Hospitality Several passages in the New Testament command us to demonstrate hospitality. Romans 12:13 urges us to be "given to hospitality." This is so important that even the qualifications of elders include the instruction that they are to be men who are "hospitable"(1 Tim. 3:2, Tit. 1:8 -NASV). We fear that some Christians have excused themselves from this responsibility by a particular definition of the word ‘hospitality.’ Various Greek authorities are quoted and an attempt is made to force our understanding of the word to mean exclusively "love of strangers." Usually some explanation is given about the morally corrupt conditions that existed in the public inns of the first century. Christians who traveled, we are told, were in desperate need of accommodations that were free from these temptations and evil influences. Thus the command was given to be "hospitable" - meaning to entertain traveling strangers. This standard explanation usually goes further to suggest that the command had no application to one's own acquaintances. It seems that this view fails to include the total concept of "hospitality." The problem, as we see it, is in the assumption that since there are now adequate public accommodations, we are no longer bound by this instruction. This notion is too narrow, and does not consider all that is said on the subject. I Peter 4:9 tells us to "use hospitality one to another without grudging." Thayer says that the word for "hospitality" means "generous to guests," and does not, denote that these "guests" were "strangers" in every case. Indeed, the very context suggests that this sharing was "among yourselves"(vs. 8), and "one to another" (vs. 9). Clearly, this command extends beyond the matter of caring for strangers and includes the idea of sharing with those of our own number. Christian, have you been "hospitable"? To Whom Shall We Go? (From Observations by James D. Bales) It is not always easy to follow Jesus. When some folks found some things He said difficult to comprehend many of them "went back, and walked no more with him. Jesus said therefore unto the twelve, Would ye also go away? Simon Peter answered him, Lord, to whom shall we go? Thou hast the words of eternal life. And we have believed and know that thou art the Holy One of God."(John 6:66-69) But what if our faith is weak and we encounter objections to Christ that we cannot at the moment answer? Shall we cease to follow Him? It may help us to decide to continue to be His disciples in spite of difficulties if we consider our alternative or alternatives. Shall we go to the camp of the atheist? To do this is to go into a life which has no purpose and to die without hope. It is to accept a position, that man is but matter in motion, which denies the very concept of the rational and the ethical. It is to accept a way which can never be proven right. Many decades ago I talked with an unbeliever who challenged my faith in Christ. I pointed out that he had nothing to offer. In place of meaning for life he would give me a meaningless life. In place of hope he offers despair. In place of the evidence that I already had for the truthfulness of Jesus Christ he offered a way that he could not prove and which was against evidence which I had for the existence of God. I told this fellow school-mate that if he was right and I was wrong neither of us will ever know it. No atheist, even if he or she is right, will ever tell me after death that I was wrong. If I am wrong I shall never know it. If he is wrong, he will know it eternally. If Christ is wrong, no other religious leader is right. If His way of life is wrong, what way could be right? If we go into a life of prodigality it finally reveals its emptiness. Since there is no one to whom we can turn for life, if we abandon Jesus, it is irrational to depart from Jesus. Do not turn off the light you have and plunge yourself into total darkness, because you do not have as much light at the moment as you would like to have.
