The Spring Festival or the Chinese New Year is one of the most important traditional holidays in China. In this lively holiday, every household prepares feasts to welcome relatives and friends, sharing the joy and blessings of the past year. For Christians, this is not only an opportunity to reunite with family and practice hospitality.
The Bible repeatedly emphasizes the importance of hospitality: “Share with the Lord’s people who are in need. Practice hospitality.” (Romans 12:13) “Offer hospitality to one another without grumbling.” (1 Peter 4:9) “Do not forget to show hospitality to strangers, for by so doing some people have shown hospitality to angels without knowing it.” (Hebrews 13:2)
Hospitality is a sacred act; it is a vital way for Christians to demonstrate their faith and glorify God. Preparing a warm meal, listening attentively, and offering blessings throughout this festive season can deeply touch the hearts of relatives and friends.
Amid festivals, gatherings often revolve around food and drink. However, in China, drinking culture can sometimes be troublesome. Every year over the Spring Festival, incidents involving loss of control or even death due to excessive drinking are common. As Christians, our family intentionally avoids offering alcohol to our guests during this time, and we never allow them to become drunk. Our relatives know that we do not drink because of our faith, and most of them understand and respect this.
Christian hospitality should not be limited to friends and family members but should extend to neighbors in need. Perhaps they are lonely elderly people or individuals struggling with illness. We can use this opportunity to show care for them; even something as simple as offering a bowl of steaming dumplings can help them feel the warmth of the holiday and the love of those who follow Christ.
In one Spring Festival when I was in college, I stayed in the city because I needed to attend a discipleship training session after the holiday. A pastor invited me and several other believers to celebrate the holiday with his family. The pastor’s wife shared that when they decided to buy a house, they committed to make it a "base for sharing the gospel." In their home, the pastor prepared delicious food and led participants in singing hymns, reading the Bible, and sharing about God’s grace over the past year.
In the New Testament, the term “hospitality” (Greek: philoxenia) refers not just to “friendly reception,” but to “loving strangers.” This love comes from the Lord we serve — the one who loves strangers most.
A Christian man who has long served the homeless shared with me that his organization regularly welcomes diverse homeless individuals and his family also opens their home to them. He believes God will provide for his needs. Amid the Spring Festival, he and his wife invite tramps to their home for the celebration, providing food and care so that those without a home can experience the love of the Lord.
The busy social life and frequent family dinners can be exhausting during the festival season, making wise hospitality all the more important. It requires us to manage our time, resources, and energy strategically, while also not forgetting our spiritual responsibilities.
At one Spring Festival dinner, a Christian woman not only prepared a sumptuous feast but also placed a card with blessing words next to each guest’s plate. The card contained Bible verses, encouraging words, and her prayer for each guest.
Prayers before meals, refraining from encouraging others to drink, and sharing from the heart are all expressions of God’s love, which distinguish Christian hospitality from eating and drinking. When guests feel joy and peace in our homes, we can offer a brief prayer or testimony, giving all glory to God.
People may boast of their wealth or status with lavish banquets, but Christian hospitality aims to glorify God. In practicing hospitality over the Spring Festival, we can focus on sharing the gospel and conveying God’s grace in every act of kindness. We can use our homes for evangelism, with tables set with love, offering a feast of faith, love, and wisdom, and sharing God’s love with more people.
(Originally published by the Gospel Times, the article has been edited under permission and the author is a pastor at a church in Anhui.)
- Edited by Karen Luo, translated by Abigail Wu
