If you want to know someone better, remember this: Hospitality opens the door to friendship. It’s hard to explain how it happens but sharing a meal with someone has a way of breaking down barriers and building bridges between people.
After Levi accepted Jesus’ invitation to follow Him, he was burdened for his friends. Levi had found peace and assurance in the Messiah, but he wanted his friends to discover those things in Jesus too. So, what did he do? He invited both Jesus and his other friends to his house for a party. It was a party with a purpose (Luke 5.27-29). You can imagine how, through hanging out and eating together, their walls came down and their hearts opened up.
There were several occasions when Jesus shared a meal with people who had spiritual questions. The most well-known one might be when Jesus went to the home of a despised tax collector named Zacchaeus. Throughout the course of the afternoon, Jesus won Zacchaeus over and announced, “Salvation has come to this home today, for this man has shown himself to be a true son of Abraham” Luke 19.9 NLT.
Sharing a meal was part of showing hospitality. In the first century, followers of Jesus were well-known for their hospitality. It’s something that Jesus Himself expected of them. Titus 1.8 NIV simply says, “be hospitable.” God had been hospitable toward them, and they were to pass that same hospitality along to others.
Now that you have your “Top Five List,” it’s time to start investing in those relationships. Be intentional. There’s no better way to build a friendship than to offer hospitality. Pick a person from your list and invite them to share a meal with you or offer to meet them for coffee.
When you get together, make it a point to learn about them. Ask them to share about their life. Where are they from? What do they enjoy most? What makes them feel stressed? Those kinds of questions will move your conversation to deeper levels of honesty and authenticity. Most importantly, listen to them. You don’t have to share the gospel the first time you get together. Really get to know the person, be their friend, and build the friendship.
It’s been said that people don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care. Practicing hospitality and, in particular, sharing a meal with someone is a great way to show someone that you care about them. When you listen to their story, they’ll share more of it with you. Over time, they will trust you when you start to share about the most important relationship in your life.
This blog originally appeared at: How Hospitality Builds Bridges to Deeper Friendships and Faith – discipleFIRST and features an excerpt from one of their Student Series books, Reach Your World.