Hospitality as Life (Romans 12:9-13) | Food for Thought

 

Romans 12:9-13

  • See also Mark 10:23-31; Acts 3:1-10; Romans 14:1-15:7

Questions

  • Consider hospitality. Think about a home (or other place) that feels particularly hospitable.

    • What makes that place hospitable in your mind? What does it have (or not have!)

    • Now consider people who feel hospitable. What is it about them that feels hospitable? What are they like? What do they do, say, etc. that exudes hospitality?

  • Read Romans 9:9-12. Does this passage name any of the things that describe hospitable places / people to you? Here are some examples:

    • Genuine Love: What’s the difference between genuine love and not genuine love? Can you tell them apart?

    • Abhoring Evil: How can hating evil be seen as hospitable? What role does safety / security / protection play in hospitality?

    • Holding Fast to What’s Good: “Good” might be obvious. Why might the most hospitable places / people “hold fast” to what’s good? Why is that part so important?

    • Love One Another with Brotherly Affection: What does it look like to love one another as siblings in Christ? What’s distinct about that kind of love from other kinds of love?

    • Outdo in Showing Honor: How is showing honor distinct from what’s good, love, etc.? What’s it mean to one-up one another in honor?

    • Not Slothful in Zeal: “Zeal” and “sloth” are opposites, funny enough. What does this mean? How can someone be slothful in zeal? What’s the opposite of that? And how is that hospitable?

    • Fervent in Spirit: How does this show up? Is it similar to not being “slothful in zeal?”

    • Serve the Lord: How is serving the Lord actually hospitable to people who “walk through your doors?”

    • Rejoicing in Hope, Patient in Tribulation, Constant in Prayer: In some ways, these three roll up to being anchored in the hope of the gospel through all things. How would these three qualities together make a hospitable place / people?

    • Sharing Needs: What kind of needs might that include?

  • These are all commands for us in this short passage.

    • Which ones do you struggle with most? Why? How do you wish that showed up more in your life?

    • Which ones do you excel at / love doing? Why? How do those things show up through you?

    • Most importantly… how do these things show up in Jesus, the one who perfectly fulfilled the Law on our behalf? How do we see each of these things in this passage show up in his life?

    • How has Jesus been hospitable to you in these ways?

    • How does Jesus’ hospitality free and empower you to grow in hospitality as a person and in your places?

 
Make RoomScott O'Donohoe