HOSPITALITY | PART 1

When I first read Henri Nouwen’s concept of hospitality in his book, Reaching Out: The Three Movements of the Spiritual Life, I was blown away by its simplicity and depth. My soul simply knew it to be true. I then decided to incorporate Nouwen’s concept of hospitality into a paper presentation on the topic of global cooperation of missions. This was back in 2010 for an audience of Asian mission leaders. In retrospect, I was trying to do two things: one, to provide a gentle and subversive critique on how missions had been operating and two, to integrate what my soul knew to be true in my developing contemplative heart with the global stage of missiological engagement and partnership. If it works at a localized relational level, it should work at a global level of relationships, I thought. If it is true “here,” it must also be true “there.” Years later, I am further convinced hospitality is a lost art in spirituality, especially true in our day. We must recover and reclaim the lost art into a living practice. The opposite of hospitality is judgment and control. It is robbing of the foundational freedom, the freedom to be oneself.

Thus, though I wrote the paper for the audience of missions leaders, I think you will find its far reaching applications to all levels of relationships. Wherever people and community are, there should be hospitality at work.

It was a relatively short paper. So I will share it in two parts.

Global Cooperation as Hospitality: Drawing from Henry Nouwen’s concept of hospitality

In the 15th century, Christopher Columbus brought a strange-looking fruit back to Europe from the island of Guadeloupe. The new fruit looked like an armored pinecone that covered a firm pulp, similar to an apple. The English appropriately named this new fruit, pineapple.  In the Caribbean islands, the pineapple was a symbol of hospitality. The Spanish explorers knew if a pineapple was placed at the entrance of a village, it meant they were welcomed. Today the symbol of pineapple is a global expression of welcome and hospitality. In front of our house back in the U.S., we used to have a welcome mat that had a big imprint of a pineapple!

What is the relationship between hospitality and global cooperation of which we should be mindful? I would like to propose that we approach global cooperation as hospitality--primarily in spirit and in its implied practice.[1] I believe there are some significant connections between hospitality and how we can advance further in global cooperation.

Previous as well as most of current practices in approaching “strategic” missions partnerships or cooperation have mainly been business-like, imported from the business world. While there is much we can learn from such an approach, I propose that we look at global cooperation from the angle of hospitality, which is more organic and natural.  It is organic and natural in that the spirit of hospitality is not only about what we do when we get together in meetings but also attempts to address how we live day to day in interaction with others and other cultures. In short, it is about the lost art of genuine spirituality that is hospitality. Henry Nouwen captures this well, “The term hospitality, therefore, should not be limited to its literal sense of receiving a stranger in our house—although it is important never to forget or neglect that!—but as a fundamental attitude toward our fellow human being, which can be expressed in a great variety of ways” (1975:67). In the long run, what is organic and natural may prove to be more strategic.

Hospitality is nothing new. It is a supra-cultural practice that is universal in nature.[2] The ability to practice hospitality makes a human being a human being.  Hospitality allows us to connect with people and to find our dignity and worth as human beings. Ample biblical stories and examples of hospitality are found in the Old Testament to the New Testament. Again, here is Nouwen, “It is one of the richest biblical terms that can deepen and broaden our insight in our relationships to our fellow human beings.” (1975:66)

The word hospitality derives from the Latin hospes, which is formed from hostis, which originally meant, “to have power”. The word, hospital, comes from the same root word which means a place of shelter and rest for travelers. The practice of sharing tea, humble yet rich, is an expression of providing hospitality to weary travelers and sharing a piece of home. From the ancient Chinese to Indian to Classical to Celtic to the Middle Ages to the less civilized to the modern to “southern hospitality” (that is in the U.S.), hospitality brings decency and dignity of being human beings. Hospitality is more than the combination of words like soft, warm, sweet, kind, cozy, and perhaps even boring. It is a forgotten spirituality, and it is a critical basis for global cooperation and partnership.

In the end, hospitality is an expression of love toward our neighbors. We can express love because God first loved us and welcomed us. The Message translation of the Romans 15:7 reads, “So reach out and welcome one another to God's glory. Jesus did it; now you do it!” Thus, the idea of providing and receiving hospitality is simply an act of obedience to the Great Commandment.

Hospitality is connecting with others. I am tempted to use a phrase like “true hospitality” simply because we have seen “bad”, manipulative, or distorted kinds of hospitality. But I will stick to the simple usage of hospitality, trusting that this is the “true” kind. At the most foundational level, connecting with other human beings is what makes hospitality hospitality. This can happen through sharing food, time, and home. Table fellowship is something we take for granted in the west, generally speaking. However, it is such an intimate act of fellowship elsewhere. All cultures represented in the Bible took this table fellowship very seriously. The early church described in the Book of Acts centered around table fellowships in real-life contexts. Communion was sharing real meals. And this was important enough that Apostle Paul made a fair share of warnings and exhortations as to what not to do and what to do in sharing real meals.

[1] At the end of my presentation, I would like to receive input and feedback as to what some practical applications might be or whether the concept of hospitality in the context of global cooperation is worth pursuing.

[2] Various cultures may have different motivating factors, from honor, shame, reciprocity, and even guilt. Whatever the motivation might be, the practice of hospitality is ubiquitous and generally considered very important.