Part of my job is mentoring youth. We invited our co-hort youth group from the Lutheran church to my house last night for one of our favorite events, dinner and Catch Phrase. As people were gathering, one boy had his head in his phone. He was the youngest and just couldn't do the work of gathering with the group...yet.
It reminded me of the lesson we all have to learn. Hospitality requires effort. We have to learn to put ourselves out there. High risk for human beings.
Perhaps the "radical" of this God-given hospitality is the willingness to be rejected. Usually we set up our social interactions so that we are sure we will fit in. We ask our friends to attend our parties. We make sure someone we know will be at a party we are invited to. We can't stand the idea of walking into a room filled with people we don't know.
We work to teach kids how to take risks. It is part of our call. Welcome...acceptance...
But the foundation of our teaching is grounding them in the unquestioned acceptance they have in the Triune God. When you know deep in your DNA that you are a child of God, that God loves and claims and accepts you as you are, then you can risk human rejection.
The ultimate acceptance enables the effort of hospitality that can change the world.
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