Hospitality: It Doesn't Means What We Think It Means

That word... I do not think it means what you think it means.

Aficionados of the movie The Princess Bride will of course recognize this turn of phrase. In the movie, a man repeatedly exclaims, "Inconceivable!" It's his response to each new, unlikely, undesired and conceivable event which takes place. After hearing the word shouted out for maybe the fifth time, another character in the film throws out the aforementioned reflection...

That word... I do not think it means what you think it means.

The same goes for us Christians when we use the word hospitality. We know the word, but we have utterly forgotten its meaning. I am reading a great book right now (titled Making Room) which makes this point rather convincingly.

The book cannot be done justice in a short blog, but the author begins with a close review of a pivotal scene from the Old Testament: Genesis 18. In this passage Abraham entertains three strangers, only to discover that he is providing hospitality to God himself, along with two angels.

To reduce a 200-page book to a few sentences, the author proceeds to show convincingly that hospitality is tucked aware at the core of both Hebrew and Christian scriptures. Caring for the aliens and outsiders is core to the nature of who we are.

Or who we should be, anyway.

Romans 12:13
When God’s people are in need, be ready to help them. Always be eager to practice hospitality.

Hebrews 13:2
Don’t forget to show hospitality to strangers, for some who have done this have entertained angels without realizing it!

Hospitality does not exclude extending care to people we know. But as the passage from Hebrews reminds us, hospitality reaches its fullest expression when we extend it to people we don't know. Strangers.

Hospitality... this word.... it does not mean what we think it means.

We don't know anything about true hospitality. When we think about hospitality, about 99.99% of the time we are thinking about opening our home to friends and family. How many Christians in America have opened their homes to strangers any time in the last year? Ten years? Ever? The concept is so novel and freakishly bizarre, people gather to watch movies about it when it happens. (I have not seen The Blind Side but I hear it's great... a rare recorded moment of true hospitality in America.)

OK, it's really awkward to say this, but count me in that mix of people who have perhaps never done the real deal where hospitality is concerned. Our home is more open than most, but I cannot think of a single stranger we have housed for the night.

I noted earlier that in Genesis 18, Abraham extended hospitality to three utter strangers. Two of Abraham's guests move on to visit another city. Genesis 19 picks up the story...

Genesis 19
That evening the two angels came to the entrance of the city of Sodom. Lot was sitting there, and when he saw them, he stood up to meet them. Then he welcomed them and bowed with his face to the ground. “My lords,” he said, “come to my home to wash your feet, and be my guests for the night. You may then get up early in the morning and be on your way again.”
“Oh no,” they replied. “We’ll just spend the night out here in the city square.”
But Lot insisted, so at last they went home with him.

In case we didn't get it the first time around, both Lot and Abraham opened their homes to utter strangers. And this was perfectly normal back then. We don't like to think about it, but it's supposed to be perfectly normal now too. Christians have always been called to this outward posture toward the world.

Ah, but times have changed. We have a thousand reasons (or were they excuses) for our failure to practice true hospitality. When examined, however, these excuses boil down to nothing more than our basic desire for comfort and safety.

Comfort and safety: two of the great idols of our age. Idols? Yes, idols. It's always easy to mock the idols of another era or culture. How could anyone be so stupid as to worship a wood or stone figurine? But their idols made sense to them.

And our idols make sense to us. It's always been that way with idols. People may or may not be blind to the fact that they do worship idols but they are always blind to the fact that they shouldn't worship idols. We are never more blind than when confronted with our own idols. It always seems normal and good.

"Well then," we say, "The world isn't as safe as it used to be! I guess hospitality is just not practically possible anymore in America!"

But all we have proven is that we are not willing to sacrifice comfort and safety in order to entertain strangers. Instead, we sacrifice the care of strangers in order to worship comfort and safety.

In fact, most of us don't even live near unsafe people. In our search for comfort and safety, we move into rich ghettos so as to avoid living anywhere near really poor and needy people. Those kinds of people can be dangerous.

"Well then," we say, "None of my neighbors needs much help! So I guess hospitality is just not practically possible anymore in America!"

But all we have proven is that we have removed ourselves from any physical proximity to people in real need. There is no better place to worship comfort and safety than in a safe and comfortable place.

Hospitality is one of the first victims we sacrifice in the fire before the two great American idols of comfort and safety.

Count me guilty too.