Holy Hospitality: the American Church in Need of Virtues

For some countries, like China, the 21st Century has brought an explosion of growth in the Church (Cooper, page 227). These places, and others like them, are experiencing unprecedented numbers of people coming to confess Jesus as Lord. Yet, in the United States, #exvangelical can be found trending on almost every social media platform. According to a report from the Pew Research Center, from 1972 to 2020, the percentage of Christians in the United States has dropped from 90 percent to a mere 64 percent (Nadeem.). If trends continue, they predict that Christians will be in the minority in less than 50 years. 

In some cases, people are leaving the church wounded and angry. In other cases, unchurched people do not even entertain the possibility of going to church due to its unsavory reputation. Either way, the American church needs to be asking the question: what are we doing that is turning people away? In order to understand what is going wrong in the American church, there first must be determined a definition of what is “right.” The field of virtue ethics is foundational in determining what the ultimate purpose of the Church is, and therefore what virtues the American church should be striving after to solve the crisis of faith currently happening in this country.

Virtue ethics began in Ancient Greek philosophy (Boyd and Thorsen, page 158). Aristotle identified four cardinal virtues: prudence, justice, fortitude (courage), and temperance (self-control). He also identified other, lesser virtues such as wit, generosity, patience, and honesty (Boyd and Thorsen, pages 158-160). Aristotle identified these virtues as a type of habit people develop; the traits someone embodies are the traits they are most likely to respond to within any given moment. This means that being virtuous is not a one-time decision, but instead, “the moral character of a person is built up over time” (Boyd and Thorsen, page 156). This also means that since people become habitual in their virtues, it can be reasonably predicted that people will act in accordance with the virtues they build up (Boyd and Thorsen, page 156). 

That being said, Aristotle also held that these virtues are desirable only when someone finds “the balance between too little and too much” (Boyd and Thorsen, page 159). It is not enough to possess a virtue, but to possess the quality to the degree that it is appropriate for any given situation. For example, too much fortitude (courage) leads to recklessness, while too little fortitude leads to cowardice. Thus, virtues are often a mean of sorts, between two undesirable extremes. Those who hope to live a virtuous life must use prudence in order to determine the appropriate amount of a virtue to use.  Thomas Aquinas was inspired by Aristotle and his work in virtue ethics. Building off Aristotle’s theories, Aquinas added theological virtues. These theological virtues, unlike moral virtues, can only be achieved by the divine grace Christians receive through Christ (Boyd and Thorsen, page 161). Inspired by 1 Corinthians 13, he defined these theological virtues as faith, hope, and love (Boyd and Thorsen, pages 161-162). Aquinas’ thinking on theological virtues, as well as natural law, have been majorly influential to the theology of the Church today. 

Another influential thinker in virtue ethics, Alasdair MacIntyre, added to the discussion of how virtue ethics influences the life of the Church. He asserted that in order to determine what virtues are desirable for the Church, one first has to identify the Church’s “ultimate goal” or “telos” (Murphy, page 32). In other words, someone cannot identify the desirable traits of something if they do not know what that thing is supposed to do. A person with no idea what a song is supposed to sound like will not be able to identify what notes need to be hit in order to play the song. Thus, MacIntyre argues that the telos of the Church should shape all areas of its life, such as practices, virtues, narratives, and traditions (Murphy, pages 30-32).

Though virtue ethics has compelling tenants, some people have offered criticisms of virtue ethics through the years. One criticism of virtue ethics surrounds the idea that virtues are so interconnected to the point that if someone possesses one virtue, he or she automatically has all the other virtues (Boyd and Thorsen, page 167). Personal experience would lead most people to be disillusioned by this fact. Someone can possess the virtue of wisdom in business yet not possess the virtue of honesty in the deals they make. Thus, critics of virtue ethics point out that this theory does not always match with the reality of how people exist. 

