Hospitality is Evangelism

Reading the lives of the saints can be confusing, especially for new Christians. We are tempted to read their lives and presume our lives must match their zeal. We think that if a saint went place to place preaching, then that is what every Christian must do. We would be wrong.

Today is a good example. Saint Autonomos the Martyr, who is commemorated today, went place to place converting people to Christ. Because of his efforts he was martyred. Because he gave up his life for Christ, we honor his memory as a martyr saint.

That doesn’t mean we are called to go place to place, converting people for Christ. In fact, in comparison to the Christian population, those saints who were ‘traveling preachers’ were quite few. Sure, Saint Paul and the Apostles traveled around preaching, but they were unique.

Here’s what I mean. You don’t have to go around preaching to be an evangelist. While some select few become ‘evangelists’ who have been approved and sent by the Church, not everyone is called to that ‘type’ of evangelism. But we are all called to evangelism.

The Lord said, “He who loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; and he who loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me; and he who does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me. He who finds his life will lose it, and he who loses his life for my sake will find it. He who receives you receives me, and he who receives me receives him who sent me. He who receives a prophet because he is a prophet shall receive a prophet’s reward, and he who receives a righteous man because he is a righteous man shall receive a righteous man’s reward. And whoever gives to one of these little ones even a cup of cold water because he is a disciple, truly, I say to you, he shall not lose his reward.” And when Jesus had finished instructing his twelve disciples, he went on from there to teach and preach in their cities.

Matthew 10:37-11:1

When we show hospitality to others, we receive the reward from God. In fact, throughout history many more people ‘converted to Christ’ because of the daily life of the Christians around them, then because of a single preacher on the corner.

“He who receives you receives me.” This promise from God is the manual, if you will, for evangelism. If we want people to convert to Christ, they must first know Who He is. Their encounter with us, because we are Christians, reveals Him to others.

That has great implications. No matter how we behave we represent Christ to others. If we are ruthless business dealers or shrewd neighbors, that also reveals Christ to others. Who would join a Church filled with ruthless and shrewd Christians?

If you feel called to evangelize for Christ, start with showing hospitality. Start with behaving with kindness and dignity with everyone you meet. Remember, if they receive us, they are receiving Christ. We don’t want to misrepresent Christ.

You don’t even have to preach Christ. I might suggest you shouldn’t preach Christ. Most of us are not educated properly to ‘preach’ in the normal sense. Throughout Church history, only those who were properly trained and vetted were ‘sent out’ (the definition of apostles).

If you want to honor Christ and ‘be like’ the saints, become an icon of Christ in your daily life. Don’t burden yourself with street preaching. Spend you time repenting of your sins and allowing your New Life In Christ to reveal Him to others. Allow your hospitality to be your evangelism.