Hospitality: The Hidden Commandment

Spiritual Advantage with Sam Stone

I don’t know how many of you like Tom Clancy’s international spy thrillers. All thirteen of his novels have hit #1 in the New York Times bestseller list. Jack Ryan is a TV series based on Tom Clancy’s fictional character who works for the CIA. The show is fascinating because each episode covers multiple countries, like the James Bond movies.

In the final season that was just released, Jack Ryan tries to take down a Burmese drug cartel based in Shan State in Burma. Tom Clancy knows how to draw his audience’s attention with exotic locations.

Shan State in Burma is known for its hospitality. Shans are one of the largest tribal groups in Burma. Just as we often talk about Southern hospitality in the U.S., people there like to mention Shan hospitality.

However, there’s a quirk about their hospitality. If you travel to Shan State, you’ll see most homes have their front door open, especially in small villages. You can enter any home without an invitation. In the living room, there’s always a tea table with a pot and cups ready to serve the guests.

They will serve you a cup of tea as soon as you enter the house. If you know the culture, you just sit down and start sipping the tea. The host will also sip his tea. No words are needed. You commune with the host in a realm beyond speech. Then you start talking about the reason for your visit.

The problem is, you must drink the tea they offer, at least take a sip. If you don’t drink their tea, they will treat you as an enemy. In their mind, they think, “Why don’t you drink our tea? You think we’ll poison you?” So, they take offense for not accepting their hospitality. That’s the quirk I’m talking about.

As society progresses, hospitality also erodes. In big cities, most people keep their doors locked and protect their privacy. Of course, one of the reasons is the fear of crime. Robbers and thieves keep us suspicious of strangers. Sometimes, we don’t want people to see the skeletons in our closet.

Nowadays, even most church doors are tightly locked. It used to be that we could walk into any church and sit down to pray. When we were in Paramus, every now and then, people would stop by to pray in the sanctuary. After some churches and synagogues shooting, some churches began to have armed ushers.

How do we provide hospitality in an age of hostility? Maybe we should put a tea table at the door. If you drink my tea, you are my friend; come in. If you don’t drink my tea, leave! Just a thought.

The Bible reveals that hospitality is one of God’s hidden commandments because it is not listed in the Big Ten but shows up everywhere, both in the Old and New Testaments. Stories and after stories indicate that God takes hospitality seriously.

Jesus also talks about how God generously rewards those who are hospitable as well as severely punishes those who don’t. I know some people love to throw a party anytime there’s a reason, but others stress out thinking about entertaining guests.

Jesus wants us to regard hospitality as a ministry. He is not talking about randomly throwing a party but purposefully using hospitality to fulfill his mission. Since God takes hospitality seriously, we should develop it as one of our values. Today, we will look at how Jesus reveals this hidden commandment. Let’s begin!