The New Testament is rich with helpful ideas—if we know where to look.
A good gardener of biblical ideals is not only occupied with truth’s flower but with the whole dynamic of growth from seed thought to full realization. We are often so attracted only by the colorful petals that reveal the mature teaching of a truth that we end up simply with a bouquet of cut flowers. Fragrant for a while, they do not last in our lives. We need to transplant the whole truth from tendrils to tip. Here’s one example.
1. The flower of Christian grace towards God’s people:
The epistles are full of exhortations to show grace towards fellow believers. Perhaps it is assumed that we will naturally know how to show that grace in our daily interactions. It might be expected that we would know that spiritual relations are even closer than human relations, and that no Christian should need an invitation to my home, since my home is his. But these details are not elicited in the epistles, except perhaps in reverse when Paul warns the Corinthians not to show favoritism.
Four simple directives are given in the epistles: “Given to hospitality” (Rom 12:13); “A bishop then must be…given to hospitality…” (1 Tim 3:2; Titus 1:7-8); “Use hospitality one to another without grudging” (1 Pet 4:9). But we must go back to the Acts to see this idea put into practice.
2. The connecting stalk of daily fellowship:
It’s always a danger that we read the epistles as they sound to our Western ears, or as they appeal to our hearts unconsciously conditioned by The American Dream. But a wise question to ask is: How would the original recipients have understood them? We know that by looking at the church in Acts. Hospitality was not practiced in a semi-annual Better Homes and Gardens style, with stiff formality and five-star service. The saints were in each others’ houses every day and simply shared what they had in common, an expression of hospitality only found in the Acts, not included in the epistles.
3. The truth at its source in the heart of the Master:
Our Lord was often seen at table with friends and strangers. He longed for that relaxed family spirit among His own: “Rabbi, where are You staying? He said to them, Come and see” (Jn 1:38-39). But He went even farther. “When you give a dinner…do not ask your friends, your brothers, your relatives, nor rich neighbors, lest they also invite you back, and you be repaid. But when you give a feast, invite the poor, the maimed, the lame, the blind…because they cannot repay you…” (Lk 14:12-14). It isn’t that we refuse family and friends, but that we make sure we also include those without kitchens. This important fact regarding hospitality, that we should not be seeking reciprocation and should include those outside of our circle of friends and family, is only found in the ministry of Christ.
This is just one example of the importance of allowing the Savior’s words and the practices of the early believers to enlarge our understanding of the epistles. If our list of “New Testament Church Truth” is compiled only from the epistles, it will be missing key practical components that illuminate the true intent of our Lord and helpful examples of the early saints.