or a banquet, do not invite your friends or your brothers or your relatives or rich neighbors, lest they also invite you in return and you be repaid. But when you give a feast, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, and you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you. For you will be repaid at the resurrection of the just.” - Romans 12:9-13 (ESV)
Let love be genuine. Abhor what is evil; hold fast to what is good. Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honor. Do not be slothful in zeal, be fervent in spirit, serve the Lord. Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer. Contribute to the needs of the saints and seek to show hospitality. - Galatians 5:13 (ESV)
For you were called to freedom, brothers. Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another. - Galatians 6:10 (ESV)
So then, as we have opportunity, let us do good to everyone, and especially to those who are of the household of faith. - Colossians 3:23-24 (ESV)
Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward. You are serving the Lord Christ. - Titus 1:7-8 (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. - Hebrews 13:1 (ESV)
Let brotherly love continue. - Hebrews 13:2 (ESV)
Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for thereby some have entertained angels unawares. - Hebrews 13:16 (ESV)
Do not neglect to do good and to share what you have, for such sacrifices are pleasing to God. - 1 Peter 4:9 (ESV)
Show hospitality to one another without grumbling. - 1 John 3:16-17 (ESV)
By this we know love, that he laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives. for the brothers. But if anyone has the world’s goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does God’s love abide in him?
Unto the least of these, unto Me
Hospitality may include entertaining, but it’s more than that…it’s showing God’s grace, kindness, and welcome to strangers. Consider this astounding thought: In the final judgment, when the sheep are separated from the goats, and those who belong to King Jesus will enter his kingdom, it will be our hospitality—our love of strangers—that will evidence we belong to him.
The King will say we ministered to his needs when he was hungry and thirsty. He will tell of how we fed and clothed him, visited him in prison, and nursed him when he was sick. And we, thinking literally, will say, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirst and give you drink? And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?’ And the King will answer them, Truly I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.’ (Matt. 25:35-45).
Hospitality is to love strangers, and in doing so, we are also loving our King. To entertain is great, but to show hospitality to strangers in the name of Jesus comes with eternal reward. Let’s open our doors, refrigerators, and hearts to love strangers well.
Cara
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P.S. Hospitality, loving strangers, and living in a Christian community are important for our walk of faith. This is the subject of chapter 7 in my book, The Pursuit of Holy Leisure: Enjoying God in Everyday Places. There’s no such thing as a lone-ranger Christian… we need one another. Order your copy today!