Life seems so busy that there's little time for hospitality that leads to community and more than a surface-level connection.
Words like experience, connection, and community have become buzzwords in our American culture. And there's a good reason for it. It's because there's such a great need for them.
I think as a society we have gotten a good belly full of the hustle and networking. We've chased after money and in the chase, we've realized we left something behind. Then in an effort to combine both our desires we came up with networking. It's possible for meaningful relationships to develop from networking. But more often than not, they're business connections or associates.
But there's no substitute for hospitality that leads to community! In a community, we get to take off our masks and shed our outer garments of achievements. It's here we become truly known, supported, and understood.
Henri Nouwen wrote, “Hospitality . . . means primarily the creation of a free space where the stranger can enter and become a friend instead of an enemy. Hospitality is not to change people, but to offer them space where change can take place.”
That's the kind of church I long for! It's what I look for in my relationships. It's what I offer others when I hold space for them.
Reflection Questions
Who holds space for you to shed your persona and be real?
Who do you hold that kind of space for?
If you're longing for this kind of hospitality, community, and deep connection, know you're not alone. But know there's some risk involved.
You'll be giving up time-wasting, money-robbing activities.
You'll have to be willing to make space in your life for it. You'll have to be willing to get real.
There are risks in practicing a lifestyle of hospitality because you'll become a hospital for many.
As you make space in you're life:
You'll share in good times together.
You'll celebrate victories together
That sense of not knowing who you're people are or where you belong vanishes.
This is some good stuff!
Matthew 13:46
When he found one (a pearl) of great value, he went away and sold everything he had and bought it.
This passage is about the kingdom. But if you'll allow me some latitude here, I'd like to say a community that's like the one I've described here is like a pearl of great value.
A Few More Reflection Questions.
Do you want to create that space and invite others into it?
Are you willing to keep searching for your tribe no matter how long it takes?
Dang, I can already sense it just got heavy for some of you, and I love that
Mega Blessings
Lisa