I have not had much experience in the area of
hospitality. Even though I do enjoy the
idea of opening my home to be the house of gatherings, for some reason the
opportunities just don't seem to present themselves more than on rare
occasions...or so I've thought...the thing is...I need to pause and think about
this a minute: what is the proper approach? Am I supposed to passively wait for
opportunities to show up...knocking at my door, pun intended...or...am I to
actively seek out opportunities to open my door without waiting for people to
come knocking?
While reading the first couple of chapters of the book Holy
Hygge by Jamie Erickson at our church's summer book chat, my mind has been
filled with endless thoughts and questions about how my own insecurities and
self-consciousness might have kept me from carrying out the command to
hospitality which we have been given since God first welcomed Adam and Eve to
that very first home He so lovingly made for us.
Chief among all these ponderings, is the question:
"what is my definition of a stranger?" Is a stranger just the random person off the
street with whom we have no connection or have ever met? Or could it also be
the high school classmate whom we haven't seen in thirty or forty years? Could
it be our children's childhood acquaintance whom we have never had a chance to
meet as an adult? Maybe it is our next-door neighbor, with whom we have hardly
exchanged a few distant hellos.
I’m thinking more and more that the definition of “stranger”
should probably extend all the way to passing acquaintances, people with whom
we are loosely connected, but are not part of our inner circle. The author of the book reminds us how Jesus
had concentric circles of connections (p. 64-65). Jesus was and is intimately connected forever
in that example of perfect fellowship that is the Holy Trinity: Father, Son,
and Holy Spirit. In the human realm,
though, while Jesus walked on this earth, He had a tight band of brothers: Peter,
James and John. Immediately next to that
close circle, was the next loop: the rest of His disciples, partners in
ministry. Then, there was the outer
loop, the multitudes…the strangers. Were
they really strangers, though? Can Our
Emmanuel, Our God With Us really have strangers among Him? Can we?
Jamie Erickson suggests that, based on the life of Jesus and
on how He related to people around Him, “our social connections should fall
into one of three categories: encouragement, discipleship and evangelism.” (p.
65) In this scenario, nobody is truly a
stranger since each person God puts along and around our path belongs to at
least one of these three rings of social connectedness.
In the circle of encouragement, I need to have those close
friends, my Peters, Johns, and James. In
the ring of discipleship will be what the author refers to as my “mother-sister-daughter
relationships.” (p. 67) These connections are not literally demarcated by blood
lines, not at all. I would be really
losing on this one if that were the case.
I never had daughters and my mother has been gone for 23 years. But I do have spiritual mother-figures and I
know I can find daughters in every corner, if I keep my eyes open. Then, there’s the evangelism ring, and that’s
the multitudes. That’s where all the “strangers”
among me fit.
It's hard, though…opening my “home,” whereas it is my
literal house or the home of my heart, soul, mind, time and wallet to “strangers,”
especially those with whom I do not agree or find difficult to love. That is very hard. I’m goo guarded. I don’t want to reveal my vulnerabilities and
insecurities to anyone, let along “strangers.”
But, if I want to get better at loving Jesus, I have to love those He
has placed around me as I make my feeble attempts at encouraging, discipling and
evangelizing. (Erickson, p. 74) After
all…I don’t want to miss the chance of entertaining angels, right?
What could be some practical ways in which we can fulfill
the command of hospitality to all our circles of social connections in order to
encourage, disciple and evangelize?
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