Recovering a culture of hospitality

Scholar Christine Pohl says, “A key Greek word for hospitality, philoxenia, combines the word for love or affection in a kinship or shared faith (phileo) with the word for stranger (xenos). Hospitality is closely connected to love and it is oriented toward strangers.” She argues it’s not optional for Christians and suggests ways we can recover this practice.

Start with spiritual formation

Make room in your heart, whether or not you find room in your house. Cultivate a grateful spirit. Hospitality begins in worship and recognition of God’s grace and generosity.

Pray to see opportunities.

Make your home a ministry site

Set up a Christ space always ready for guests, in keeping with local hygiene and safety guidelines.

Make room in your family for friends and guests.

Remember spiritual growth happens in the kitchen over coffee.

Reduce the strangeness of strangers

Creatively try out threshold spaces, for example a large room where several families may welcome strangers. Build minimal connections. Identify common ground.

Look to see Jesus in your guests.

Reflect on priorities, possessions and power

Can your routines handle interruptions? Considering your resources, what are your limits?

Do you insist on taking the role of host, even in another’s domain?

Can you recognize another person’s capacity to help you?

Understand the Church as God’s household

Eat meals together.

Your church’s greatest resource is the fellowship of believers. Simply be together. Don’t confuse hospitality with mission.