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Hospitality Must Resist Fear

We live in a moment of time when we are facing relational and social change at dizzying rates. 

Life used to be comfortable, designed to reflect the values and preferences of people like us. People gathered by race, class, religion, and shared moral frameworks. There is a psychological ease in being surrounded by people like us. Outsiders were kept at a safe distance, the occasional encounter driving us deeper into safe community. 

But with the arrival of the internet, ease of travel, apps that connect us to people around the world, shifts in political power, and college campuses becoming more diverse, a new generation has arisen that values equality and diversity over similarity and sameness. In many ways this new diversity has been seen as a threat, and threats stir anxiety and fear.

And yet, what if we—the followers of Jesus—were to act more like him by being the ones to reach out to people who are different from us? What if we gathered with strangers to share simple human pleasures, such as a meal? What if we got to know others and let them know us? 

It wouldn’t erase the differences, but it just might cancel the fear. It just might help us overcome some of the divisions and isolation in our society. It just might enable us to show Jesus to people in a way that they would never otherwise encounter him. Others might begin to follow our lead. The future might be one of inclusion and belonging.

Hospitality is an ancient practice that has never been more needed, both by hosts and by guests. “Do not forget to show hospitality to strangers, for by so doing some people have shown hospitality to angels without knowing it” (Hebrews 13:2).

Spiritual writer Henri Nouwen said, “This is our vocation: to convert…the enemy into a guest and to create the free and fearless space where brotherhood and sisterhood can be formed and fully experienced.” Free and fearless space. May you learn to resist fear through hospitality.

Whom do you know who is different enough from you that you feel uncomfortable with that person? Think about a nonthreatening invitation you can offer to get to know this person better.