Be Hospitable


8 Rather, he must be hospitable, Titus 1:8a

When Paul wrote this, hospitality was very important as there were plenty of itinerant preachers and teachers passing through. But it’s really not that different than Jesus taught through his life. Jesus had time for people. His ministry was other people. Hospitality could be defined in a narrow sense of taking someone into your home, but it can be much broader too.

A friend of mine in Wisconsin had a ministry to Spanish speaking workers who lived there. They were mostly in the country illegally but he never asked any of them. As we continue to debate a wall and what to do with illegals in this country, my friend did not care how they got here. He was trying to teach them English. He was being hospitable in a very inhospitable world. He didn’t argue with anyone on the merits or legality of what he was doing; he was too busy helping these men. As followers of Christ, that’s what we’re supposed to be doing. I’ve thought about that scenario often as the illegal immigration continues to heat up. What should our role be regardless of where they come from and how they got here? The politicians and pundits will be up in arms about this issue, in particular, for years to come but we can still be ministering to the very people who are the subject of scorn and ridicule by these same politicians.


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