Ice Cream, and Loving the Other

Chris preached on the topic of hospitality during this week's message, focusing on Romans 12:9-21. He mentioned that hospitality involves an "us for them" mentality. This opposes an "us vs. them" mentality, which is often portrayed on the news and through various social media outlets. Throughout history, Christianity has been expressed through cultures, or flavors, as Chris explained with an example of different ice cream flavors. Whenever there are differences among us, we tend to form tribes; a concept better known as tribalism. This is the quintessential picture of the "us vs. them" mentality. As a society, we tend to look at whatever divides us and we group people accordingly. One of the many beautiful works of the resurrection is that it created a new humanity; effectively eliminating the "us vs. them" mentality and replacing it with an "us for them" mentality. Chris also explained that the Greek word for hospitality is "philoxenia" which, translated to English, means love for strangers, others, or foreigners. In conclusion, he mentioned that every little thing that we do (smiling, conversations in our daily lives, the way we express ourselves at work, the way we react to difficult situations, etc.) has the potential to be a move or work of God. This helps to shift us from an "us vs. them" mindset to an "us for them" mindset, which has a direct reflection on how the kingdom of God should be represented and reflected on earth.