Practicing Hospitality

When I got to the church this past Monday I found a message on the answering machine from a woman from Chatfield. She was calling to see if we’d be willing to come and do a Cowboy Church service for that cities Western Days Celebration in August. As we spoke she mentioned that she had actually wanted to come to our Cowboy Church service the previous night, (probably to check us out and see if we were any good) but just wasn’t able to figure out how to get to Cherry Grove. She doesn’t know her way around this area, and when she “googled” Cherry Grove she couldn’t find any directions. Unfortunately, because Cherry Grove is unincorporated it doesn’t show up on some maps. Even that obstacle could have been overcome if we had our own web page (where we could include a map and directions), but at this time we don’t.
Now it just so happens that we’re using Bishop Robert Schnase’s book the Five Practices of Fruitful Congregations as the theme for our Lenten services this year, and the very first practice is something he calls “Radical Hospitality“. Here’s how Bishop Schnase defines this practice.

“Christian hospitality refers to the active desire to invite, welcome, receive, and care for those who are strangers so that they find a spiritual home and discover for themselves the unending richness of life in Christ. It describes a genuine love for others who are not yet a part of the faith community, an outward focus, a reaching out to those not yet known, a love that motivates church members to openness and adaptability, a willingness to change behaviors in order to accommodate the needs and receive the talents of newcomers. Beyond intention, hospitality practices the gracious love of Christ, respects the dignity of others, and expresses God’s invitation to others, not our own. Hospitality is a mark of Christian discipleship, a quality of Christian community, a concrete expression of commitment to grow in Christ-likeness by seeing ourselves as part of the community of faith, ‘not to be served but to serve.’” (MT 20:28)

According to the Bishop Radical Hospitality involves not just the way we respond to people after they arrive at our church, but also the things we do to make them feel desired and wanted before they ever step through the door. Think about it. How welcome would you feel if someone invited you to dinner at their home, but than made no significant attempt to provide you with clear directions to their residence?

For many folks not having our own church web page probably seems like a small thing, especially for a rural congregation. In fact, a couple of decades ago we couldn’t have had one - but today we can - and we don’t yet - and I can’t help but believe that in a very real way we missed an opportunity this past Sunday to practice radical hospitality!