Review: "The Hospitality Commands"

God commands you to be hospitable.  I don’t know if I would have ever put it that way if I had not read Alexander Strauch’s little (53 pages) book, The Hospitality Commands.

Strauch argues that “hospitality” was a distinctive mark of the early church (6).

Christ brings people together as a family (10) that loves each other (12).  That love opens up one’s home and life to others in living out the Gospel (17).  Inviting people into the home is key to hospitality (18).

Historically, home meetings have been the most fruitful base for evangelism (21).  Especially when a meal is shared with another (24).  The home was also the first place for travelling ministers to stay and work from (26).  Hospitality includes generous, loving support for workers of the Gospel (29).

In the fourth chapter, he shows that hospitality is an actual command, not a matter of money or ability, but obedience (34).   And all persons are to share in offering hospitality (37).  The biggest stumbling block to this is our selfishness (38).  Nevertheless, we are responsible to show hospitality to all Christians we encounter (40) – for which there may be unexpected reward (41).  Christian leaders, in particular, must show hospitality (43).  Except in the case of false teachers and unrepentant brothers and sisters (44).  This chapter ends with a list (with Scriptures) of fourteen distinctive of Christian hospitality (47).

The final chapter is sixteen “helpful hints” for practicing hospitality – including some additional resources one might find useful.

The book includes a study guide for individual or group use.

I highly recommend this book in an age where we live as though we don’t need each other and “what’s mine is mine.” 

The one point at which I would like further clarification – especially as a minister – is how, when showing hospitality – to keep boundaries.  For example, I prefer not to have people to my house, because it is my sanctuary – it is the one place I can go where people do not show up to make demands on me (in person, anyway).  How might one keep the home, if one invites people in, from becoming a place where people believe they have a right to show up at any time and demand to be provided for because you are the minster and you “work” for them?  Perhaps the answer is found in a mutual understanding of hospitality.  I wish he had spent more time on this.