Welcome-ish?
February 14, 2025
Kristyn Kidney
Welcome-ish?
I saw this sign at a craft store recently. It says, “Welcome-ish—depends on who you are, and how long you stay.” While I appreciate that it was intended to be amusing, I felt a bit saddened and convicted by these words. Humor often comes from bringing uncomfortable truths to the surface. I definitely value expressing sincere welcome and hospitality to all. Like many of my neighbors, I have a mat for my front door that says, “Welcome.” I wonder, though, if “Welcome-ish” has been a more honest description of my hospitality at times.
Expressing Welcome
For Christ-followers expressing sincere welcome has always been important. Again and again throughout scripture we are directed to lovingly practice hospitality, especially to strangers. Here are just a few examples:
“When a stranger sojourns with you in your land, you shall not do him wrong. You shall treat the stranger who sojourns with you as the native among you, and you shall love him as yourself, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt: I am the Lord your God.” (Lev. 19:33-34)
“Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry, and you gave me food, I was thirsty, and you gave me drink, I was a stranger, and you welcomed me. . . The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’” (Matthew 25:34-35, 40)
“Let brotherly love continue. Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers.” (Hebrews 13:1-2)
Receiving Welcome
Hospitality isn’t just something we are supposed to do; it’s something we benefit from. God welcomes us, and we receive His welcome. That is so wonderful! Our response to the welcome we receive is abundant joy, hope, and gratitude. Those appropriate responses become our foundation for welcoming others. The director of the Humanitarian Disaster Institute at Wheaton College, Kent Annan (2018) writes, “God’s love welcomes us, so we want to welcome others. . . In the deepest sense, we have an opportunity to do nothing less than to find a way--even when it isn’t easy--to welcome each other and God into our lives.” Welcome is not just given, it is shared.
Welcome-ish vs. Untamed Welcome
Welcome can be challenging. We can easily end up practicing “welcome-ish” instead of real welcome. This can be especially true when it comes to welcoming those who are strangers or those who are different from us. Still, that is exactly who hospitality is for. The word for hospitality in the New Testament is philoxenia. With philo- meaning “love” and -xenia meaning “stranger”, hospitality is not something we practice by hanging out with our most comfortable friends. Hospitality is practiced when we welcome and love strangers.
Why does “welcome-ish” seem easier than real “welcome”? There are probably many reasons, including comfort and control. Another reason is likely a failure to understand the power of practicing authentic hospitality. In the book, Making room: Recovering hospitality as a Christian tradition, Christine Pohl (1999) writes, “Although we often think of hospitality as a tame and pleasant practice, Christian hospitality has always had a subversive, countercultural dimension. People view hospitality as quaint and tame partly because they do not understand the power of recognition. When a person who is not valued by society is received by a socially respected person or group as a human being with dignity and worth, small transformations occur.” Let’s avoid underestimating the significance and power of practicing hospitality and loving our neighbors.
Simple Welcome
As I’ve been reflecting more and more on hospitality, I’ve come to appreciate how very small things can make very powerful impacts. Hospitality can be practiced by simply making room in my day to connect with someone I don’t normally connect with. Instead of a quick greeting, I can make time to start a conversation. Welcome can be conveyed in so many creative ways. I’m definitely not the model of hospitality. I have to be very intentional to practice these things. Still, I can say that looking for opportunities to practice hospitality has helped me grow spiritually. Practicing hospitality can look small and still be very powerful.
Welcome & Languages
As our communities have become increasingly multilingual, one very simple and powerful way to practice hospitality is to make room for other languages. I can do this on a personal level by learning some phrases or asking questions of my multilingual friends and neighbors. We can do this together by inviting other languages to be part of our church practices. Singing songs, reading scriptures, or offering prayers in the language of another person is a way to practice hospitality. It is a way to say, “Welcome” instead of “Welcome-ish”.
Jonathan Downie (2024) expresses this idea so well as he writes, “there can be few deeper ways of welcoming people than by creating a space where their language is heard, seen, and sung. Of course, people will feel more valued when they hear their language spoken. Creating spaces for that can also make it easier for people to build friendships and community.”
An Invitation to Practice Together
I wonder if we can be brave enough to ask, “Lord, show us how we are offering ‘welcome-ish’ instead of practicing sincere hospitality.” Who are we giving ourselves permission to exclude? I wonder if we can be creative enough to cultivate hospitality that views language diversity as a bridge for connection instead of a barrier. I hope that together we can be faithful enough to sincerely welcome everyone with the open-hearted love that has welcomed us.
Annan, K. (2018). You welcomed me: Loving refugees and immigrants because God first loved us. IVP Books.
Downie, J. (2024). Multilingual Church: Strategies for making disciples in all languages. William Carey Publishing.
Pohl, C. D. (1999). Making room: Recovering hospitality as a Christian tradition. Eerdmans.