THE LOST ART OF HOSPITALITY
		
When was the last time you got together with another family just to eat and to 
get to know one another better?  Among my favorite memories of childhood are 
those times when my mom and dad would invite friends from church or families in 
the neighborhood over for a fish fry or cookout.  The adults would sit around 
and talk and we kids would enjoy games like "chase" and "hide 'n seek."  It all 
seemed like "fun" but something much more important was going on-relationships 
were being built.  Since Christianity is all about relationships, no wonder 
Scripture places such a high emphasis on hospitality.
	
The New Testament constantly depicts Jesus enjoying the hospitality of others 
and using these times to preach and teach the Gospel.  Whether it was in the 
home of Matthew the tax-collector (Mt. 9:10-13) or Simon the Pharisee (Lk. 7:36-
50), Jesus was gracious in accepting the hospitality of others.  Unfortunately, 
hospitality has become a lost art in modern day America.
	
There was a time when people sat around outside and neighbors gathered just to 
get to know one another.  Today, we live in homes locked tighter than Fort Knox 
and seldom even know our neighbors, much less spend time with them.  There was a 
time when we didn't mind how the house looked-"just come on over."  The 
fellowship and friendships were what mattered.  

Today, we would be willing to open our homes up more if only everything was 
clean and straight.  Somehow, though, things never get put up and so our homes 
never open up.  There was a time when community was a valued commodity.  Today, 
isolation seems the norm.
	
The Gospel will not allow Christians to live in splendid isolation.  It assumes 
we will open our homes up to those in need of God's saving power.  Notice the 
words of Jesus in Luke 14:12-14, "When you give a luncheon or dinner, do not 
invite your friends, your brothers or relatives, or your rich neighbors; if you 
do, they may invite you back and so you will be repaid. But when you give a 
banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, and you will be 
blessed. Although they cannot repay you, you will be repaid at the resurrection 
of the righteous."  Did you notice that Jesus did not say "IF you give a 
luncheon," but "WHEN you give a luncheon"?  Perhaps that is why Paul encourages 
Christians in his Roman epistle with these words, "Share with God's people who 
are in need. Practice hospitality" (Rom 12:13).
	
Pick up the phone and issue an invitation.  Renew an old acquaintance, 
strengthen an existing one or make a new one!  Let's not let hospitality be a 
lost art.  

Leslie S. Chapman