Hospitality and the Mission of God

I have been thinking a lot about hospitalilty lately. I must admit I'm a little conflicted. Mixed messages haunt me. In our culture hospitality has been reduced to Martha Stewart. We're all a little intimidated by some we percieve to do it so well. It is viewed as a nice extra, if we happen to have the time to clean our house or the resources to cook an extravagent meal (and create a flower arrangement from our own garden). Hospitality has developed more of a connection to our social status than to our faith. It is seldom something we are intentional about. I have trouble finding enough time to get together with those who are already my friends, let alone those I don't know well.

God's view of hospitalilty seems to be something very different. Hospitality is not a nice extra. It's not about fine china and a four-course meal. In God's Kingdom, hospitality is all about people. It is central to a disciple's life and a dynamic expression of vibrant Christianity.

Hospitality comes from the greek words "philoxenia" (Romans 12:13, Hebrews 13:2) and "philoxenos" (1 Tim. 3:2; Titus 1:8; and 1 Peter 4:9). It literally means, " love of strangers" and/or "the love of guests."

Hospitality is all about inviting others in. The question of hospitality is really about diversity and inclusion, boundaries and community. How do we relate to people who are not like us? Who will be invited? Who will we include? Who will we exclude? Who will we allow to experience the blessings of authenic relationship with us? What criteria will we use to include or exclude people? Gender? Ethnicity? Social status? Our own comfort? Our religous traditions? These are important questions we must explore.

Hospitality is a calling both to us as individuals and to BVCC, as an outpost of God's kingdom in Boulder.Let me leave you with a couple of quotes from Christine Pohl:
"The contemporary church hungers for models of a more authentic Christian life in which glimpses of the Kingdom can be seen and the promise of the Kingdom embodied."
"Practicing hospitality always involves risk and the possibility of failure, but there is a greater risk and loss in neglecting hospitality."
Which risk are we willing to take?

Alternative Communities

I had lunch with a friend yesterday. It was a great time to catch up and relax around a table with good food and a good friend. During the conversation he shared his dream for real Christian community. "Wouldn't it be great" he said "if a group of Christians could just move into a community, buy houses next to one another and share our lives deeply, kinda like a Christian commune?"

Who has not felt a longing for deeper relationships, something real. Something beyond, How are you? How about this weather? How about those Broncos? But I've been thinking a lot about my friend's solution. Is forming a Chrisitan sub-division really what God would have us do? Is gathering a bunch of folks, who are already Christ-followers, together in a "holy bubble" the answer?

In April 2002, the Wall Street Journal had an article entitled: "Megachurches as Minitowns." The article focused on huge churches that function as their own self-contained communities. They have fitness centers, cafes, climbing walls and skate parks. You can get coffee, enroll your children in child-care, go to an arcade or take your children to "playland." Dr Randall Ballmer writes:
"By making it nearly possible to inhabit the church from morning to night, cradle to grave, these full-service churches can shelter congregants from a broader society that seems unsafe, unpredictable and out of control, underscored by school shootings and terrorism... (The churches reflect a desire by congregants for) a universe where everything from the temperature to the theology is safely controlled...They don't have to worry about finding schools, social networks, or a place to eat. It's all prepackaged."

I'm convinced that Jesus would not have us isolated from the "real" world in "christian" communities, as attractive as that sounds to us (except for most preachers). Jesus calls us to follow him into some unpredictable and dangerous places. He calls us to engage the darkness of this planet, not cloister ourselves from it because of fear. He calls us to make ourselves uncomfortable in order to extend His reign in this world. How uncomfortable have you been lately?

Jesus' prayer for his followers was:
"[Father] I’m not asking you to take them out of the world, but to keep them safe from the evil one.16They are not part of this world any more than I am.17Make them pure and holy by teaching them your words of truth.18As you sent me into the world, I am sending them into the world.19And I give myself entirely to you so they also might be entirely yours. John 17:15-19 (NLT)

Jesus asked His Father to keep his followers safe while they lived in the dirt and the darkness of this present world. There will be a day when we'll live together. No more terrorism, abuse or church splits. That day we will fully inhabit the world and the relationships we were created for. But, this side of heaven, may we commit ourselves to being entirely His - living as those sent into this world, to make a difference in the lives of those He loves.

Watching God Work!

