Hospitality continued: The Early Church

"The Lord’s Supper was a supper no more, and lost its powerful meaning,"

We see that one of the core values of the Jerusalem church was that they ‘broke bread’ in their homes and eat together. Along with gathering all together at the temple courts on a daily basis, eating together was an integral part of their life as a church community.

This practice was not just confined to the Jerusalem church but hospitality was part of the life of the New Testament church wherever it was found. Paul had to bring some corrective teaching to the church in Corinth about the way they were handling themselves during their regular meal together and sharing in the Lord’s Supper. If he was bringing some corrective instruction to us, I wonder what it would be. Wolfgang Simson has some thoughts on the subject.

In ‘Houses That Change The World’ Wolfgang talks about what the church lost when it departed from being home-based to being building-based: ‘Another victim of this process was the Lord’s Supper. Since it is quite difficult to feed a cathedral full of people with real food, it degenerated into a religious and symbolic ritual, offering microscopic sips of wine and a small wafer, often enough for the clergy while the masses looked on in pious amazement. This meant that the Lord’s Supper was a supper no more, and lost its powerful meaning, the unprecedented, revolutionary reality, of a redeemed people, irrespective of classes and caste, sharing real food with a prophetic meaning, having dinner with God, expecting His physical presence at any time just like the resurrection. It thus became the Eucharist, a pious and symbolic shell of the original meal of a tasty lamb that Jesus shared with his disciples.’

Hospitality was so foundational and important in the lives of the early church that it is listed as one of the qualities required of those to be considered for eldership (1 Tim 3:2). The writer to the Hebrews adds another amazing dimension to being Hospitable when he says, ‘Do not forget to entertain strangers, for by so doing some people have entertained angles with out knowing it.’ (Heb 13:2).

Hospitality continued: The Early Church

We see that one of the core values of the Jerusalem church was that they ‘broke bread’ in their homes and eat together. Along with gathering all together at the temple courts on a daily basis, eating together was an integral part of their life as a church community.