Wear Out the Mat

Last week, I talked about carrying the mat. Another dimension of community is wearing out the mat. I blogged about this previously under a post entitled "Wear Out Your Welcome." If the welcome mat at your front door is not getting enough action, it might be time to rethink your practice of community.

Ryan and I have an old, ratty, worn out welcome mat at our door. Granted, it's time to change the thing. But for us, it's a reminder that we are called to be people who practice hospitality. Not people who can write a book on manners and etiquette or that have a well set table. It doesn't even mean that we are people who have a spotless house. It does mean that we are called to be people who create welcoming and safe environments for people to hear dangerous messages.

In a couple weeks, we will officially re-open the Zempel Porch. We'll pull out the porch furniture, the cornhole, and the ice cream and crank up the karaoke machine in the back of the house. And people from our church and people from the neighborhood mix. It's one of my favorite expressions of community.

Wear out your mat.