Monday, May 04, 2009

Wear Out Your Welcome


Ryan and I have officially worn out our welcome. The "welcome" word on our mat, that is. Yesterday, Ryan noted that the welcome mat at our front door was faded and shredded. You couldn't even read the multi-lingual "welcomes" on it. As usual, our perspectives on this mundane domestic development were almost as far apart as the political views of Mary Matalin and James Carville.

My immediate reaction: that's terrible, we need a new one! Our house is a mess!

Ryan's immediate reaction: that's awesome, we are so hospitable! Our house is full of people!

It's not often that I like Ryan's perspective better, but in this instance, I'm willing to part with my opinion.

It's true, we have worn out our welcome. And I think that's awesome. Here's what I'm learning. Discipleship and hospitality are closely connected. I used to think that hospitality was about teacups, doilies, and properly set tables. That's definitely a dimension of it. But at its core, hospitality is about inviting people into safe places to encounter the dangerous message of the Gospel. It's about creating environments where people can experience the presence of God. Isn't that the most important thing we can do as disciple-makers?

Dave Gibbons described his mentoring strategy at the Willow Grouplife Conference: whenever someone asks Dave to mentor them, he tells the potential young padawan that they must come live with him. Makes sense to me. If discipleship is about "imitate me" and "doing life together," then let's do it.

If you are a small group leader, disciple-maker, mentor, pastor, here's my challenge to you today: invite people into your life by inviting them into your house. For dinner. Dessert. Games. Movies. Karaoke. To help you pack for your trip. Don't just invite them in when the house is prepared for guests. Invite them in when it bears the marks of life. Wear Out Your Welcome.

6 Comments:

At 11:03 AM, Blogger Unknown said...

thanks for the post pastor Heather! love it how the welcome mate is worn out! :)

 
At 3:34 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Just a disclaimer -- the wonderful perspective attributed to me wasn't mine to begin with. Someone else made that comment to me when they noticed our welcome mat. I don't remember who it was, but they probably read this blog, so I wanted to get that clear! :o)

Definitely like that perspective though! (And not just because it means Heather won't insist we go out and buy a new welcome mat.) :o)

-Ryan

 
At 2:30 PM, Anonymous Samantha said...

I love the creativity of this post. It's something we can all remember. Since Heather has given us rights to her blog content, I am going to edit it a bit and post it on SmallGroupExchange.com everyone, so go check it out there too. Thanks!

 
At 4:55 PM, Anonymous Steve said...

great illustration Heather, well. . .Ryan, well. . . thanks to whoever said it to Ryan. And thank you Ryan for sharing it with Heather. And thanks Heather for sharing it with us.

 
At 8:40 AM, Blogger Jim Mather said...

as someone who hosts international students in our home and on occasion invites them to live with his family I can say a hearty amen to all you shared. How can anyone really be discipled apart from up close relationship?

 
At 11:42 AM, Blogger Nelson Okanya said...

Great life reflection Heather. It is good to "wear out our welcome" because we are being effective. awesome reflection!

 

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