but if I wait long, that you may know how men ought to behave themselves in the house of God, which is the assembly of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth.

 The Christian leader must be hospitable (philoxenos, G5382) . This is a quality on which the New Testament lays much stress. Paul bids the Roman Church to "practise hospitality" ( Romans 12:13). "Practise hospitality ungrudgingly to one another," says Peter ( 1 Peter 4:9). In the Shepherd of Hermas, one of the very early Christian writings, it is laid down: "The episkopos ( G1985) must be hospitable, a man who gladly and at all times welcomes into his house the servants of God." The Christian leader must be a man with an open heart and an open house. 