SUSAN TYNER | CONTRIBUTOR
Let’s scoot over. Make room. Here, take this spot and sit by us.
If you are walking into a space as a new student, neighbor, or church visitor, those can be some of the kindest words ever spoken. As a woman in my mid-fifties, I’m shocked that the awkwardness of junior high floods back so quickly when I am in a new situation. And, as a ministry leader who usually runs the room, I can forget how it feels to walk into an unfamiliar one.
Like when I’m on vacation and walk into a local church service. Where are the bathrooms? Am I taking someone’s spot? Is it ok to carry my water bottle in? Will they notice if I don’t know the words to the songs?
Or, when I moved to a new city and attended a couple of local fundraisers. I felt like Cinderella dressed up going to the ball. But, once I walked in, I realized my new clothes weren’t “quite right” compared to what the other women wore.
Not to mention the feeling of standing against the wall as everyone but you seem to be chatting. Thank goodness for my phone so I could camouflage my awkwardness as a busy text thread.
These kinds of situations remind me how it feels like to an outsider. I feel hot and self-conscious not to mention, guilty about every time I avoided “the new girl” in the room.
This season on the enCourage podcast, Karen and I will look at hospitality. That word may bring up old fashioned pressure of inviting people over for Sunday lunch or an outdated cover of Good Housekeeping, “Southern edition.” But instead of looking at how we manage dinner parties, Karen and I hope to define hospitality as making space for others. We want you to listen in as we chat about how Jesus made space for outsiders. My examples above are silly compared to ones Jesus encountered: people with social stigmas, chronic pain, and horrible losses. These are the types that are hard to make space for, right? And, Jesus, with His busy schedule and lots of people putting demands on Him, somehow did. Karen and I plan to chat not only about how Jesus included them but also why He did.
The why is what I forget. Why would I interrupt a juicy conversation to include someone new at the table? Why would I serve as a church greeter when I could sleep in? Why would I choose a stilted conversation with a stranger instead of an easy one with my best friend?
The why is that we give them what others and Jesus have given us. A sense of belonging in God’s community, and this inclusion is not because I deserved it. I want others (especially those who do not feel worthy) to see that there is room for them here no matter their background, no matter their personality, no matter their sins, no matter that they have nothing to give in return (Luke 14:12-14).
We make space that goes beyond just an invitation to real inclusion.
Isn’t that why Jesus stopped to free a demon-possessed man? Isn’t that why He healed the lepers? Isn’t that why He forgave the adulterous woman? Not just to address their present suffering, but to address their need to belong after He left the scene. He healed them of the things that kept them from belonging to His community. Leprosy made people unfit for joining the temple crowds. Sins “cancelled” women, leaving them uninvited to believers’ homes. Demon possession held adult children prisoners in isolation. Jesus solved those problems so they could not only belong to God Himself but to His people, too.
Today, what can keep a woman from feeling that she belongs in your church? Many women feel that one must be pure and put together to fit in at church. They believe they will never belong if they are hiding an abortion, wrestling with addictions, or wearing certain clothes. If the gospel community cannot include those who have been forgiven—and even those who are struggling to find out how to be—who will?
If we grasp the why, then we will want to know the how. How did Jesus make space for outsiders?
First, He actually spotted them in a crowded place, during a demanding day, and despite leading an important ministry. He listened to the voice of His Father telling Him whom to see. Are we asking our Father for that sort of discernment? Do we pray for sight to see the ones who need our particular hospitality? Second, Jesus interrupted His schedule to talk to children, to a bleeding woman, to the “nobodies” by the road. We, too, can ask the Spirit to give us the courage to choose the uncomfortable over the easy. Lastly, Jesus gave them what they all needed: healing. This healing, spiritual and physical, allowed them to lead a different life, one of belonging instead of isolation. If we are in Jesus, we are new creation, and we are now wired to reach out and touch the vulnerable as our Savior did (2 Cor. 5:17). We can point them to the Source of the healing they need.
Like Jesus, we can make room for people despite our crowded calendars, legitimate responsibilities, and deadline-driven schedules. This is easier when we remember how we have been forgiven and included, right? And, when we offer this kind of gospel hospitality—one that makes space for the visitor, the forgiven sinner, the broken—it’s like Jesus saying, Hey, scoot over y’all, let’s make a place for her. She’s new here.
Photo by Priscilla Du Preez on Unsplash
