X is not the most popular letter in the English alphabet, and so in our series The A-Z of Christian Faith, looking at the essential ingredients needed in a life of faith, we had to borrow a word from Greek: xenophilia, derived from two words (xenos, a stranger or foreigner and philia, one of the Greek words for love.) Xenophilia means a love for strangers or foreigners and is also translated hospitality. We are far more used, alas, to its opposite, xenophobia, often showing a fear of or enmity towards strangers.
Throughout the Bible, we see God commanding His people to show love for the stranger as the visible outworking of our love for Him.(Matt 25:31-46; see also Ex 22:21 and Ex 23:9). On the one hand, we are all strangers and foreigners on earth (see Heb 11:13, 1 Pet 2:11, Phil 3:20), pilgrims travelling towards a heavenly destination (Heb 11:16). The Israelites knew first-hand what it was like to feel like an outsider following their persecution in Egypt and this experience seems to have shaped the laws they were later given to show regard for the foreigner. We are asked to love beyond our natural capacity because of God’s great love for us (Matt 5:43-48, Eph 4:32). Charity starts at home (and we are urged to show hospitality in the church – see Acts 2:42-47, Gal 6:10, 1 Jn 4:20-21), but it’s not enough to stay there. We are urged to love those who are different to us, to love and bless our enemies and to reflect God’s loving nature in all our relationships. The love that we show to strangers is a way they can experience God’s love for themselves; we serve God best when we serve other people and must not show partiality, but must welcome all. (Rom 15:7, Js 2:18-19)