The other main criticism of virtue ethics is that sometimes it does not provide helpful insight into what is the most ethical decision to make. Situations easily arise in which the virtues seem to clash. Is it more virtuous to choose kindness at the expense of honesty or vice versa? Thus, some say there are limits on how much application virtue ethics have in the real world. Both of these criticisms will be addressed when it comes to virtue ethics in the American church. 

In the meantime, to determine what is going right and wrong in the American church, one first must determine what the purpose of the Church is. Though there is not a verse in the Bible that word for word spells out the purpose of the Church, Scripture is full of examples that can point Christians in a general direction of what the purpose of the Church is. This paper will hold to a broad definition of the purpose of the Church, acknowledging that the full breadth of the Lord’s intentions or plans are vastly out of reach. That being said, God created the Church to live in a set-apart way in order to bless and change the world. 

The foundations of this definition are found in the way God teaches Israel about its purpose. In Genesis 12 when God calls Abraham, God tells Abraham that through him and his descendants, all the families on the earth will be blessed (Genesis 12:3). Of course this finds its ultimate fulfillment in Jesus through his Church, but it was originally intended for the nation of Israel to truly be a blessing to the nations surrounding it. Isaiah reestablishes this same idea. In Isaiah 49:6 it says, “I will make you as a light for the nations, that my salvation may reach to the end of the earth.” While Israel was the original light to the nations, Jesus is named as the light in the darkness in John 1:5. Yet, it does not stop there. Jesus invites the Church to be that same kind of light in Matthew 5:14 where he says, “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden” (All scripture is from the ESV translation).

But how was Israel, Jesus, and now the Church supposed to be a light? In Exodus, Leviticus, and Deuteronomy, the Lord gives Israel the law in order that they might be “set apart” or “holy.” In Deuteronomy 7:6 the Lord says, “For you are a people holy to the Lord your God. The Lord your God has chosen you to be a people for his treasured possession, out of all the peoples who are on the face of the earth.” It is because of Israel’s holiness that all the peoples of the earth will come to know that the Lord is God. This purpose is carried into the life of the Church in 1 Peter 1:14-16, where it says, “As obedient children, do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance, but as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, since it is written, You shall be holy, for I am holy.” When surrounding people see a holy Church, they will start to ask questions about the holy God which made them that way. 

Thus, one way to define the telos or goal of the Church is to be set apart so that the world might see and be blessed. With this telos in mind, this paper puts forth that the virtues that the Church should be in pursuit of are 1) holiness and 2) hospitality. Holiness is the fulfillment of living set apart and different from the rest of the world since the Church cannot bless the world if it looks just like the world. On the other hand, the Church would not truly be set apart for the Lord if they were not extending love and hospitality to those around them. Perhaps these two virtues can even be seen in the two greatest commandments which Jesus defines in Matthew 22:37-40, to love God in all aspects of life (holiness) and to love your neighbor as yourself (hospitality). 

So, if the virtues of the Church are as simple as holiness and hospitality, why does it seem like people are leaving the American church in droves? To answer this question, look no further than Richard Niebuhr’s typology of Christian ethics. Niebuhr created categories of Christian ethics based on the way people believe Christ is supposed to interact with culture, i.e. how the Church is supposed to interact with the world. 

On one end of the spectrum is what he calls “The New Law Type” or “Christ Against Culture” (Stassen, Yeager, and Niebuhr, page 21). This ethic says that the way of Jesus is strictly opposed to culture, and therefore Christians need to retreat from and fight against the ways of the world. Those who lean into the virtue of holiness at the expense of hospitality fall into this category, in fact, “the keynote of [this] ethic seems to be holiness” (Stassen, Yeager, and Niebuhr, page 21). One extreme example of this would be monks who isolate themselves from everything having to do with the world. However, perhaps a more realistic example of this in the American church is those congregations that call their members to shun or even criticize anyone who does not fit with their system of beliefs. This could look like teaching children to avoid members of the LGBTQ community or homeschooling children out of fear they will be in contact with “worldly” ideas. 

