My first hospitality disaster looked like a blueberry pie, but once I cut into it, I could see it was clearly a blueberry soup enclosed in a pie crust. I hope I served it with ice cream, but even if I did, nothing can take the sting out of that memory. Thanks be to God, I had no idea that one of my guests had served as a judge for the blueberry pie baking contest at the Union Fair.
When we bought this fixer-upper on a country hill in Midcoast Maine, we set out to make it a place where people would feel welcome. That involved inviting guests to dinner conversations with four young children and then sitting on our lumpy couch afterward. They were welcome to sleep overnight, if needed, in our family room next door to the rabbit hutch. (In the earliest days, our practice of hospitality says more about the forbearance of our guests than it does about our generosity as hosts.)
I’ve learned a lot about making room for others in our family home since those hectic days of highchairs and vacuuming up dog hair and Cheerios five minutes before my guests arrived. It’s more than tea parties and dainty sandwiches—and it’s certainly more than “entertaining” or showcasing my domestic arts.
Hospitality is one of the themes that runs throughout scripture, and, according to author and ethics professor Christine D. Pohl, the practice kept right on running into the early church and throughout the church age. In Making Room, she argues that recovering hospitality as a uniquely Christian tradition requires an understanding of the church’s historical roots of welcoming and serving those in need. Ironically, during eras of intense persecution, Christians were living on the margins as they put themselves fully at the disposal of the marginalized.
In addition to her historical research for the book, Pohl visited eight present-day Christian communities for whom hospitality is an organizing practice. The result is a scholarly resource that coaxes 21st-century believers out of our siloes as we remember our heritage, reconsider the tradition, and recover a robust practice of hospitality in our homes and our places of worship.
Hospitality is more than tea parties and dainty sandwiches, more than entertaining or showcasing my domestic art. Ironically, during eras of persecution, Christians on the margins put themselves at the disposal of the marginalized.
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Because I was challenged and inspired by the historical roots of hospitality in Pohl’s work, I’ve created images for a selection of quotations on the practice of hospitality from the book and from well-known practitioners Pohl quoted. Some are formatted for sharing on social media and at least one is suitable for your phone’s lock-screen. I hope the quotations encourage you to rethink your own practice of making room and maybe step outside your comfort zone.
Holding you in the light,
In Making Room, Christine D. Pohl argues that recovering #hospitality as a uniquely Christian tradition requires an understanding of the church’s historical roots of welcoming strangers and serving the marginalized. @eerdmansbooks
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Michele, this is a helpful encouragement. Too often I’m slow to go there but after we’ve opened our home I always wonder why it took so long and revel in the joy and satisfaction of sharing who we are and what we have … even if it’s from a box or off a store shelf.
Last time I looked, no one was checking to see if the windowsills were dusted or what the menu was going to be. But to have a safe place to land? Yeah, this we can do. Thanks for the prompt to go there more often.
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A safe place to land. That’s perfectly beautiful, and if your online presence is any indication, I have a feeling that you are doing just fine on the home front as well!
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Hospitality is not limited to parties and assemblies; it represents humanity and meaningful services, particularly “when some people are being persecuted.” Historical Christians did this through aiding those considered as outcasts in their societies, hence the notion of true hospitality. This higher form of hospitality is a challenge to the person to welcome with the heart and let people into his home as Christ did.
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Exactly! We may find ourselves on the margins and yet we leverage even this as an opportunity to serve.
Thanks for your clarifying thoughts and for taking the time to read and respond.
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I guess I have never thought about our gatherings exemplifying hospitality but we have a long time joke about a sign I have put in numerous kitchens in the last 30 years. It says, “Friends of friends may not bring friends” – but long ago I took a Sharpie and crossed out the word ‘not’ and over the years, friends bringing friends has grown our tribe into a village. Open the door and they will come. It is the only way to keep civilization civil.
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And we certainly are in need of a more civil civilization!
And I’m with you on that open door policy to friends of friends—and friends of kids!
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Good thoughts. I especially liked the quotes from Karen Mains and Edith Schaeffer. I’ve had to learn over the years that hospitality is more a matter of an open heart than a big, exhausting production. Sometimes I’d be so tired after getting ready for a gathering that I didn’t enjoy my guests and counted down the hours til they left and I could relax. I like what Linda said–nobody’s checking for dust bunnies. They’d rather have a simple meal with good fellowship.
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This was wonderful inspiration to boost my spirit as I begin preparations next week for out-of-state friends (of 42 years!) that will be staying with us a few days. It goes without saying that our time together will be sweet–the prep not so much! What I try to do is daydream about the fun to come while I dust, scrub, and polish. (Thankfully my husband helps, including taking care of the floors!)
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