I Know there were times he came very close to hating me for the things I said from the pulpit and to his face. But he thought about everything I said and on his deathbed, he thanked me over and over again for saying them. When that happens, you think twice about compromising the truth to make someone feel less offended or hurt.

I can imagine Paul had a lot of people mad at him on occasion. But we don’t have to imagine – in Gal. 4:16, he says, "do I become your enemy because I tell you the truth?" All Paul wanted to do was make sure he saw as many of the Galatians in heaven as possible. He couldn’t afford to shade the truth, to tell it soft when it was hard.

Jesus did the same thing. He preached and people loved Him and hated Him and got offended at Him and enraged at Him. No matter, Jesus preached the hard things and the comforting things and the challenging things and the reassuring things, in season and out of season. Because Jesus cared about one thing – the eternal destiny of men and women.

Can any of us do less? When we tell it soft in order to spare feelings, we are betraying a lack of eternal foresight. We care only about the now. We risk getting to judgment and facing people whom we owed the truth and hearing the horrifying words, "why didn’t you tell me?"

Can you imagine getting to heaven and looking for someone you thought was faithful and when asked where he was you’re told, "he did a lot of things right, but he would never talk to a visitor; he was warned that it was important, but he just wouldn’t do it." The only thing worse would be to say, "he was never told." Ezekiel was told that if he failed to warn the wicked man, the wicked man would die, but Ezekiel would be held responsible.

When discussing the necessity of warning people, we generally think about topics like baptism, the church, denominationalism, sexual immorality and other "big issues." But what about others that are mentioned in the Bible, sometimes just as prominently? One topic that may get short-changed is the issue of hospitality (Rom. 12:13). If we are not ready to open our homes, even to those we barely know, we are violating some clear commands in Scripture. That can be a "hard thing" for some people to hear. But I don’t want anyone to miss heaven because they didn’t get a reminder from me now and then that they should be practicing hospitality.

Why are these personal contact issues so important? What if an elder is an excellent Bible student and an apt teacher but doesn’t know the names of some of the members he is responsible for overseeing? I believe it is just as important for elders to know, personally, every member of the congregation as it is for them to have "faithful children." How can an elder rule the church if he doesn’t take the same interest in the members as he does his own family? That’s why "hospitality" is a qualification. It doesn’t just mean that they are to invite people over now and then; that’s part of it. The rest of it is in really getting to know every member of the church on a one-to-one basis.

It seems this hospitality issue is an unpopular one, probably because many of us feel guilty about it. We are so busy, so self-absorbed, so independent today. If the truth is told, a lot of us would just rather not be around people all that much. One thing that helps me is to remember how blessed I was growing up. I fondly remember Sunday afternoons and evenings when it seems people from the local church were in our homes nearly every week, often for the whole afternoon. The place was always crawling with people, the men in the living room discussing biblical issues and the women sitting around the kitchen table discussing more domestic matters (I suppose some would call that sexist today…that’s sad, too).

The point is, I experienced hospitality growing up and it was an experience that is dear to me. When our generation is gone, these memories will be gone since there is little we can do to replicate those days. But we can be hospitable, friendly, open and generous, in any age. We can leave a legacy to our children that what really counts in our life are other people, not just our own personal achievements.

That’s a hard message today for many people. It is indicative of the selfish age we live in that it is. But it is. Shall we jettison the message and compromise with the age? I can’t do that because I believe some people will lose their souls for it. Maybe the message will get through and someone will be persuaded that though it is hard at first, these things must be done. And like all of God’s commands perhaps they’ll learn the secret that as you obey the commands that seek to help others and as you open you heart a little wider and give a little more, you find that you gain the greater blessing. See Luke 6:38.

 The blessing you gain in giving…

The problem is selfishness, but what is behind "selfishness"? Not necessarily a desire to harm anyone or to snub or be unkind. It’s really based in the search for happiness, not necessarily a bad thing in itself. The mistake is that we think that that we will be happy only to the extent that we get what we want. So, we set out on the quest. Our lives are filled trying to grab the brass ring.

We get it honest…it’s the message of our culture. Illustrations… (Bonkers, "whoever said that…). "Whatever you believe and conceive you can achieve." Positive attitude stuff… all, you can get anything you want (although, even the Rolling Stones figured out, "you can’t always get what you want…")

But there’s a paradox that God has built into us… we only get by giving

Music… most of the lyrics are love songs, or love lost songs… The artists sing of their undying devotion to the love of their life and how they will do anything for that person (Bryan Adams…).

Personal experience… other examples.

Bible – John 13… RYR… Lk. 6:38…Mal. 3.