Tim Meeks on "Making Room" by Christine D. Pohl

Hospitality, is typically understood as extending kindness to friends and family members. The strength of Christine Pohl's book, "Making Room" was that she provided a understanding of hospitality that took hospitality to a deeper level by defining hospitality "as extending to strangers a quality of kindness usually reserved for friends and family".  To show love and kindness to the people we love, takes not intentionality. Its easy to love those who love us. If we only love those who love us, what good is it? Even those who do not profess the Christian faith, love those in whom return love.

I like to believe that the love and hospitality Christians are called to by the Holy Scriptures, is a radical kind a love. A love that takes outside ourselves. Not so that we may receive love in return, so that we may simply be love to those who love us as well as the people who do not love us. Its easy to show hospitality to the people whom we know and love. It does not take effort. However to show hospitality to the people whom have wronged us, or who have done wrong is not so easy, but those are the people God calls us to love. God loves me, you, the axe murderer and the child molester to and so should we. The people the world withholds hospitality from, is the people whom Christians ought to embrace and show love to.

As Pohl states, we are to embrace the good and the gentle, but also the evil and the unthankful." This is a profound statement. Its human nature not to love the evil and the unthankful. However, we must remember that God has made every person in his image. Although they might have done wrong, they are a beautiful creation of God deserving of our love and hospitality. This does not mean that we have to accept what they have done, but we look past it and do not withhold hospitality.

The love of God knows no bounds. While we were still sinners he died for us! While Christians hold this truth in high regards, we often neglect its implications. We claim God loves sinners, but we only extend our hospitality to those who have it together, while withholding love from "sinners". We should show hospitality to all, but we should intentionally extend kindness to those who are the most different from us. To those whom is hard to love!