02.06.08
welcoming the stranger
An interview with Dr Christine Pohl, excerpt from Winter, 2001 Cutting Edge Magazine:
“In the book, you talk about the different levels of “strangeness†that can exist.
Christine: A stranger is someone who is disconnected from their regular life-giving relationships and connections. That can be a fairly neutral thing if you have enough resources to take care of yourself. However—especially in this society—if you lack such resources as money, education, or competence in multiple areas, you are very vulnerable. You are separated from family, work, church, education. That’s what characterizes homeless people and refugees, and sometimes international workers. Walter Brueggemann says “Strangers are people without a place.†That’s the most succinct definition. People with resources often have a place—they may just not be in it at the time. The people who are most vulnerable are those who genuinely are without a place, and without the resources to do anything about it.
In the early days of hospitality, why was the welcoming of strangers considered so crucial to ‘being the Church’?
Christine: Part of it was because of God’s welcome: God has welcomed us in Christ, so we welcome others. In people like Augustine, you see almost an economic argument— “if you give hospitality, there is benefit for you as well as the person you welcome. You have the resources and they have the needs, but they will be able to meet some of your needs, as well!â€
Christians also worked off of the fact that hospitality was an expectation, a fundamental practice in the Christian community. It was also the way the Gospel was spread, by people who were traveling.
The other piece is that the church met in homes initially, so to be welcomed into households was to be welcomed into the church, which is God’s household. There was this wonderful mix of theology and practice: the Church as the household of God. One of the key practices in God’s household is to be as hospitable as God.
Finally, hospitality is the way they took care of the poor, both within their company and among the larger community of the poor. A primary way they met distribution needs was simply through shared meals. All through the New Testament and records of the early church you see descriptions of people eating together.
ron said,
February 6, 2008 at 12:56 pm
Good stuff Len, man I love that idea of God’s household…what would happen if we took it further ” God’s Neighborhood “. Could we make the church the hub of the hood again. There are so many churches locked up for six and a half days a week, what would happen if we made them more accessable, like a neighborhood gathering place…a coffee pot, large pot of soup brewing. What would happen if it was the neighborhoods as much as it was the ” churches.” The opening words of John’s gospel, ” God moved into the neighborhood…pitched his tent.” Seems like a pretty hospitable picture…