Tackling Tradition 43: Biblical Hospitality

 1This is a trustworthy saying: If anyone aspires to be an overseer, he desires a noble task. 2An overseer, then, must be above reproach, the husband of but one wife,a temperate, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, 3not dependent on wine, not violent but gentle, peaceable, and free of the love of money.  (1 Timothy 3:1 - 3)

Some people think that biblical hospitality in relation to church order / qualifications for office means that the church / office holder should be one who regularly or semi-regularly opens his or her home to other people, as if introverted or otherwise private people are prohibited from holding office.   

They would be wrong.   The Bible connects hospitality to the behavior of hypocrites & gluttons.   When Ezekiel described/indicted Sodom & Gomorrah, he was also defining gluttony -  thoughts, words, & deeds that defraud the least of these.  In the Ancient World, cities were, among other things, places where people could find justice & protection.    When we see Yeshua in the homes of lawyers, tax collectors, & the temple, what else is going on?   His enemies are either in there with him or outside looking in; and who were His enemies?   Hypocrites, gluttons, bigots, & others, some of whom were among the ecclesiastical class.  

When we read Paul’s words in 1 Timothy, we ought to keep that in mind.   Remember; Paul is writing to the Ephesian church, & in Acts 19, Demetrius rises up & assembles a lynch mob of angry religious bigots who were already against the Jews, & now the Christians were in Ephesus.    Their brand of monotheism was exclusive, & Artemis’ honor & dominance was at stake, along with his & his associates’ bottom line.   

An Ephesian elder/deacon/magistrate ought to be above that sort of thing.  That’s what’s going on here in relation to qualifications for office.  

The overseer must not be prone to surround himself with sychophants & other sorts of “yes men.”    An overseer ought to be welcoming — Paraclete to people unlike himself, walking the path set forth in Matthew 5:41 - 48 — meaning the elder/deacon/office holder  must always be seen respecting, reinforcing, promoting, & protecting the rights & responsibilities of all people & people groups, especially those society (and others) have historically failed: women, immigrants, LGBTQ people, & other maligned &/or marginalized members of American society — not just those of whom the governors of the church(es) &/or religion (if any) &/or liturgical / quasi-liturgical ideology approves.  S/he must do so from their heart not merely as one going through the motions.  

In addition, an overseer must also be teachable, willing to hear & understand ideas other than those of his/her/their &/or own personal ideology. They must not be a respecter of persons (i.e. a practitioner of favoritism) — this includes bigotry in all its forms.   

Misogyny, gluttony, racism, sexism, homophobia, anti-Semitism, prejudice/bigotry, &tc. have no place in the local church & must constantly undergo the mortification of both sin & of ignorance.    

O LORD, Hear our prayer(s)!