This “holier than thou” attitude seems to be one reason why young people, in particular, are leaving the church. Many teenagers or young adults experienced hurt when they (or someone they knew) were isolated or shunned for something like sexual orientation, divorce, or even a different doctrinal belief. This is one example of why Aristotle’s point about balance is so vital to virtue ethics. Churches actually compromise their witness when they emphasize “set-apartness” to the extreme that it becomes hurtful to those they are supposed to witness to. This Christ Against Culture ethic demonstrates the first weakness of virtue ethics. There are many Christians who truly possess the virtue of holiness, yet are completely void of the virtue of hospitality. 

On the other end of Niebuhr’s spectrum of Christian ethics is “The Natural Law” or “Christ of Culture'' camp (Stassen, Yeager, and Niebuhr, page 22). In contrast to the last category, this ethic believes that the way of Jesus has to conform to the ways of the world. Thus, the Church must be assimilated to whatever culture it is a part of (Stassen, Yeager, and Niebuhr, page 22). Today this looks like more progressive Christian churches which boast about their acceptance of all ways of life, regardless of what the Bible or church tradition has to say about them. These churches, in alignment with the postmodern era, define tolerance as the “supreme virtue” (Hollinger, page 118). Thus, this ethic demonstrates the second weakness of virtue ethics, in situations where it seems like churches have to choose between holiness and hospitality, some choose hospitality and leave holiness in the dust.

This ethic at first glance might seem less responsible for driving people away from the Church. After all, this type is all about fitting what culture says is correct. However, the fruit of this way of doing things makes it clear that hospitality at the cost of holiness is equally as dangerous. American culture is driven by finances and a hunger for power. So what happens when the church assimilates to the ways of culture and is also driven by financial gain and power? Abuse. News articles are coming out left and right about pastors who were abusing their position of power and church boards who were protecting them out of fear that they would lose members and therefore money if the pastor was found out. To quote Dennis Hollinger from his chapter on postmodernity, “Ultimately, tolerance as the prime virtue has no way to ground our moral life and prevent the worst abuses imaginable. Such tolerance tends to render God’s judgments on moral evil a moot point” (Hollinger, page 118). 

Thus, the American church must find a way to balance holiness and hospitality. Niebuhr has three median types that fall between Christ Against Culture and Christ of Culture (Stassen, Yeager, and Niebuhr, pages 22-28). His final type, Christ Transforming Culture, is most in line with the purpose of the Church as established in this paper. Unlike the Christ of Culture model, the Christ Transforming Culture type acknowledges the corruption of the world that is so desperate for the good news. Yet, unlike the Christ Against Culture model, this type suggests that the set-apart gospel is meant to encounter the disordered world in restorative and transformative ways (Stassen, Yeager, and Niebuhr, pages 22-28). This type addresses the weaknesses in virtue ethics, calling Christians to embody both virtues instead of choosing one or the other. 

One movement that tries to embody this tension between holiness and hospitality is the social gospel, made famous by Walter Rauschenbusch. Rauschenbusch was frustrated by movements that emphasized holiness at the expense of hospitality, like certain isolated mystics (Rauschenbusch and Day, page 32). Instead, Rauschenbusch argued that “the way of holiness through human fellowship and service is slower and lowlier, but its results are more essentially Christian” (Rauschenbusch and Day, page 32). Thus, he argues both for a holiness that comes through community and hospitality. An example of this playing out through Christian history can be found in the Philippines. In 1565, Catholic monks arrived in the Philippines and started by establishing schools and hospitals to meet the needs of the community (Cooper, page 234). Their holiness as monks fed into a Christ-like hospitality, which in turn led to masses being converted to Catholicism (Cooper, page 234). It is the combination of holiness and hospitality that allows the Church to function as the Lord created it to. 

Despite the examples of people like the monks in the Philippines, the American church often does not hold this tension well. Thus, this essay will finish by providing a few practical examples of how the American church can be a set apart and transformative agent in the culture it finds itself in. 

