The Other Commandment

but hospitable, loving what is good, sensible, just, devout, self-controlled,  Titus 1:8 NASB

Hospitable– Can you express the commandment to love your neighbor as yourself in oneword?  Paul can.  That word is philoxenos.  OK, it’s really two Greek words combined into one, but if you look carefully you can see why Paul fuses these together.  The first part is obvious.  Philo, from philos, meaning, “friend.”  You recognize that this is associated with the verb phileo, the act of being a friend, showing affection for an individual or object.  What about xenos?  That is the Greek term for foreigner, stranger, or guest.  So philoxenos is literally, “to make a stranger into a friend.”  And you thought hospitality was about inviting people for dinner!  Paul wants you to have your friends over for dinner, but he is much more interested in how you treat the outsider, the foreigner, than he is about what you serve to the people who you already like.

Remember that this is one of the attributes of the episkopos, the overseer.  Notice that it is not administrative. This is the very down-to-earth, practical action of taking care of someone who isn’t part of the clique. This is extending yourself on behalf of the stranger.  This is not sitting on the board of the welcoming committee.

In every community there are those who quite naturally fill this role.  They are most alive when they are acting with benevolence toward outsiders.  But this does not make them episkopoi.  It is the combination of all these factors, demonstrated in practical application, that creates the role of the episkopos.  Paul expands the list of positive attributes with words that we have no difficulty understanding.  “Loving what is good, sensible (reasonable), just, devout, self-controlled.”  All of these are qualities we want in those who lead.  And they are necessities for those who act as overseers.

Abraham is considered the father of hospitality in Jewish circles.  Why?  Because of his reaction to the three strangers who showed up at his tent one day.  He ran to care for their needs.  He took the best he had to give them comfort and nourishment. He held nothing back.  He did not ask, “What will I get from all this?” or “Can I really trust these men?” He simply took their needs upon himself, welcoming the strangers.  That’s being an episkopos.  So if we are going to follow the Abrahamic faith, we will need to do a little more than get together with friends for a birthday party.

I’ll leave the rest up to you.

Topical Index:  hospitable, philoxenos, Titus 1:8

Originally published 28 July 2017