I've been thinking about hospitality... On Friday evening as I was attending the Manitou Day paraded in White Bear Lake I saw a man with t-shirt that read, "Welcome to America, now learn to speak English." I would call this conditional hospitality. You're welcome as long as you meet a certain set of criteria but if you fail to meet those criteria then you are no longer welcome and the outstretched hand will be withdrawn.
This is a far cry from Christian hospitality that arises out of the tradition of hospitality in the Middle-East. Christian hospitality welcomes both friends and strangers for who they are, not who we want them to be. Christian hospitality is based on a love for the stranger and extends the same love and grace to the stranger that God extended to us.
Unfortunately all to often people in our churches could wear t-shirts that read, "Welcome to our church, now learn to do things our way." We not not be brazen enough to put it quite like that but I've met many non-Christians who have quit looking at Christianity as a viable option because they were not welcomed by people in the church. A good dose of real hospitality would go a long way to promoting the gospel in our culture today.
