Pondering Hospitality

Hosting a guest pastor from Nigeria last weekend sparked a conversation about Hospitality with my wife. I was struck by the passion she has for hospitality, and the myriad issues we have seen this past week related directly to Hospitality.

We had our guest here in our home for three days before she preached and got on the train the day after her visit.

I heard the words from President Bush to President-elect Obama about how he would ease the Transition.

I saw the pain and anguish of friends, church people and people I consider family after the passage of  Proposition 8 here in California, and how we denied hospitality to them.

I saw the Starbucks/Church marketing video thanks to Beyond Relevance, and made comment on that.

I reread and prepared for the text for November 9, and the story of the 10 bridesmaids.

Then I saw the story from Mark Winter about how he received hospitality. 

And I begin to seriously reconsider and reimagine church, as a church that shows first hospitality. What will that look like? But, I can tell you this - if it is genuine, there will be no shortage of people who want to be Christians.