Recent research shows that fewer lay people believe that ministers are utilising the gifts and skills. So what is the disease behind this symptom? SHANE ROGERSON argues that we are trying to "do' too much, without "being' church. The cure? Cut back programs, so lay people have time to genuinely love strangers.
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If you were asked what were the marks of a hospitable church, what would you say? Is it two types of biscuit at morning tea or, better still, a latte followed by an antipasto plate? Is it remembering your name from last week or a feast of fine food with candlelit mood? Is hospitality the lofty domain of gifted gourmets or do you have to be on the "team' to do it?
My guess is we all have a vague sense that hospitality is important. No one I know would ever want to be known as part of an inhospitable church, because someone ought to be doing it " if not me.
The last edition of SC presented evidence that those churches most effective at integrating newcomers emphasise hospitality. This does not mean more programs: better welcoming rosters, prettier buildings, and children's clubs. So what is hospitality really about?
We can offer all the things we think are part of the hospitality package yet completely miss the thrust of the Spirit's teaching on hospitality. The word for hospitality in the New Testament is philoxenia " which is about loving strangers. The key ingredients are strangers and love.
In a culture that seems to be increasingly xenophobic and insecure about strangers, we have an opportunity to be known as "xenophiles'. Whilst we may scramble through Facebook to find our friends, the whole impulse of God's mission is to find strangers. We are to welcome strangers in a way that no other group in society does" but do we? Is it possible that we will fail in our mission if we lose a right understanding of xenophilia: love of strangers?
My fear is that something has been lost in our over-complicated programs that squeezes out the time to be hospitable and build genuine relationships with the outsider. Maybe we need to rediscover the household-based hospitality as modelled in the early church, who welcomed the poor, the stranger and lonely travellers into the home in which the gospel community met.
This is why in the qualifications for elders in 1 Timothy, one of the key characteristics to be modelled by the leadership of the church is hospitality. The elders of the church are to set an example for their flock in loving the stranger and welcoming the sinner into their midst. Yet how often do we see our leaders disengaged from the culture in which we live and disconnected from relationships in the broader community, let alone the church! Is it possible our overly busy, inhospitable churches are being led by overly busy, inhospitable men?
Can I encourage my fellow pastors to repent! We must free up our lives for relationships, even if this means a radical deprogramming of structures so that the people of God can obey the command in 1 Peter 4 to love and offer hospitality without grumbling. It's liberating to think your church may actually be more effective in loving strangers and welcoming sinners by simplifying our structures in order to have time and energy to find
the lost.
A biblical perspective
We need to understand what it means to be a hospitable church in relation to God, sin, redemption and the new creation. The greatest barrier to relationship is sin. The great reformer John Calvin suggested that the existence of inns, hotels and restaurants is singularly because of sin which has alienated us not only God but also people from each other. In Eden, nobody needed a hotel because you could knock on a door and find a friend who'd love you and welcome you in. Yet when self displaces service of God and others, sin separates and divides. The more hurt by sin the less hospitable we become. It is not until the problem of sin is dealt with completely that we can expect to fully and finally enjoy complete hospitality in the Kingdom of God. Indeed I take it hospitality will cease in the New creation because we look forward to a day when there will be no more alienation and therefore no more strangers to love, just friends. Then we will have all the time in the world for our "face book' friends but now is the time for befriending sinners. As we await the new creation we fulfil our promises made in baptism to fight against sin, self and the devil. We are to proactively work against those things that separate and divide and our hospitality will be a powerful weapon in the hand of God, following his supreme hospitality.
The good news is that God in his mercy has not left his people alienated and isolated in sin. God stretches out his hand and welcomes the sinner. The principle of hospitality is firmly grounded in the experience of the Old covenant people of God. In Gen 18 Abraham welcomes guests not knowing their true identity. It is this lavish meal and divine encounter which is behind the exhortation in Hebrews 13 to love and not forget to entertain strangers for in doing so "they may entertain angels unawares'. In blessing the stranger Abraham received a blessing in the promise of a Son. As we recount many of the heroes of the Old Covenant we see people showing hospitality to the stranger and receiving a blessing in return. . It is interesting to note that in blessing the stranger God's people were often blessed!
