An attorney and author says Hurricane Katrina has given the Church in America one of its greatest opportunities ever to practice the biblical principle of hospitality.
Chuck Crismier, founder of Save America Ministries and author of The Power of Hospitality (Elijah Books, 2004), notes that churches can help those left homeless by the hurricane by providing temporary housing, meals and other necessities.
"What an opportunity for the body of Christ to be the body of Christ -- to display that holy hospitality that is at the very heart of Christ," he says.
Many of those in need are believers, Crismier notes. He says while it is important, as the Apostle Paul instructed, that Christians "should do good to all men," the author points out that the church's first responsibility is "to the household of faith. Our first responsibility is to extend hospitality to those that are part of the body of Christ so ... the world then will look at us and say, 'Behold, how they love one another.'"
At the same time, Crismier believes Christians must reach out to the unsaved and unchurched among Hurricane Katrina survivors in an effort to put hands and feet to the gospel, "actually living out the reality of the truth of the gospel so that people can see it in living color."
He is confident that by so doing, followers of Christ will bring glory to God and prompt nonbelievers to look at what the Church is doing and say, "This is the way it was always intended to be."
The ministry leader and Christian author founded Save America Ministries to help rebuild the foundations of the nation's faith and freedom. He believes an important aspect of revival across the United States can only begin as the Church begins "stepping up to the plate [of living out the truth of the gospel by serving others] instead of quoting some kind of Apostle's Creed or something."
When that happens, Crismier asserts, believers will hardly be able to "imagine the power" of their witness to impact their culture.
He says Hurricane Katrina has given American Christians a huge mission field, and many others abound, in which they can follow the biblical model of showing hospitality to believers and nonbelievers alike.
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