One area where women in particular can sometimes feel isolated by the Church is on the topic of abortion. Christians are notorious for standing outside of abortion clinics with signs that are less hospitable. Even if a church does not send people outside of clinics, the narratives within the church surrounding abortion can make women feel isolated and unredeemable if at one point in their life, they received an abortion. The solution is not to start promoting abortion, since the character of God and the witness of the historic church seems to always be in favor of preserving life. However, churches can try to extend hospitality even in the simple act of acknowledging how complicated an issue abortion is. When Christians oversimplify the topic of abortion to be a selfish and morally abhorrent act, they ignore the systems of poverty and even racial oppression that lead many women to feel like they have no choice but to get an abortion.

 Thus, churches in the United States should be intentional to be empathic in the way they speak about abortion and women who are considering or have previously received an abortion. Further, if churches want to try to preserve holiness by saving lives while not making people feel unwelcome, they could try to intervene in less hostile ways. For example, instead of encouraging church members to picket abortion clinics, invite members to donate money to a no-questions-asked fund that supports women who would prefer to not have an abortion but feel like they have no other financial option. Additionally, churches could offer support groups where women who are considering an abortion or have previously had an abortion can be a part of a non-judgemental Christian community. These options are just a couple of ways that churches can hold holiness and hospitality when it comes to abortion. 

Another topic that currently divides Christians between holiness and hospitality is sexuality. In Churches, it is typically married, heterosexual pastors that casually – or sometimes cruelly – preach on the wickedness of homosexuality. These pastors often have little to no understanding of the experience of the people they are talking about. Neither do these pastors have true empathy for the sacrifice they are asking of LGBTQ Christians: to give up all their romantic and sexual desires, potentially for the rest of their lives. A gay teenager would likely feel very misunderstood and isolated by a straight, married pastor telling him to give up all hopes of a future partner without any acknowledgment of the kind of sacrifice he is being asked to make. 

 Thus, churches should be intentional to invite members of the Christian community who are same-sex attracted to share their experiences. Not only does this provide an example to members of the community who are also same-sex attracted, but it also gives the dignity of speaking about the topic to those who have personal experience and understand the issue. Furthermore, this would allow heterosexual members of the community to have a greater awareness of the sacrifice being made by their LGBTQ brothers and sisters in Christ. Hopefully, this would lead to a community that is dedicated to holiness together but also has a greater understanding of what it looks like to be hospitable to those in different circumstances. For example, if there is a member of the Church who is same-sex attracted and therefore does not have a spouse or children, families in the church should be intentional to invite them over for holidays and family meals. This would be a beautiful example of holiness leading to greater hospitality from the whole community of Christ. 

The American church is clearly in need of some sort of reform. This is not a new need. Throughout church history, there have been waves of corruption met with reformation. It is thanks to one of these movements that the protestant church even exists. But the protestant American church has been riding the coattails of that last reformation for too long. It is time for the American church to look inward and acknowledge the need for reform. It is time for every single American Christian to look at their own life, finances, and local congregation and start asking the question: are we living out virtues that establish God’s purpose for the Church in the world? The answer to that question cannot be yes if a church is isolated from brokenness or refusing to stand against the brokenness of the world. The Church must strive for holiness and hospitality if it wants to stop the tide sweeping people out from the Church. 

But ultimately, the Church must look to Jesus. Jesus knelt on the ground and washed his disciples' feet, knowing Judas would betray him, Peter would deny him, and the rest would run away. Let us not be like the Pharisees, who would banish a sinful woman trying to kiss Jesus’ feet. Jesus who was sinless and holy as he was led to the slaughter, reciting a Psalm in his time of greatest anguish. Let us not be like the criminal that mocked him, like the disciples that fled because his holiness led to scorn. It is only by the grace and example of Jesus, that his beloved Bride can ever live the life of holy hospitality he calls us towards. 

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