major content 3 - hospitality

8/2/2019 Major Content 3 - Hospitality

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An Overviewby Bryan McCord


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Hospitality is a way of life fundamental to

Christian identity. Its mysteries, riches,and difficulties are revealed most fully asit is practiced. - Christine D. Pohl (p. x)


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PART I:Remembering Our Heritage


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What is hospitality today?

The meaning of hospitality has drastically changed over

the past 300 years

Today we generally think of it as the entertaining ofour family or friends

It has lost its moral and spiritual dimensions

It is at best an optional practice in our busy lives


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What should hospitality be?

It involves opening ones home (or church) to another,

particularly the stranger

In Christianity, a focus is always on the least in societyIt almost always involves a shared meal

It encompasses physical, social, and spiritual dimensions

It is about human dignity, equality, and relationships

The opposite of cruelty is not simply freedom from the cruel

relationship, it is hospitality - Philip Hallie (p. 11)


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Why it must be reclaimed...

It is essential to living out a faithful Christian life

It is a valuable lens through which we can understand Scripture

Its practice can be a bridge between our theology and daily life

When you practice hospitality, you also end up teaching it

There is great mutual blessings to be found within the practice


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Some things Jesus said...

Luke 14

Everyone is welcome, one just has to accept the invitation

The focus should always be on those who cannot repay

the host or offer him any kind of advantage or benefit

Matthew 25

When we serve the least of these, we are serving Jesus


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How about that Old Testament...

Israel knew what it was like to be strangers in hostile places

Exodus 23:9 - "You shall not oppress a stranger; you know the

heart of a stranger, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt."

Leviticus 19:18 - Love your neighbor as yourself

Leviticus 19:34 - Love the stranger as yourself

Love was an action, a provision - food, clothing, shelter, etc.


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The Early Church

The Early Church began in the homes of believers

Hospitality was not optional

It distinguished the church from the larger society


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More Christian history...

Focus began in households (and churches). The 4th/5th

Century saw advent of hostels, hospitals, & monasteries

Differentiation of care continued to solidify

Middle Age shifts - secularization of hostels/hospitals, less

welcoming monasteries, household hospitality became more a

demonstration of wealth and power, guests were privileged

Reformation - some reclaiming of the tradition, but households

became more privatized and hospitality lost further significance


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The future of Christian hospitality is partlytied to the future of the home and family.

Recovering hospitality will involve reclaimingthe household as a key site for ministry andthen reconnecting the household and the

church, so that the two institutions can work in

partnership for the sake of the world. (p. 58)


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PART II:Reconsidering The Tradition


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The significance of recognition...

By welcoming the least, hospitality is culturally subversive

All humans bear the image of God and we can see Christ,

and serve Him, in our fellow humanity

Proper, respectful recognition bestows dignity on another

Proper recognition also understands the others needs

Shared meals recognize the equality of all involved


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Other considerations...

We are to love everybodyneighbor, stranger, enemybut this

must move beyond the theoretical realm to practical actions

Institutionalized hospitality, while beneficial, can neglect the

invaluable relational aspect found in true hospitality

If hospitality leads to tunnel vision, the focus on stranger/

guest can damage oppressed people already in ones community

Christian history is rife with examples of nonrecognition and,

therefore, inhospitable actions. Learn from past mistakes

Equality does not mean homogenization


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A look at the stranger...

It can be problematic to relativize what it means to be a

stranger. It is not simply someone we do not know

Strangers are people without a place. To be without a place

means to be detached from basic, life-supporting institutions -

family, work, polity, religious community, and to be without

networks of relations that sustain and support human

beings. (p. 87)

For example, a visiting preacher might not need physical

resources, but he could need relationship. A homeless person

would likely need both resources and relationship


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A look at the stranger... (contd)

What about risks?

Making hospitality more public can reduce risk

Communities have to intentionally create environmentswere strangeness can be reduced in order for hospitality

to flourish. Hospitality begins at the gate, in the doorway,

on the bridges between public and private space. (p. 95)

Lessen anxiety by recognizing the other as a fellow

human made in Gods image. Also, consider how shared

experiences can create kinships between one another


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On the margins...

When we choose to help people on the margins, we often can,

and even must, marginalize ourselves from institutional and

societal oppressive norms

Hospitality requires mindfulness of our resources

To be hospitable, one does not need many resources (in

fact sometimes the less we have, the more hospitable wecan be), but one needs to be open handed in sharing


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On the margins... (contd)

The best hosts can recognize their own weaknesses/frailties

Those extending hospitality must also be open to receiving it

back from those they are helping

Extending hospitality can be empowering: when guests are

given space to reciprocate, it can likewise empower them


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PART III:Recovering The Tradition


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We cannot separate the goodness

and the beauty of hospitality fromits difficulty. (p. 127)


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Limits

Needs are many but resources are limited

Because there are more people than we have time or strength to

see personally and care for, it is imperative to remember that it isnot sinful to be finite and limited. - Edith Schaeffer (p. 132)

Finding a balance between recognizing limits and stopping

short of what we can truly offer and accomplish is critical


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Boundaries

Structure and freedom must be held in proper tension

Boundaries or guidelines protect guests, maintain communal

identity and commitments, and preserve workers. They arenecessary in defining who we are, and in providing the kind of

ordering necessary to life. (p. 139)

Regardless, hospitality will always stretch a communitys identityand the possibility of a boundary being redrawn should exist


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Temptations

Hospitality can be misused by guest and host alike

Hosts should not aim to gain advantage from offering hospitality

Guests should not take advantage of those offering hospitality


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Temptations (contd)

A host cannot control or fully know the motivation of a guest,

therefore, it can be dangerous to distinguish between those

deserving and those undeserving of hospitality

However, We will need to differentiate and sometimes even

exclude but our first priority must always be one of welcome,

embrace, hospitality. When we begin with a strong presumptionin favor of welcoming the stranger, we will be better equipped to

handle the more ambiguous situations. (p. 149)


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Spiritual Rhythms

Hospitality is love in action, a hospitable attitude requires a

grateful spirit and a generous heart

Narratives are extremely powerful in hospitality, they encourage

guests and hosts and motivate others to get involved

Hospitality is also a way of life that grows with practice. The

goal should be to develop habitual hospitality.

Hospitality involved communicating welcome, creating space

and time for others, and mutually sharing


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Spiritual Rhythms (contd)

Self-care for hosts/practitioners is essential. A lack of rest and

renewal will ensure burnout

Proper perspective is also essential. Individual acts of

hospitality can seem very insignificant in a complex and broken

world. Keeping the bigger picture in mind prevents defeatism

Hospitality blesses both the guests and the hosts


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By God's grace we can grow more willing, more eager,to open the door to a needy neighbor, a weary sister or

brother, a stranger in distress. Perhaps as we open thatdoor more regularly, we will grow increasingly sensitive to

the quiet knock of angels. In the midst of a life-givingpractice, we too might catch glimpses of Jesus who asks

for our welcome and welcomes us home. (p. 187)


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My Thoughts

I thought Christine Pohl did a very good job of discussing the topic of

hospitality - how it has changed since the early church; what it truly

encompasses; its life giving role in the world; and and how we can begin reviving

it as a Christian spiritual practice (or necessity even). I found the book to be

equally motivating and convicting, and it definitely raised questions about how

to better implement hospitality both in my own life and that of my church

(particularly as we get ready to move downtown to a location central to

homelessness). I would recommend it to anyone who has an interest in making

the world a more hospitable place. Its also worth noting that there is a studyguide available to complement this book that looks rather handy in really diving

into the material oneself or perhaps utilizing it for a group study!


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major content 3 - hospitality

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