The Hospitality of Christ

Hospitality. It’s a word we hear a lot, there are even industries built around it. The hospitality industry includes lodging and restaurants. The hospital “industry” that covers so much medical work. The mission statement of NETWorks Cooperative Ministry starts with us “responding with the hospitality of Christ.” What does that mean? Let’s take a deeper look.

Hospitality, in ancient Greek culture, came from two ideas—philos and xenos. Philos can mean “friend” or “someone dearly loved”, similar to the use in Philadelphia, the City of Brotherly Love. Xenos means “strange, foreign, or alien”, as in xenophobia, or a fear of the stranger. When combined, we get “love of the stranger”. Hospitality, then, is caring for, or loving, the stranger, the foreigner, the alien. The hospital cares for the physical needs of sick and injured people. Hotels and restaurants—the hospitality industry—welcomes strangers in for food, drink, and rest.

Looking then, at the hospitality of Christ, what do we see? We see that Jesus welcomed the stranger, loved them, cared for them. Think of the parable of the Good Samaritan, where the stranger that was least expected to care stepped up and helped the injured traveler. Or the woman at the well, whom Jesus offered the Living Water.

At NETWorks, we strive to interact with all with a loving, open, welcoming manner. We want to offer filial love to our neighbor—regardless of how familiar or foreign they may be to us as individuals.

Everything Jesus did was inclusive as He attempted to draw everyone to God. As we try to emulate this model, we hope to not only serve the physical needs of hunger and poverty but offer a respite from the despair that often accompanies those material challenges.