Sometimes God provides gentle, or not so gentle, reminders that He is still at work even when we don't perceive it.
I spent the last few days in Abilene. It was like going home. I preached for the 11th and Willis congregation for 4 years. My life was preaching and working my way through graduate school. Pat's life was children. On any given day, she provided day and after-school care for as many as 12 kids. I've already nominated her for sainthood. Some of our closest friends are the parents of those kids Pat loved and cared for. One couple was Tony and Kiki Ganniron.
Both Tony and Kiki are from Hawaii. They have three beautiful girls. We became fast friends. They didn't attend church, knew I was a preacher and liked us anyway. We knew they were unique. We went camping together, spent evenings at the park, and just shared our lives. Before we moved, Kiki would occasionally attend church with us but Tony seldom joined her. We just continued to love them and tried, in every way we knew how, to be Jesus to them and their family. When we left Abilene in 1995, one of our heartbreaks was leaving this family that we had grown to love.
Fast Forward 10 Years!
Last Sunday I was sitting in the Highland Church in Abilene. During an early segment of their worship, they flashed pictures of families who had placed membership at Highland that week. The speaker introduced each family to the congregation. The third picture to flash on the screen was a picture of the Gannirons: Kiki, three beautiful girls, AND Tony. Tears fill my eyes, even now, as I type. My first phone call after the "Amen," was to Pat. What a gift. God allowed us to play a part in that beautiful family coming to know Him and had other Jesus-followers reach into their lives after we parted ways.
Sunday was a little piece of heaven for me. Only in heaven will we see all the ways God has used us. Only there will we see the results of all the seeds planted on our journey through this life. I'm not sure why the Gannirons placed membership that particular week, or why we decided to attend Highland for a second worship experience that Sunday morning. All I know is that God found a way to say to me: "Brent, I'm still here, still working. The people you love, I love them too. And I am working to bring both of you home to me."
I didn't get to hug the Gannirons Sunday. I think they had attended an earlier service. But, through God's grace, I will see them again . . .
Paul said: "...The Lord has assigned to each his task. 6 I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God made it grow. 7 So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow. 8 The man who plants and the man who waters have one purpose, and each will be rewarded according to his own labor. 9 For we are God’s fellow workers..." 1 Corinthians 3:5-9 (NIV)

Off To Abilene!

Tomorrow morning, about 5:00 (ouch), Steven White, Amy Jenkins and I are leaving for the ACU Lectures. The Helms and Pat Ryan will also be there. This raises the question, Why would anyone from Colorado voluntarily choose to spend time in Abilene?

Well, one purpose of our trip is to meet with David Wray. David is an Elder at Highland, one of the largest congregations in Abilene. The last few years Highland has had a tremendous impact on their local neighborhood. They really have become a community congregation. The minister, Mike Cope, is even learning Spanish so that he can preach in the language of those surrounding Highland's facility. Even as they have dealt with difficult issues like expanding the role women in their Sunday morning assembly - they have grown. David noted that they initially lost 25 families but have experienced growth of 100 families per year each of the last three years. David believes this is the result of their sensitivity to contemporary culture and their focus on their local commmunity.

In December, David told us that, just a couple of years ago, Highland was in a situation very similar to where Boulder Valley is now. It was at that time that Highland began to embrace a "missional" theology. They began to see themselves not as a church with a mission program, but as a church on a mission, in Abilene and throughout the world. This prompted a renewed focus on short-term missions. This year Highland is sending about 500 of their members on short-term mission trips all over the world. We have sent out about the same percentage of our total membership the last two years - and expect this to continue in 2005. Like us, Highland sees this as a critical part of developing members as missionaries, at home and abroad. Highland, in many ways, has made the difficult transition to becoming a congregation that is engaging their culture and their local community. David has agreed to retrace their journey and provide concrete examples of what Highland has done and is doing now. We will also dialogue about what things might be transferrable to a congregation of 200 in Boulder, Colorado.
It should be a very exciting trip. (Did I mention I get to see my daughter?)Please pray for our safety and much learning about how God is working in His world.

Stormfront - It Begins with God

In the book Stormfront: The Good News of God , the authors write of God's initiative in bringing His Kingdom to life in this world. They write:

"God's kingdom is not and cannot be established by human efforts. Jesus' teaching is all about God's reign, brought about by God's action, in fulfillment of God's purposes. It is not something we build. We only receive it, inherit it, and enter it. Our lives are drawn into what God is doing. The parables echo this perspective over and over. The reign of God is like a man who accidentally found a huge treasure in a field; he did nothing to earn it - he discovered it (Matt. 13:44). The reign of God is like the tiny, inconsequential mustard seed that grows in to a huge shrub, or even a tree (Matt. 13:31-32). It is like seeds sown in all kinds of strange places, most of which bear remarkable fruit (Matthew 13:3-8). It is like a theif that breaks in at an unexpected hour (Matt. 24:43-44), or the bridegroom who comes after folks believe that they have stolen his vineyard and done away with him (Matt. 21:33-44). In all of these parables, what is striking is the remarkable absence of human effort or initiative, even the reversal of human effort. The emphasis falls entirely on the mysterious and surprising advent and growth of the reign of God, quite apart from or beyond, even against, human efforts. In the kingdom of God, the initiative always belongs to God."

"For Jesus, hearing the gospel entails recognizing, entering, and receiving this surprising reign of God, in which God's presence and action intrude mysteriously and unexpectedly into our lives and invite us to participate in something greater than ourselves, greater than what we could accomlish on our own." (pages 40-41).

Can you hear his voice? "Come, follow me!"