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Is “Hospitality” a Spiritual Gift (charisma)?
by Tom Eckman Professor of New Testament Greek Free Grace Seminary As they grow in their Christian walk, many believers become curious about the role of spiritual gifts in their lives. The Scriptures need to be the basis for any understanding of spiritual gifts, what constitutes a charisma, and how and when they might be exercised. An examination of the biblical passages related to spiritual gifts should be at the core of any discussion about them. Much of “what’s out there,” unfortunately, seems to fail to do that. Many of the “surveys” that Christians are given, whether in a church setting or even an academic one, simply make assumptions about the way spiritual gifts work and what they are. They work from those assumptions and promote them, even if they have very little to do with biblical teaching. A case in point is “hospitality.” Many of the surveys and current teaching in American evangelical circles simply assume that hospitality is a spiritual gift, and then go on to incorporate it into their list of gifts, even giving it certain characteristics in order to try to validate their assumptions. Is there scriptural support for it? What do the passages on spiritual gifts have to say about hospitality, and do they validate the assumptions of those who would promote it as a spiritual gift? There are only two passages in the New Testament where the term “hospitality” is used in the context of spiritual gifts, so it should be easy enough to look at those passages and draw some conclusions. The First Passage: Romans 12:6-13 Romans chapter 12 contains the first passage in the New Testament to have an extended discussion of spiritual gifts. Here is the passage, with the translation of verses 9-13 more closely following the original Greek grammar: 6Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us, let us use them: if prophecy, let us prophesy in proportion to our faith; 7or ministry, let us use it in our ministering; he who teaches, in teaching; 8he who exhorts, in exhortation; he who gives, with liberality; he who leads, with diligence; he who shows mercy, with cheerfulness. 9“Let love be without hypocrisy (and here’s how): (by) hating the evil, (by) clinging to the good, 10(by) demonstrating affection to one another in brotherly love, (by) giving preference to one another in honor, 11(by) not lacking in diligence, (by) being fervent in the Spirit, (by) serving the Lord, 12(by) rejoicing in hope, (by) being patient in tribulation, (by) remaining constant in prayer, 13(by) fellowshipping in the needs of the saints, (by) pursuing hospitality.” (NKJV and grammatical Greek translation, parentheses mine) If one were to read more of the context, it’s easy to see that Romans 12 is really split up into 2 or 3 sections. The important thing to note here is that one of the section splits is between verses 8 and 9, which is obvious from the quote above. The verses which comprise the gift list all have qualifications of some type (verses 6-8), while the only thing being qualified in verses 9-13 is “love.” If one were to honestly try to add something to the list of 6-8, therefore, the only “gift” they could add would be “love.” But who tries to turn that into a spiritual gift? Verses 9-13 in the original Greek comprise one long sentence, with “Let love be without hypocrisy” containing the only verb. While it is unruly to those of us who speak English, the easiest way to understand 9-13 is to see it as another list, but this time showing Paul’s Roman audience how to love without hypocrisy. That being the case, if one were to try to make 9-13 a continuation of the gifts list, how would they do that and be consistent? Would they create a gift of “diligence?” Would there be a gift of “fervency?” Perhaps someone might have the gift of “abhorring?” While those might sound absurd, the point is that “hospitality” is at the end of a string of traits which would tell how someone could love without hypocrisy, not at the end of a spiritual gifts list. There is no way to use these verses to try to justify mutating “hospitality” into a spiritual gift. The Second Passage: 1 Peter 4:7-11 At first glance, 1 Peter 4:7-11 might seem out of place. It is in the middle of a section that runs from 3:13 to 4:19, and the entire section is essentially about how to handle suffering and persecution. Near the end of that extended section, Peter writes: 7But the end of all things is at hand; therefore be serious and watchful in your prayers. 8And above all things have fervent love for one another, for “love will cover a multitude of sins.” 9Be hospitable to one another without grumbling. 10As each one has received a gift (charisma), minister it to one another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God. 11If anyone speaks, let him speak as the oracles of God. If anyone ministers, let him do it as with the ability which God supplies, that in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom belong the glory and the dominion forever and ever. Amen. (NKJV, parenthesis mine) At the end of verse 11, it’s almost as though Peter is so excited he can’t hold himself back. Keep in mind that he writes that in the middle of a scriptural and historical context where the reality is that Christians are being persecuted. How do his comments fit? If the body of Christ is meant to be a haven of safety where believers love and encourage one another, how much more wonderful would that place be in the midst of the evil going on all around it? Peter sees all too well how important prayer, love, hospitality and ministry are in the midst of persecution. The fact is that there is no spiritual gift list here. That is not Peter’s goal; his goal is to give his audience direction in how to behave (and seek comfort from each other) while being attacked from all sides. He gives four directives, all designed to help them encourage each other in their situation: 1. Be serious and watchful in your prayers. 2. Love each other fervently (deeply). 