I am doing this Bible study that my daughter recommended (I will share a link to the Bible study book at the end of this post, if you’re interested in it). Each weekly section has a theme. The next section I am starting is on hospitality, and the introduction to it has so much good info in it, so much to reflect on, I practically don’t need the accompanying Bible readings haha! Things like hospitality is about centering the humanity of others, being fully present to someone, responding to their needs with empathy and kindness. Hospitality is an extension of our love for God, that we are compelled to care for others with the same care we receive from God. Hospitality is about selfless service, recognizing our neighbors as valuable members of a shared community, and everyone we encounter is our neighbor.

Honestly, as I was reading the introduction, I was thinking about my local community Facebook group. I don’t know if you are part of your local community Facebook group, but mine has plenty of good folks in it, but there are always a handful who just seem to enjoy stirring the pot, being controversial or just being hateful and nasty. There is a small population of unhoused people in my community, and whenever they are mentioned in the group, it seems to bring out the ugliness in people. There is always at least one person who makes some sort of comment about how we shouldn’t feed them because then they will just stay around (like they’re animals), and at least one person who makes a crack like, “Well, if you care about them, why don’t you open your home and let them live with you?” (This comment is also used whenever the topic of immigrants, especially undocumented, is brought up.) Whenever I see those comments, I think about hospitality, and what I read today in my Bible study intro just kind of hit me. The community I live in is also very faith forward — there are a LOT of churches of nearly all denominations in the area. So when I see those inhospitable comments, I sometimes shake my head at how un-Christian they are. Now, let me clarify that I honestly believe that most people who call themselves Christian do actually have good hearts and center kindness. But I also feel like there are far too many people who proclaim their Christianity loudly while also speaking very unkindly about their neighbors (using the term “neighbor” the way it was defined above). It is very easy to become jaded and turned off to God because of people like that, so I try very hard not to feel that way. I try to remind myself of the people I know who are Christians in the way I believe real Christians should be, people like my friends Carla, Tracey, or Mary — humble, open hearts, caring, empathetic. I just refuse to believe the word :Chritians” is a dirty word, so to speak. But I do believe that we all — Christian, atheist, or anywhere in between — should reflect on what hospitality means.

The last part of my Bible study intro says, “…the first step of extending…hospitality is asking God to open our eyes and hearts so we can truly see and be present to the people around us.” We should all want to do this — whether it is God who opens our eyes and hearts, or just our human decency that opens our eyes and hearts.

Interested in the Bible study book I am using? You can find it here.