Offer hospitality to one another without grumbling. ~1 Peter 4:9

On Sunday, I’ll be exploring the idea of radical hospitality.

In his book, Five Practices of Fruitful Congregations, Bishop Robert Schnase writes that, “Radical means ‘drastically different from the ordinary practice, outside the normal,’ and so it provokes practices that exceed expectations, that go the second mile, that take welcoming the stranger to the max. It means people offering the absolute utmost of themselves, their creativity, their abilities, and their energy to offer the gracious invitation and reception of Christ to others” (p. 21).

As I’ve been studying and preparing for Sunday’s message, I keep coming back to 1 Peter 4:9, where we are encouraged to “offer hospitality to one another without grumbling.”

Those last two words…”without grumbling”…they trip me up every single time.

How many of us would admit to offering hospitality with grumbling?

I know that I’m definitely guilty of practicing grumbling hospitality! I do the “right things” in an attempt to welcome others, however, my motivation is sometimes suspect. There are times when my motivation is simple to do the “right thing”, rather than having the “right heart”.

Radical hospitality is all about doing the “right things” for the “right reasons” with the “right heart.” We offer our best, not because it’s what we should do, but because it’s what we desire to do.

After we discover the heart and desire to practice radical hospitality, we should move beyond the ordinary and the expected. We should practice hospitality that makes people say “wow!”  We will leave a lasting impression one way or another. People will either be wowed, indifferent or totally turned off.

Radical hospitality goes beyond friendliness. Radical hospitality goes beyond coffee and donuts (but, it probably should include coffee and donuts…the best coffee and donuts, by the way!). Radical hospitality goes beyond what anyone might expect. Radical hospitality leaves a lasting impression! Radical hospitality is one of the keys to getting folks to return to your home, church, business or organization.

Grumbling hospitality also leaves a lasting impression! There are plenty of places I won’t return due to the hospitality (or lack thereof) received.

So, how have you experienced radical hospitality? How have you practiced radical hospitality?

Lately, I’ve read a number of articles dealing with the “problem” of singing in the church. It seems the “problem” is that people simply aren’t singing in worship. However, I’m not sure that’s really a problem. Isn’t worship more than singing? Can’t one be fully engaged in even the musical aspects of worship without singing?

I don’t always sing in worship settings. In fact, if I’m not leading worship, I generally don’t sing.
For me, worship is about my heart connecting with God. It’s about offering God my best in all I say and do. It really isn’t about singing. And, if we are reducing worship to the musical aspects of a worship gathering, I’d rather play the drums, guitar or banjo than sing! If we are reducing worship to singing, then that is a bigger problem!

However, that’s what all these articles have focused on…if people aren’t singing, they aren’t truly worshiping. Now, I’ll admit that the Scripture is full of references to singing. One can make a strong case for the importance of singing. There are great benefits to singing. Sometimes my best singing happens when my mouth is shut!

But, I guess singing in the church is a “problem”. So, a number of articles have been written to offer suggestions on how to “fix” the “problem.”

The articles have addressed the “problem” in different ways.

One author suggested that people aren’t singing because they aren’t familiar with the songs. He went on to suggest that we should sing old, familiar tunes. Of course, that presents a problem. Fewer and fewer people are familiar with what we refer to as the “old, familiar tunes.” New folks coming into our churches are generally no more familiar with “And Can It Be” than they are with the latest Crowder, Tomlin, or Rend Collective tune. If familiarity is the issue, maybe we should consider using more “secular” songs?

One author suggested that praise choruses are more difficult to sing than hymns. The author suggested that praise songs are written in keys/ranges that are hard for the typical church goer to be comfortable singing. I don’t disagree. Some of my favorite praise songs are not written with the average persons vocal range in mind. However, I can grab a hymnal and quickly pull out 100+ hymns that have the same issues. Maybe what we need are worship leaders who can identify this problem and rearrange songs into more comfortable ranges?

One article indicated that we’ve moved away from hymnals and people simply aren’t comfortable singing songs without written music. Now, my background is in music education. I believe all people should know how to read music. However, let’s be honest, the average person in the pews is not going to sing any better with written music than without. So, unless churches are teaching basic music theory, I’m not sure this argument holds up. Maybe we need more repetition? How many times do we need to hear our favorite songs on the radio before we’re belting them out? Maybe we need the same thing with hymns and choruses?

One author suggested that we need to dim the lights and up the volume. Another author suggested that we need to dim the volume and up the lights. So, which is it? I’ve seen both work in different contexts. Maybe what we need are worship leaders and a/v engineers who understand their particular contexts?

One article spoke about how we are creating concert environments in worship and that discourages participation. I’m not sure when the author last went to a concert, but my experience is that folks at concerts are fully engaged…singing, dancing, clapping, shouting, etc.

For me, the bottom-line is this, there is no one way to worship. We have to take our context into consideration. What works in one setting may not work in another. What works for one individual may not work for another.

Whether one sings or not shouldn’t be viewed as a problem. Sing or don’t sing. Sit or stand. Raise your hands or fold your arms. Be still or dance.

