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?