Hospitality as Mission

Hospitality is greatly underrated.

We tend to imagine mission as some big event, when more often its impact is in the quiet moments - serving a favorite drink, remembering someone’s story, enabling them to feel truly welcomed and valued in your home. This is where hospitality supercharges our witness!

Hospitality isn’t a thing for a select few, but a Spirit-empowered way of life for every believer. And it is definitely NOT only for women! Scripture repeatedly calls all of us to open our homes, our schedules, and our lives - see for example 1 Peter 4:8-10, Hebrews 13:2, and Romans 12:13.

The early church understood this well. We read how “they broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts” (Acts 2:46, NIV). Their homes weren’t private zones just for them, but rather mission hubs of the Kingdom of God. There they shared meals, needs, and Holy Spirit activity with both believers and the lost, with such great impact that as a result, “the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved” (Acts 2:47, NIV).

Hospitality isn’t about entertaining to show off your belongings or great taste in decoration. It’s not about having the perfect house, cleaning until there are no cobwebs, or cooking gourmet meals!

Instead, Spirit-fueled hospitality is a mindset and a tiny taste of heaven - where your friends feel safe, seen, and loved. You may serve a glass of water and it’ll be the best drink they’ve ever had when it’s an expression of the gospel: 'You belong here!'

Of course, we’re not saying you can’t tidy up and make an effort - that too can be a beautiful gift to honor a lost friend! But too often that can become a trap - 'You can only come round once we’ve decorated/ everything is tidy/ we’ve mended the leaky kitchen tap' - which is not what biblical hospitality is about.

Jesus taught us to invite not just friends and family, but “the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind” (Luke 14:13, NIV). In other words, you’re expecting nothing back because this is not a transactional relationship. Hospitality is the willingness to let others step into your real, everyday life and feel welcome.

So what if we planned our calendars with mission in mind? What if each month included intentional spaces to welcome those far from God into our homes and lives - not with pressure, but with prayer and presence?

You don’t need to be an extrovert or a perfect host. You just need to be available. Ask God to show you someone who He wants you to include. Then make space at your table for them.

What if your table, whether covered in takeout containers or home-cooked meals or simply a cup of water, became a place of transformation? What if your porch, your living room, or your picnic blanket became sacred ground?

Your Next Steps

1. What does hospitality look like in this season of your life?
2. Is there anything simple you can do to make your home more welcoming to others (but without stopping hospitality happening today!)? For example, if you hang with a lot of young families, what implications does that have for what is lying around your home?
3. Ask Jesus who to get together with. What’s one way you could offer hospitality to them this week?

Prayer

Lord God, thank You for welcoming me into Your family. Teach me how to welcome others with the same open-hearted love. Show me how to use my space, time, and table as tools for Your Kingdom. Help me see that hospitality is holy, and remind me that even small acts of kindness can lead to eternal impact. Amen.