Redeeming The Time Solomon told us in Proverbs 4:23: "Keep your heart with all diligence, For out of it spring the issues of life." Jesus explained this idea in Matthew 12:34 & 35 when he told us that the words and actions of man originate from the heart. If the heart is evil, our actions are evil. If we dwell on the obscene, the suggestive, and the sensual, our hearts will be filled with such things. Paul instructs us in Philippians 4:8: "Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy; meditate on these things." Much of what is on TV, in the movies, in books and magazines is degrading, and presents a warped viewpoint of family life, and depicts good guys as using evil tactics such as lying, killing, and stealing to bring about good results. How can we feed our minds on these things of which so much reading and viewing material consists today, and still maintain a pure and undefiled heart? Friends, we just can’t do it! We need to spend as much time as possible reading and studying God’s word and associating with Christians. We need to be extremely selective in our TV watching. We don’t need to read just anything that comes into our hands. Listen to Paul in Ephesians 5:15-17: "See then that you walk circumspectly, not as fools but as wise, redeeming the time, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be unwise, but understand what the will of the Lord is. An average person who lives to be 70 years of age, spends 23 years in bed sleeping, 19 years working, 9 years in recreation, 6 years eating, 6 years traveling, 4 years unaccounted for, 2 years getting dressed, but only one year in church related activities. Let us not be like the average person, but spend our time wisely to the glory of God. -- David Riggs [Note: The following is part of a lengthy series of articles on the subject of patience. It is personally applicable to me because so often in the work of teaching others the gospel, we want to see evidence of belief in and obedience to it immediately!! Further, we may become somewhat discouraged at the lack of responses to our teaching. Whether one preaches publicly or teaches neighbors, friends and family privately, or both, the good done through teaching may take years to bear visible fruit. Knowing this, let us be slow to "give up" on people. Regardless of how few or many responses, let us all busy ourselves teaching others around us the truth of the gospel. – p.a.o.] Slow Down And Think Before You "Give Up" On A Lost Person In the spring of 1992 fourth grade students in Portland, Maine, carried out a novel experiment. Their teacher, Pamela Trieu, was teaching about the ocean, specifically about the Gulf Stream that flows along the East Coast and then turns toward Europe. Her students put messages with their addresses in empty wine bottles, and then a fisherman took the twenty-one bottles away from shore and threw them into the ocean. They hoped that some might drift as far as England. Three months later, two bottles did wash up in Canada, but the class heard nothing else and assumed that the rest of the bottles were lost at sea. Two years passed. Then one student, Geoff Hight, received a surprise letter from a girl in Pornichet, France. She found his bottle while walking with her father on the beach. Our efforts to teach others are often like tossing a bottle into the ocean. We share the gospel with others—by giving them a piece of literature, an invitation to church services, or a prayer in time of need. But we see no response. It seems our message is "lost at sea." We become frustrated. The lost do not know that they are "opposing themselves(II Tim. 2:22-24), but we realize that time may be short(Jas. 4:14), the value of the soul(Matt. 16:26) and the urgency of obedience.(II Thess. 1:9; II Cor. 6:2) Therefore, unlike God, we have a tendency to be impatient. God is longsuffering with sinners.(Ex. 34:6-7; Jer 15:15; Rom. 2:4; II Pet. 3:9,15; Ps. 103:8; 83:15; 145:8) He would have been justified in blasting the world out of existence, but He is "not willing that any should perish."(I Tim. 2:4; II Pet. 3:9,15) Sometimes it takes years to change a mind, a heart, and life. The cocklebur is a hated plant, but it teaches a good lesson about evangelism. Remarkably, this sticky seedpod contains several seeds, not just one. And these seeds germinate in different years. Thus, if seed A fails to sprout next year because of a drought, seed B will be there waiting for the year after next, and seed C the year after that, waiting until the right conditions for germination. The genius of the cocklebur pod is much like that of the spiritual seeds we plant in the lives of others. People don’t always respond to God’s Word immediately. But the seed is planted, and when the time is ripe, it will bring a harvest. How many of us came to services the first time we were asked? How many obeyed the gospel the first time someone encouraged us to? Margaret Thatcher epitomized the Christian’s patient tenacity when she said, "I am extraordinarily patient, provided I get my own way in the end."(The Observer) Keep throwing bottles. You’ll hear from one some day. "For ye have need of patience, that, after ye have done the will of God, ye might receive the promise."(Heb. 10:36) -- Allen Webster* * * * * * * Jesus said: He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned."(Mark 16:16) Do you believe Jesus of Nazareth is the Christ of God? If not, sufficient evidence exists to convince honest-hearted people that He is. If you believe He is, why not be baptized? If you haven’t, you are in no better position than the one who hasn’t believed—both are lost, but salvation is available. |