We should be more concerned with whether or not people are connecting with God. Maybe that’s the real issue? Maybe the problem isn’t with the music at all?  Are people experiencing the presence of God when they gather together for corporate worship? That’s a bigger issue than whether or not people are singing.

This Sunday, the text I’m using is from Matthew 22:34-40. I used this same passage last week and focused on loving God. This week, we’ll be focusing on the “second” of the greatest commandments…loving our neighbors.

I’m fully convinced that one of the clearest ways we communicate our love for God is the way we love our neighbors.

I’m also fully convinced that we best love our neighbors when we show our love in practical and tangible ways. In other words, we can’t simply claim to love our neighbors. We have to actually love them, demonstrated in not only our words, but also through our actions.

How many of us have been in situations where our “neighbors” have shared a very specific need and we simply respond with a “well, I’ll be sure to keep you in my prayers”?

Now, I’m not saying that our prayers aren’t good…I’m just saying that if we can offer practical help to our neighbor, that just might be the answer to their prayers!

James 2:14-17 speaks to this concept. If your neighbor is thirsty, don’t offer a prayer…give them a drink! In some ways, loving our neighbors in practical ways is simply common sense. If you hear of a need and can actually do something about it, well, do something!

Romans 12:20 (quoting Proverbs 25) takes this a step further, demonstrating how far our love for neighbors should go. Not only are we called to love the neighbors we like, we are called to demonstrate love through outward acts of service to our enemies. So, if you bump into a Cardinals or Reds fan, and they are hungry or thirsty, rather than passing judgment and saying that they deserve it as a result of their allegiance to these lousy baseball teams, give them something to eat and drink!

1 John 4:7-21 really lays it on the line. We are called to love because God loved first. Our natural response to God’s love should be to love all that God loves…which is everyone! So, when we withhold our love for others, are we truly loving God? If we say we love God, but hold hatred towards another, are we truly loving God?

So, on Sunday, I’ll be talking about some simple and practical ways we can demonstrate our love for God by the way we love one another (even our enemies) through acts of service.

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. said that “everyone can be great because everyone can serve. You don’t have to have a college degree to serve. You don’t even have to make your subject and your verb agree…You only need a heart full of grace…a soul generated by love.”

May our hearts be filled with grace and our “souls generated by love.”

Boxes, boxes everywhere!

As we have hit crunch time in the final stages of preparation for our move, we are surrounded by boxes! I’ve come to know these boxes well. It’s to the point where I smell like a cardboard box…and let me tell, it’s not a fragrance to bottle and sell as cologne!

The boxes are filled with our “stuff”.

Some of our “stuff” really is just “stuff”.

However, some of the boxes contain more than “stuff”. They contain cherished memories. They contain history. They contain the story of our life together.

Of course, some of the boxes remind me that we have way too much “stuff”.

We’ve used this move as an opportunity to weed through our “stuff”. There have been disagreements about what to keep and what to pass on. But, we’re making progress!

When we arrive in Centerville, we’ll most likely continue to do some weeding.

It will be a great relief when the number of boxes diminishes…unless they become human and start a violent revolution…that would be terrifying!

As our time in Lafayette is winding down, I’ve been doing a great deal of reflecting! There are so many things I will miss about the greater Lafayette area. Of course, we are totally thrilled to begin a new chapter in Centerville. But, I’ll be the first to admit, Boyz II Men were right, “It’s so hard to say goodbye to yesterday!”

It should go without saying that we will miss Christ United Methodist Church and all the people we have come to know and love in Lafayette! So, church and people aside, here are some things I’m really going to miss about greater Lafayette:

10. Purdue University- I’ll miss campus, the village, the people, the great restaurants, and the diversity!

9. Happy Hollow Park- We love taking our family to play and hike around this beautiful park on the westside.

8. Downtown Lafayette- It’s a happening place. Coffee shops, restaurants, art galleries, bars…oh my!

7. Star City Coffee & Ale House- This has been a great place to read, write, and gather with friends. And, they take coffee seriously!

6. Happy China- Our family loves this place! It is our go-to when we just don’t feel like cooking.

5. South Street Smokehouse- When I first arrived, I wanted to get to know Rodney Cowden. As we were arranging to get together, he asked me, “Do you like to eat meat?” We settled on the smokehouse and I’ve never been the same!

4. Lafayette Brewing Company- Great food, incredible beverages, live music…it’s a great spot!

3. Mosey Down Main Street- Music, food, beverages, and tons of people!

2. People’s Brewing Company- This has been my favorite spot to write sermons. I like to bounce ideas off people who will be honest (instead of telling me what I want to hear). The staff is awesome! The beverages are incredible.

1. DT Kirby’s- It’s hard to put into words my feelings about this place without “welling up with emotion.” Great people! Insane food! And, just about the friendliest owner you’ll ever meet! Don makes everyone feel like the most important person in the room. The guy must have 50,000 best friends!

Yes, I’ll admit this list is incomplete. I didn’t mention La Scala, the Black Sparrow, McCord’s, and all the other fine places we have enjoyed!

This place has been an incredible home for our family. We will miss it! Yet, we know that Centerville is going to be an incredible home and awesome place to raise our family. We are looking forward to what God has in store for us as we head east!