Have you ever known
someone warm, inviting, comforting; someone who makes you feel secure and at home no matter where you are; someone who, when you feel a little down in the dumps, helps you begin to climb out just by seeing her face? She makes you feel a little more at ease no matter where you may happen to have your feet planted at the minute. What is different about her? She is hospitable throughout her life, not just within her four walls. She not only opens her home but opens her heart as well.
Karen Ehman, A Life That Says Welcome, 24-25
Being biblically hospitable goes beyond the use of your home; it extends to who you are in all of your life.
When most people hear the word hospitality, they think of a Pinterest perfect table spread with Food Network inspired homemade dishes surrounded by an HGTV pristinely decorated home. When the Bible speaks of the word hospitality, it means the love of strangers. In the Bible, hospitality does not equate to entertaining, but is about the condition of your heart and how it welcomes others in to feel refreshed, encouraged and loved.
There are an abundance of books available on the topic of hospitality. The three books highlighted in this article have been inspirational and paradigm shifting for me as I seek to use our home and my heart in service to the Lord and others.
A Life That Says Welcome by Karen Ehman
During Derek’s seminary years I was blessed to take weekly evening classes through the Seminary Wives Institute. This book was my textbook for the Hospitality class. It was in this class and while reading this book that the Lord shifted my view of hospitality from a world-defined entertaining perspective to a more balanced biblical perspective.
In this book Ehman lays a biblical foundation for hospitality interspersed with many practical ideas for how to make your home and life welcome to others. She touches on topics of cleaning, decorating, and cooking while prioritizing keeping your family first and your heart being set upon service to others rather than impressing them. Ehman makes a hospitable home become a realistic goal for any woman no matter the size of her home, her budget or her available time.
The Gospel Comes with a House Key by Rosaria Butterfield
Wow! This book is inspirational! Butterfield shares stories of how she opens her home on a daily basis to others for meals and gospel conversation. Rosaria’s own salvation story is rooted in a Christian couple opening their home to her for gospel conversation. This book shares how she is continuing the legacy of opening her home to family, friends, church members, neighbors and strangers for the furtherance of the gospel. This book demonstrates how hospitality is not about the fancy food and decorations, but instead about opening your life and heart to love others right where they are at. The Lord can use the ordinary to accomplish the extraordinary work of his purposes in the lives of those you welcome in to your life and home.
Treasuring God in our Traditions by Noel Piper
I read this book early in our marriage as I already knew creating a home full of meaningful, gospel-oriented traditions was a priority for me and I wanted to learn more about how to do this well. God-centered family traditions have been a priority for Noel Piper and her family as well. She wrote this book to share how their family has used the structure of family traditions to impart truth to their children and create a warm home open to others.
Piper’s book is a quick read with many creative ideas for implementing traditions in your home for the everyday and the very important days like birthdays and holidays. Our family enjoys welcoming others into our traditions as a means of deepening relationships and extending the love of our family to others.
My hope for you in reading these books is to see how God’s definition of hospitality differs from that of our surrounding culture and how you can extend hospitality to others in a variety of ways, which goes beyond the walls of your physical home.