3. Demonstrate gracious hospitality (without grumbling) 4. Serve each other in line with your spiritual gift (charisma). This Bible passage would have to take some serious interpretive abuse to try to find a list here in the first place. But then to make “hospitality” a part of that list when it is the third in a string of four commands is simply nonsense! In terms of consistency, one would have to somehow ignore the fourth command to use one’s gift, and then create gifts of the other three. Do we then have the spiritual gift of “being serious and watchful?” And “love” would then become a spiritual gift as it would in Romans 12, and clearly that doesn’t make any sense. While “hospitality” in 1 Peter 4 is in the context of a brief discussion of spiritual gifts, it is clear even from a brief examination of the passage that there is no “gift list” in this passage, and therefore “hospitality” cannot be part of that list. That wasn’t Peter’s purpose, and it doesn’t even make sense in the immediate context. Conclusions So why is it, then, that so many American Christians have accepted (and even propagate) the idea that “hospitality” is a spiritual gift? With no evidence for the idea, and all the evidence against it, why should this idea be so popular? I’d like to suggest that there are (at least) two reasons. It’s culturally convenient. We live in a culture where people go from their cars into their garage, use the remote control to close it, go into their house and use the next remote control to turn on their television. As a result, we have almost no interaction with other people on a personal level (outside of work, which is generally impersonal), and the only time believers may interact with each other for more than a minute is on Sunday mornings. What better way to remove the responsibility from Christians to spend time together than to relegate “hospitality” to the realm of spiritual gifts where very, very few people happen to have that gift?! I have actually observed sighs of relief in churches where this is taught when they find someone who claims to have it; the others no longer feel any responsibility. Is there a problem with this picture? I have traveled to many countries throughout the world and met with believers in those countries. Almost without exception, when we begin to speak about spiritual gifts and I tell them that many Americans believe that “hospitality” is a spiritual gift, they simply laugh. They are amazed that anyone would abuse the Bible in such a way. While some have a deeper understanding of the subject than others, there is an almost universal expectation on their part that believers would seek to involve other believers in their lives on a regular basis, including in their homes. Having experienced hospitality in many of these different cultures, I would have to say that one of the greatest blessings was feeling like I was part of their lives in a significant way because they invited me into their homes, allowing me to get to know them in a much more personal way. Secondly, it’s consistent with the current trend in evangelicalism away from studying the Scriptures deeply first and then drawing practical applications toward the priority of the “practical,” often to the point of no discussion of the relevant Bible passages whatsoever. Many times I have heard pastors make statements about spiritual gifts that appear to make sense, but have no scriptural support. They get away with this because they haven’t trained their members how to reason with the scriptures themselves, and the members simply assume that the pastor (or even the denomination) must know what is right. This is wrong at both ends, but often nothing changes because the culture today simply wants “what works.” That rampant pragmatism is often at the expense of truth, and if we listen to history, it would teach us that this will cost evangelicals in the long-term because without a reason for their faith, the next generations usually view the “practice” as tradition at best and hypocrisy at worst, and often (as a result) end up rejecting the system altogether. This is a travesty, and could be avoided if pastors would simply teach the Word carefully, training others to do the same, giving the respect the Bible deserves as The revelation from God. So what can be done to encourage careful consideration of and obedience to an idea that is so clear in scripture? How can we “get back to the Word” with regard to hospitality? The good news is that there is an explosion of new growth within evangelicalism due to the influence of and fostering of small groups within the church. Small (home) groups are the place where many evangelicals would argue spiritual transformation and growth happens most effectively. And while the idea of small groups may have begun in someone’s head, it really is nothing other than an outworking of the exercise of hospitality. People open up their homes with the intention of opening up their lives and listening to God as a group, and people’s lives are changed as a result. Many conservative evangelical churches today would credit their growth entirely on the basis of their small groups. I spoke with someone who would make just such a claim and he said, “We are a church of small groups; it’s who we are.” His church has seen exponential growth over the last few years. Churches with developed small groups quickly recognize that they are a vital part of the larger church not only for fellowship, but equally for evangelism, discipleship and personal ministries. Small groups succeed in a number of ways that churches on Sunday cannot; they provide (hopefully): -- a sheltered environment, -- a limited group size so it’s easier to get to know each other, -- a commitment to the centrality of the Bible as their reason for fellowship, -- a concern for the details of each others’ lives that is almost impossible to foster on a Sunday morning, and -- a more comfortable environment for the unchurched. And all of this happens as a result of the church’s deciding that it’s every believer’s job to be involved in the simple exercise of . . . hospitality.
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