God's character is revealed in saving a people described as strangers and sojourners. They were as an alien nation who lived in a land not their own, vulnerable and dependant upon God to deliver them into the land of milk and honey where he would be their host. Through judgement and redemption these strangers and sojourners come to the land of blessing where they enjoy peace and the rule of God. On the basis of God welcoming them into covenant relationship they were commanded to welcome the stranger in their midst. The command to love extended to the poor, the vulnerable, the foreigner, Israelite brothers and asylum seekers. In response to God's love they love the stranger and supplied them with food, shelter, protection and fellowship.
It would be fair to say that you could divide up the biblical narrative along different meals; the good and lavish garden spread; forbidden fruit in the fall; the promise of milk and honey; the sacrificial lamb of the Passover meal; manna and quail in the desert; a future feast and harvest; a wedding banquet; the last supper; the hearty home meal and an ever satisfying banquet. In the bible's pictures of the Kingdom, from Creation through the fall to redemption and new creation we see the present experience and future anticipation of God's beloved enjoying his welcome into relationship. It is no wonder then that we often associate hospitality with food as relationships are enjoyed in the context of a meal. It is a glorious vision of God's unbridled goodness and generosity that saves and transforms and all because he has shown supreme us his hospitality in the giving of his Son.
Jesus is the hand of God's hospitality in loving us even when we are unlovely and estranged from relationship with him. By his sovereign grace he deals with that which separates us from God and each other and reconciles us together in the life, death, and new life of his Son. Jesus is the ultimate lover of strangers. It is of no surprise that we see Jesus identify with sinners by eating and drinking with them. The blessing of the Kingdom and its rich banquet arrives in the gospel of Jesus. The goal of God's hospitality is reconciling and restoring his people into fellowship with himself and each other. Hospitality is at the heart of God's mission and purpose for his new community.
The strangers’ experience
Sadly, the experience of many we chance to meet outside is of an inhospitable church. Yet, we are a well-resourced church. It is often not staff or buildings or programs we lack. Indeed, we lack for nothing but love. And it is the love of Christ embodied in his people that is the primary attraction of God's people. There is a danger that in the process of "doing' mission we have forgotten to be and reflect the character of God in loving the stranger and laying down our lives for sinners. When we forget hospitality we have forgotten God. So if our church's time commitment, relational energy and finance don't prioritise building relationships with sinners and welcoming the stranger, then something has gone terribly wrong.
There is a strong warning for us here. In Matthew 25 Jesus warns of a condemnation for those who have not welcomed the stranger. Clearly Matthew links our love for Jesus with our love of the stranger and the lost. Hospitality that meets people in their need as sinners will be integral to our worship of Jesus. It is interesting to note that Jesus says the faithful who welcome him will find their recompense at the resurrection of the just. Entry into the Kingdom is in a sense tied to our faith working through hospitality now! Yet when was the last time you found a genuine stranger in your midst? In Luke 14 Jesus directly aims his critique at those who bless only those who will bless them in return. His new community is to welcome those who are empty-handed and can offer nothing in return " the unlikeable, the unlovely, the poor and needy sinner " not just family and old friends.
Imagine a fresh experience of being a gospel-centred community where the word is believed and proclaimed and where strangers and sinners are welcomed into the fellowship of God's people.
Hospitality is not about what you cook, or even how clean your house is. Neither is it about slick brochures or programs or gifted performance.
Hospitality is about the attractive salt and light of the gospel community being a loving generous household which gives of themselves in love for one another and love for the stranger " those who are yet to taste the banquet of the new creation. And as the poor, the stranger, the lost, the searching, the lonely traveller and the partner in mission come into the midst of God's people, may they indeed taste and see that the Lord is good.
Shane Rogerson is the rector of St Peter’s, Cooks River.
