{"id":113841,"date":"2021-07-07T12:53:00","date_gmt":"2021-07-07T18:53:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/?p=113841"},"modified":"2021-07-07T12:53:00","modified_gmt":"2021-07-07T18:53:00","slug":"around-the-table-why-hospitality-is-vital-to-your-soul","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/articles\/topics\/faith\/essentials-faith\/reaching-out\/around-the-table-why-hospitality-is-vital-to-your-soul\/","title":{"rendered":"Around the Table: Why Hospitality Is Vital to Your Soul"},"content":{"rendered":"
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When my kids were small and we\u2019d host guests, there was always a moment just before we\u2019d fling open the door when I\u2019d need to wipe my forehead and upper lip. (Places, everyone!<\/em>)<\/p>\n

I literally perspired\u2014partially from anxiety. But mostly because no matter how many Tinker Toys I\u2019d lobbed toward their container or diapers I\u2019d changed, someone always wiped their nose on my T-shirt or conspiratorially ran down the stairs without pants 30 seconds before guests pulled up.<\/p>\n

When you have little kids, gathering around the table anyone who doesn\u2019t need their sippy cup filled is tough, y\u2019all.<\/p>\n

Yet reasons like these can be exactly what keeps us from the power of sharing our table, even our hamburgers, with someone else.<\/p>\n

We\u2019re busy.<\/em> And hospitality is so stinkin\u2019 exhausting, the preparation mundane. We can\u2019t seem to get (and keep) all rooms of our house clean at the same time.<\/a> Our cooking may involve hot dogs sliced into mac and cheese or Domino\u2019s on speed dial. Cooking? Like, three dishes in one meal so I don\u2019t look like I always serve something from the InstaPot? Ain\u2019t nobody got time for that. <\/em><\/p>\n

But not<\/em> gathering around the table\u2014or sharing a false, curated one\u2014can have the opposite power: short-circuiting true community.<\/p>\n

What hospitality isn\u2019t<\/h2>\n

During my family\u2019s time in Africa, my friend Monica invited us to her home, where she lived with her three daughters in one room. We ate outdoors from well-used plasticware while ducks waddled around our benches in the dust. Monica didn\u2019t have a table. We washed dishes together using soap and massive jugs of water. We watched Tom and Jerry<\/em> on her tiny television.<\/p>\n

Over bowls of rice and beans, Monica\u2019s hospitality sparkled. She honored us. Gave generously. Enjoyed us.<\/p>\n

Monica altered the perspective of my sweating, toddler-raising days. Confession: There\u2019s an element of image<\/em> tempting my hospitality energies. Even my attempts to be casual can mimic hours spent to give a supermodel that \u201cjust rolled out of bed\u201d look. My hospitality has occasionally been a curated imperfection.<\/em><\/p>\n

In short, hospitality can entice me, so subtly, to be a bit about \u2026 me.<\/p>\n

And in that, I can quietly don a mask. Rather than hospitality conveying authentic connection and presence, I choose an agenda. Artifice.<\/p>\n

The goal of gathering friends around the table isn\u2019t our family\u2019s glory as the host: Look how much we have our act together! Aren\u2019t we impressive in our ability to serve you?<\/em><\/p>\n

It\u2019s loving well in the name of Jesus.<\/strong> To offer a cup of cold water in His name.<\/p>\n

Ruth Haley Barton reflects in Life Together in Christ: Experiencing Transformation in Community,<\/em> \u201cPaying attention to these inner dynamics [of opening our homes] can tell us about ourselves. How comfortable am I with myself and my life as God has given it to me right now?\u201d<\/p>\n

Maybe people spontaneously showing up when beds lay unmade means my home\u2019s attraction is an inner beauty. Perhaps the power of a prepared, approachable place lies not in the Pinterest-curated souffle in the oven, but space for relationships.<\/p>\n

Why gathering around the table matters<\/h2>\n

Sharing our table is about accepting and welcoming all sorts of people (Luke 14:13<\/a>), creating for them a warm sense of home. Rather than through showy perfection, this is about genuine care and presence with others. As God does for us, hospitality extends unseen resources, filling up our sense of confidence, care, connectedness, joy\u2014often through our five senses.<\/p>\n

The Bible communicates vital intimacy when we invite others around the table.<\/p>\n