Hospitable

Paul writes about how Christ came to the Jews to keep His promises and show God faithful and to show mercy to the Gentiles, all to the glory of God (Rom 15:1-6). On that basis, he says, "Therefore, accept one another, just as Christ also accepted us to the glory of God." (Rom 15:7 (NAS)). It seems almost innocuous. "Accept one another." Well, almost. It is certainly a message for our day, isn't it? But I think "accept" isn't adequate. The ESV says, "Welcome." Better, perhaps. Other translations say, "Receive." Better, perhaps.

The Greek word behind it is proslambanō. It means most literally, "to take to oneself." It is used in terms of food and friendship and, here, "one another." In the previous chapter Paul had said, "Now accept the one who is weak in faith, but not for the purpose of passing judgment on his opinions." (Rom 14:1), and I'm sure he had that in mind here -- the continuation of the thought. The idea, then, is in regard to those who are different than you are, but not in a sinful way. Accept, welcome, receive them. Take them to yourself.

In Romans 12:13, Paul urges that we should be "practicing hospitality." In 1 Timothy 5:10 he commends "hospitality to strangers." In Hebrews 13:2 we are commanded, "Do not neglect to show hospitality." I'm seeing a trend. The command is "We who are strong have an obligation to bear with the failings of the weak." (Rom 15:1). That means, "Let each of us please his neighbor for his good, to build him up." (Rom 15:2). Paul uses that to define "be of the same mind with one another." (Rom 15:5,7).

I'm trying to imagine what that would look like if we actually practiced that. If Christians in general were known for embracing all Christians without regard to skin color, sex, denomination, financial status, idiosyncracies, all the nonsense that divides us now. I'm not talking here about sin (e.g., 1 Cor 5:9-11); I'm talking about simple differences. I'm talking about what Paul refers to as "strong" and "weak" faith (Rom 14:1). I'm talking about mere peripherals. If we would simply do what Jesus commanded (John 13:34-35), how different would our churches and our interactions look? If we were in the habit of taking people to ourselves, how welcome do you suppose people would be in your church? In the first church believers willingly sacrificed to meet the needs of believers (Acts 2:44-45), not out of compulsion, but because they loved as Christ loved. What would the world think if "hospitable" and "welcoming" defined Christians? Never mind the world; how would we react if that was our normal experience? More to the point, why isn't it?