What Loving a Stranger Reveals About Christian Charity

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Perhaps it’s because children have been displaced from heaven for far fewer moments than adults, but these tiny humans have a natural need to pour into others. And this need doesn’t mandate someone to be a certain color, creed, economic status, or familiarity. Flesh, bone, and beating hearts are the only prerequisites for children to love another soul without mandating anything in return. 

On one hand, my flesh wants to blame ignorance for their willfulness. They can’t recognize when interacting with a homeless man might be a bit unsafe. They don’t understand that bear-hugging a friend with a stomach bug will, undoubtedly, make them miserably sick for days on end. While my hypothesis about their ignorance makes sense, it’s a pitch I make to excuse my hesitancy to honor God’s mandate to serve others. 

Perhaps it isn’t ignorance driving their decisions, but fearlessness. Maybe that last bit of heavenly juice is still flooding through their young veins, and maybe those little purple, webbed veins so recently transplanted from heaven are what keep children from counting the cost of serving, caring for, and loving people, particularly strangers.

In today’s world, marked by loneliness, suspicion, and division, it’s vital to adopt a childlike heart by recognizing every person as made in God’s image. This means extending mercy without demanding a parade, giving grace because we admit how desperately we need it, too, and remembering that love isn’t as complicated as we often make it. Sometimes, loving our neighbor is simply stopping, noticing, listening, giving, helping, and carrying another person’s burden. 

Many Scriptures, particularly in the New Testament, speak about loving others, like the Good Samaritan in Luke 10:33-37, bearing one another’s burdens, as we see in Galatians 6:2, and letting good works point to God, as evident in Matthew 5:16. 

However, I want to focus on two different passages, both found in the Gospel of Matthew, to unearth what loving a stranger reveals about Christian charity in everyday life: 

Who Is the Greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven?

I often laugh when I read the questions the apostles asked Jesus. Their deepest concerns seemed so ill-timed, out of touch, selfish, and unimportant (as if we don’t ask God the same selfish, ignorance-laced questions…). 

Nonetheless, in Matthew 18, Jesus’ most intimate followers asked, “Who, then, is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” (v. 1). As was His modus operandi, Jesus offered the most unexpected, culturally scandalous reply: 

“He called a little child to him, and placed the child among them. And he said: ‘Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore, whoever takes the lowly position of this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. And whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me’” (v. 2-5). 

In today’s American culture, we idolize our children. They often trump our relationship with our spouse and motivate us to engage in unhealthy spending (whether for fancier clothes, bigger family vacations, and such to ensure their “happier” childhood). They are frequently the needle by which our social media status is measured, too. In the first-century world, children occupied a much lower social position than they do in modern American culture. They had little power or status and depended heavily on adults for protection and provision.

Elevating the least of these was and remains the sign that the gospel is alive and well within us. It doesn’t mean helping a stranger is easy; it will never be convenient to be selfless, as it goes against our very nature. But it’s that extra mile, those few extra steps that carry someone else down the road, that pave the way for Jesus’ name to not only be known, but to be enticing to a world that feels alone far too often. 

What Does It Mean to Go the Extra Mile?

In Matthew 5:41, Jesus says, “ If anyone forces you to go one mile, go with them two miles.” The reason His statement was so profound, and certainly countercultural, is because the Romans at that time would force Jews walking along the same path as them to carry their heavy centurion equipment. Thus, Jesus was saying something far more than, “Be nice.” He was saying, “Give up yourself for someone else. Even if you don’t know them… and even if you don’t like them.” 

This might look like refusing to take the bait by not arguing with someone online. 

This might look like waving the car to pull out in front of you, even though the driver technically already pulled out in front of you and almost clipped your vehicle. 

Or maybe it’s paying for the person’s coffee behind you, even if they honked their horn at you for not pulling through the line fast enough. 

These aren’t big spiritual things that require tons of time. They are simple acts of service that only require us to lay aside our pride and wants for a matter of seconds for the sake of living out the faith in which our good God relentlessly lays aside Himself for us. This is what it means to not go one mile, but two. 

Just as children so easily forgive and move on, turning from friends to enemies back to friends all in the short twenty minutes they spent on the playground, we, too, have the opportunity to free ourselves of hurt, angst, and anger. We, too, can serve strangers, befriending them for a short twenty minutes, in the name of Christ’s Kingdom coming and His will being done on earth as it is in heaven (Matthew 6:9-13).

Who Does God Call Christians to Love and Serve?

Children’s loyalties run deep, their friendships pressing onward no matter the circumstances, so when we consider for whom we should travel the extra mile, the answer is (hard, but) simple: anyone and everyone—stranger or comrade—as we are commanded.

“He executes justice for the orphan and the widow, and loves the strangers, providing them food and clothing. You shall also love the stranger, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt.” Deuteronomy 10:18-19

What Does Biblical Hospitality Look Like in Everyday Life?

As Christians, it should be our honor and joy to serve others, whether strangers, friends, or enemies. Have I mastered this? Absolutely not. But does it blow my mind to watch my toddler son so beautifully depict this service and love? More than anyone could ever know. 

I often tell my son how brave and strong God made him, and how he is far more courageous than I ever have been or will be. So perhaps I should begin telling him how kind and serving he is, and in this proud admittance, may I, too, learn to lend a helping hand with an open heart. May I remember the unmerited mercy and grace the God of all creation has granted to me, and in that thankfulness, may I strive to serve others well.

“For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the faith God has distributed to each of you… Be devoted to one another in love… Share with the Lord’s people who are in need. Practice hospitality… Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everyone.” Romans 12: 3, 10, 13, & 17

Frequently Asked Questions

For Further Reading

• What Does It Mean to Love Others with Christlike Hospitality?
• How to “Love Your Neighbor as Yourself”
• Are We Supposed to Bear Each Other’s Burdens?
• Should We Have a Childlike Faith?
• How Can We Serve One Another in Love?

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Peyton Garland is an author, editor, and boy mama who lives in the beautiful foothills of East Tennessee. Subscribe to her blog Uncured+Okay for more encouragement.

This article originally appeared on Christianity.com. For more faith-building resources, visit Christianity.com.