Fellowship & Hospitality
In the early 1970s, farm activist Jim Hightower warned of “the McDonaldization of America.” In Eat Your Heart Out (1975), he argued that “bigger is not better” and that major fast-food chains were creating a dangerous homogenous pattern of consumption. This would not only destroy smaller farms but would also leave the nation nutritionally starved. […]
The great hope of Christians is not that they will go to heaven when they die, but that Jesus will raise them from the dead in an incorruptible body to live with him and the rest of God’s people in the new creation. The physicality of the new creation city that John reveals in Revelation […]
"Let love be genuine’¦ Contribute to the needs of the saints and seek to show hospitality" (Rom. 12:9-13). "Let brotherly love continue. Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers" (Heb. 13:12). As we see in just these brief examples, Scripture calls us to live a life of genuine love and hospitality. In this issue, […]
Love bade me welcome, yet my soul drew back, Guilty of dust and sin. But quick-ey’d Love, observing me grow slack From my first entrance in, Drew nearer to me, sweetly questioning If I lack’d anything. “A guest,” I answer’d, “worthy to be here”; Love said, “You shall be he.” “I, the unkind, the ungrateful? […]
At first glance, it appears that hospitality is a pretty straightforward concept—inviting people over to your (reasonably tidy) home for a meal and conversation, for the purpose of developing your relationship and deepening your friendship. Easier said than done in twenty-first century society in the age of commuter churches, busy families, demanding work schedules, and […]
Hospitality is a fading art. Of course, we still host and enjoy meals at one another's homes. But now they are often lavish with hours of preparation, putting out the china for the boss or for friends. It's hard to imagine what was normal not that long ago: making an extra bowl of stew in […]
It was the perfect meal plan: lunch for three with French fries and chicken pot pies’a two dollar lunch that even I could cook. I read the instructions on both packages and simply averaged oven times and temperatures to thirty minutes and 400 degrees for everything. It was August in Philadelphia, and the defunct A/C […]
In the not too distant past, how hosts and guests were to behave toward one another was carefully regulated by custom and tradition. Dinner guests knew what was expected of them, and hosts were bound by well-accepted and even formulaic guidelines on how to make their guests feel welcome. A mother a generation or two […]
I had seen the man before, but I could not remember where. Mr. Smith (not his real name) was middle-aged, pleasant enough, and looked like he had something important to tell me. We stepped aside to avoid the crowd coming out of the church sanctuary after our Sunday morning service. He introduced himself and reminded […]
This sounds like the setup to a joke, but the punch line is true: What do you get when you combine an outlaw Bible professor, a runaway nun, and a dilapidated Augustinian monastery? The first Reformation parsonage. The Black Cloister, known today as Luther Haus, was built in 1504 with the support of the elector […]
It has been said that the practice of prayers at mealtimes is what separates men from animals’instead of attacking our food and tearing into it as though it could be taken away from us at any moment, humans make a point to acknowledge their Creator and Sustainer in gratitude for his provision for their physical […]
My grandparents began hiding Jews soon after the Waffen-SS confiscated the top floor of their church for a regional headquarters. In the basement of that same building, right under Nazi noses, a shelter was made. My grandfather was the pastor of this church. He figured the Jewish hideaways would be as safe there as anywhere. […]
According to Eric Schlosser's book Fast-Food Nation, only a generation ago in the United States three-quarters of its food expenses was spent on home-cooked meals, while today half is spent on restaurants-and mostly fast-food chains. This transformation has been referred to as "the McDonaldization of America." And it's now an essential part of what Francis […]
The following is a transcription of a lecture Ken Myers gave at someone's home—over dinner no doubt! For most of my adult life, I've been involved one way or another in trying to understand contemporary culture from within a Christian worldview. I've been interested in asking, "What in our culture makes the gospel foolishness?" In […]
