Hospitality

I am not one to pick up the phone and call someone just to chat. Even if someone calls me I tend to be a bit transactional with them not taking a whole lot of time to talk to them about things that are “off topic” so to speak. I know where I want to go and, by golly, I am going to get there whether that is a good thing or not. Women are much better at this than men are. I know my wife tends to use conversation and words to build a relationship with someone rather than relying on an even or gathering (like a retreat or basketball game for example). This is good because, as I am beginning to believe more and more, relationships are what drive people to God. God wants a relationship with us and we are brought close to Him through that relationship that He desires being modeled in other people.

Nothing real profound today (and that is different from…..) but we are having people over tonight, so this is on my mind. Also on my mind is what true hospitality is. We are having some people over tonight that we enjoy. They are a lot like us (maybe a bit younger) and we share similar interests, pursuits, theology, etc. True hospitality is shown when we have people over that are dissimilar to us. They make us feel a bit uncomfortable and sometimes we wonder what they are going to say next, or do to upset the apple cart. That is when we are the most hospitable and when we minister to the Christ. I need to do that more.

Whenever I feel convicted about something I slip into the “us” and “we”. I leave those in the above paragraph so the gentle reader can get a glimpse into the sin I fall into on occasion.