Hospitality Extends the Privileges of Community To Those Who Don't Expect it

Welcome one another as Christ has welcomed you, to the glory of God. - Romans 15:7

As the pandemic starts to fade and our world opens up again, it’s helpful to think through what might hospitality look like now. Perhaps the table is outside now, due to health concerns, but there remains the the model of Jesus to invite people to that table. And not just to the table, but into your life. That has always been a tricky thing, especially for those of us with a poor track record with health boundaries.

So take some time today to pray about what it might look like for you to welcome people to your table and to your life - in ways that are virus-healthy and heart-healthy - as you ponder this quote.

Hospitality is the offer to extend the privileges of community to those who do not have the standing to expect it, especially those who are vulnerable because they are strangers. Hospitality often involves sharing meals, but hospitality is about more than eating. Eating is, for example, one of the privileges of being in my family. My kids have the right to expect to be fed every single night. When I share a meal with them, it is not an act of kindness. I owe it to them. When I share such a meal with an outsider, I invite them into my family for that brief period. Hospitality is an offer to identify with outsiders and to treat them like insiders. Hospitality is extending privilege across difference. - Scott Cormode