Toward a Theology of Christian Hospitality, pt. 2

[This is Part Two of a Three Part series on Christian Hospitality.  Check out Part One]

The church is to participate actively in the life of the world as slaves and envoys of the true King, in a manner akin to Jesus, extending an invitation to those, like they were previously, who are not worthy guests, who are marginalized in the wider society, who do not consider themselves invited, and who have not even heard there is such a banquet available.

Luke Bretherton, Hospitality as Holiness: Christian Witness Amid Moral Diversity

Hospitality and the Mission of The Church

The en-action of the Church’s mission is nothing short of hospitality.  As we allow the service and hospitality of the incarnation to sit deeper within our lives, we will begin to have a greater awareness that our call in the continuation of the mission of the Triune God is a call to express Christ-like service and hospitality to sisters, brothers, friends, and strangers.

This call to mission and hospitality is not distinct or separate from the Church’s remembrance and declaration of the gospel.  Rather it is situated firmly within it.  One metaphor for how the gospel has changed the plight of humanity is the story that undeserving people have been invited in to feast at the table of the King.  This metaphor cannot be understood apart from actual feasting, as seen in how important feasts were for the people of God in the OT, and how those feasts were recast in the NT with the last supper and the love feasts of the early church.

Much like the collusion of sorrow and joy, pain and celebration, that is found in the story of the Cross, so hospitality is an act of feasting that requires fasting.  Sharing with others is not done simply out of overflow.  The call of Christian mission and Christian hospitality is a call of full surrender, a call to release our grasp on what is “ours”, our time, our money, our space.  We are called to intentionally invite the undeserving to share what we have been given.

When we understand the call of Christian mission, we will begin to see the complexity of Christian hospitality:

-hospitality is costly, time consuming, and heart breaking.

-hospitality is an attitude, a way of life, not an occasional action

-hospitality is rewarding and joyful

-hospitality is feasting with outsiders