Stranger Behavior

Many people have concluded that very few human beings can be trusted to enter our homes. Outside of family, friends, and acquaintances, even fewer people are worthy of that intimate invitation. Read the newspaper, watch the news on television, or read about the daily happenings via the internet, and it will not take a person long before he or she gets up from the comfort of the couch to lock all the doors and close the blinds.

It’s true that there is much to be careful about in our world today. Just a couple of years ago, a young boy went into an abandoned house in a town near Fayetteville to “check it out”and was discovered dead. He was killed by the people who were illegally hanging out in the abandoned house to take their drugs and do whatever worthless air thieves do.

I can’t help but get a little sickened and insensitive when I stop to consider what God’s plan is for this world and its people, only to look around and see the complete opposite in so many places. After all, as Peter told the followers of Jesus, “offer hospitality to one another without grumbling” (1 Peter 4:9 NIV).

As Marvin Wilson points out in his book, Our Father Abraham, the ancient Jews held hospitality as one of the most important virtues. Among the customs observed by the ancient Jewish people was the practice of placing a napkin over the threshold of a doorway to signal to travelers and to the poor that guests were free to enter. They would also use a flag to signify that a meal was being served, and anyone who happened by was welcome to come in and sit at the table to share in the family meal. One of the Mishnaic statements made by the sages was, “Let your house be open wide, and let the poor be members of your household” (Mishnah, Avot 1:5).

There were also proper courtesies that were expected of the guests. Guests were to leave some food on their plates, offer a special prayer for the host after the meal, and they were to cause the host no anxiety. Anyone who caused anxiety to the host was considered to be unworthy of being a guest.

It appears that many Western strangers would fall into the category of being unworthy. Many of us have no “stranger etiquette.” Too many of us want to put our feet on the couch, eat the last biscuit, answer our cell phones in the middle of the meal, and grab the remote control after dinner. The thought of praying a special blessing for the host, eating modestly, and giving peace to the host are all foreign ideas to many of us.

Sure, I think we could do a lot better at welcoming strangers. I also think we strangers could do a much better job of being worthy of the welcome.

In His dust,

Johnny.

Writer: Capt. Jonathan Gainey was born in Jacksonville, FL in June, 1969. He has been married to Staci, the daughter of retired Salvation Army officers, for twenty years and they have four children ages 18, 16, 12, and 4. Jonathan was commissioned as an officer in June of 2002, and is currently serving in his third appointment in New Bern, NC, USA. He is working on a Masters of Divinity from Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary and is the creator and manager of the Flocks Diner website, where his passion for learning and teaching is expressed and shared through writing and a weekly podcast.

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