Now the overseer is to be above reproach, faithful to his wife, temperate, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach,… I Timothy 3:2 NIV

It is interesting to see the word hospitable in a passage of scripture having to do with leadership. The word hospitable is defined as friendly and welcoming to strangers and guests. It is also defined as a pleasant and favorable environment for living in.

◦ Along with other important requirements, God requires leaders in His organization, the church, to be hospitable.

Hospitality tends to be a Biblical aspect of leadership that often gets overlooked. It is an unusual leadership mandate. In the minds of most people, having to be hospitable does not rise to the level of importance as Biblical knowledge, spiritual gifts and talents, etc. God says being hospitable is just as important.

◦ Are you a hospitable person?

Are you seen as kind and welcoming to others? Do people want to be on your team? Is the environment you create one that is pleasant and favorable? Do you open your time, your home, your life to new people? Is your sphere of influence growing, stagnant or shrinking? How you answer these questions will determine if you need to work on your hospitality.

◦ Is your church a place that is hospitable?

As a pastor of a local church, I often ask church ministry team members, what does a visitor experience when walking into our church for the first time? Do our greeters, ushers and every congregation member understand that hospitality is a virtue God elevates? Do people take deliberate time to meet a stranger, a guest? How are we making strangers friends, disciples of Christ and part of the church family of God?

◦ I remember my first experience attending a new church.

It was frightening for an unchurched young man who had never attended anything other than a traditional church to walk into a new church experience. Hospitality is what opened my heart and eliminated some fear of the unknown. Never had I experienced people so welcoming and kind. Never had I seen so many smiles and been extended so many handshakes. People actually took time to engage with me one on one in caring conversation. Their hospitality was the Holy Spirit ministering to me. Their making time for me, in and outside of church, opened my heart to receiving Christ and changed my eternal destiny. Hospitality is powerful! When is the last time you spent quality time with a stranger, someone God has put in your life for you to practice hospitality?

◦ Hospitality is spirituality?

God is love, and love is being kind, welcoming and inclusive. Jesus taught us, loving your neighbor as yourself is one of the two greatest commandments. This is the work of hospitality. All Christians should be hospitable, but it is a mandate especially for Christian leaders.

“Rather, he must be hospitable, one who loves what is good, who is self-controlled, upright, holy and disciplined.” Titus 1:8 NIV

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