“Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.Share with the Lord’s people who are in need. Practice hospitality. Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse” (Romans 12:12-14).

 “It was for the sake of the Name that they went out, receiving no help from the pagans. We ought therefore to show hospitality to such people so that we may work together for the truth” (3 John 1:7-8).

Hospitality is biblical. Radical Hospitality is one of five core values for staff at Nashville Rescue Mission and our focus for the month of May. Have you ever stopped to ponder what this term really means, especially in terms of how to be radically hospitable? Let’s break it down.

• The dictionary definition of hospitality is the friendly reception and treatment of guests.
•  A guest is anyone who is not a “host.” Guests can be family, friends, neighbors, or strangers. Anyone who steps onto the NRM Campus who is not staff would be a guest.
• Hosts are those who are in a position to welcome family, friends, neighbors, or strangers. Any/all staff at NRM would be deemed to be a host by our guests.

So, we as staff are each in a position to welcome any guest who visits NRM for any reason, for any length of time. To be (just plain) hospitable means that we would receive them and treat them in a friendly manner. None of that seems radical, unless we think that extending friendliness to everyone is radical, but I think you would agree that even this is a given. One way to define this friendly manner, over and above the obvious, is to think about any exceptionally great customer service treatment that you have received. That is how we should welcome and treat our guests.

Perhaps the term “radical” applies to our definition of “friendly reception and treatment.” For sure, there would be degrees of treatment, from a friendly greeting, to an offer of food, to an offer of an overnight stay, to an offer of more intensive services to include case management or counseling.

If you dig further into a definition of “radical,” you may become more confused than ever before, because there is an array of meanings attached to this word. The closest, which does not really seem close, applies to a person who is an extremist—who varies significantly from what we would define as normal—in a certain area. We don’t usually think of radical extremism as a good thing, but did you know that Jesus and his disciples were considered extremists by the religious leaders of their day?

Here’s what Got Questions, says about the word “radical:”

• The decision to follow Christ is itself a call to radical living. Jesus said that “anyone who wants to follow Me must deny himself, take up his cross daily, and follow Me” (Luke 9:23).
• That command is at extreme odds with our flesh’s desire to please itself (Romans 7:21–23).
• It challenges worldly wisdom, which preaches self-fulfillment as our highest aim (1 John 2:15–17).
• The cross is a radical thing, and declaring Jesus as Lord of our lives involves a dethroning of Self and a complete abandonment to His will. We must be willing to go where He leads, do what He says, and love Him more than life itself (Matthew 10:37–38).
• The lifestyle changes that follow such a commitment are considered radical by those who fall within the world’s definition of “normal.”

In summary, radical hospitality is defined as Selfless Service. Here are ways that Selfless Service could play out, and I bet you can think of others:

• Extending friendly hospitality even when we don’t feel like it.
• Extending friendly hospitality even when the guest is being difficult (or worse).
• Taking no consideration of the ability of the guest to reciprocate in any way.
• Focusing on the needs of the guest first, really listening, and trying to find a way to meet their needs without first focusing on our own needs or the convenience of the Mission.
• Praying over each guest before, during, and after any interaction and genuinely and intentionally seeking their own welfare.

I’m not saying we should allow guests to “run all over us.” I’m not saying that radical hospitality is always saying “yes.” But we can be gentle and positive, patient and kind, even when we are firm. We should make every effort to be “radically, selflessly hospitable” every time unless it would be harmful to someone else to do so.

This verse has always made me stop and think. “Do not forget to show hospitality to strangers, for by so doing some people have shown hospitality to angels without knowing it” (Hebrews 13:2).

After all, Jesus told us in Matthew 25:40 “Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.”

In Christ,

Judy