Hospitality

Definition and Meaning

Hospitality is the practice of welcoming guests, especially strangers or travelers in need, and providing them with food, lodging, and assistance. The New Testament Greek word for it, philoxenia, means "love of strangers." Hospitality as Scripture describes it is therefore broader than entertaining acquaintances. It also includes welcoming those who have no means of repaying the kindness.

Biblical and Historical Background

In the Old Testament, the most frequently cited examples are Abraham, who welcomed three men passing by his tent and served them a meal (Genesis 18), and Lot, who took strangers into his house in Sodom (Genesis 19). The Law commands the Israelites to love the stranger who dwells among them as themselves, because they too were strangers in the land of Egypt (Leviticus 19:33–34).

The New Testament tells of Martha and Mary and of Zacchaeus, who welcomed Jesus into their homes, and of Lydia, who had Paul and his companions stay in her house. The Epistles urge the practice directly: "given to hospitality" (Romans 12:13); "Be not forgetful to entertain strangers: for thereby some have entertained angels unawares" (Hebrews 13:2); and "Use hospitality one to another without grudging" (1 Peter 4:9). The Pastoral Epistles list hospitality among the qualifications for church leaders, namely bishops and elders (1 Timothy 3:2; Titus 1:8). Jesus taught that whoever welcomes a stranger welcomes him: "I was a stranger, and ye took me in" (Matthew 25:35).

In the early church, believers' homes served as meeting places, and giving lodging to itinerant preachers of the gospel before sending them on their way was considered important. The church later operated hostels that cared for travelers and the sick. In the Western monastic tradition, the Rule of Saint Benedict is well known for teaching that guests who arrive should be received as Christ.

Practice in the Korean Church

In the Korean church, hospitality is practiced in many forms across denominations.

• Fellowship meals: Sharing lunch at church after the Sunday worship service is widespread. Churches also commonly hold special welcome gatherings for newcomers attending for the first time.
• Pastoral visitation: When ministers visit homes for pastoral visitation, church members customarily prepare refreshments or a meal. Because some have pointed out that such hospitality can become a burden, however, certain churches simplify the custom or decline it altogether.
• Hosting speakers and missionaries: Churches provide lodging and meals for speakers at revival meetings and for missionaries returning home.
• Hospitality toward neighbors: Relief ministries, such as meals for the homeless and support for immigrants and foreign workers, as well as church cafés that open church space to local residents, are also understood as extensions of hospitality.

Churches that consult the lists of qualifications in the Pastoral Epistles when ordaining elders sometimes teach that hospitality is a virtue required of leaders.