Hospitality is the work of the host, not the guest

My friend belongs to a church who has used nametags for fifteen years.

In fact, their congregation has grown to a few thousand members, which is no small feat.

The challenge is, several of the new hires to the church staff have opposing views about nametags. They out rightly refuse to wear them. Either because they feel silly, the badges clash with their wardrobe, they don’t like the attention, or they’re worried about everybody knowing their name.

She told me this in an email, and here was my response:

One part of me thinks that those are perfectly normal objections. Totally understandable. Nobody at the church should have to wear a nametag if you don’t want to. Another part of me thinks, hang on, scripture says the founder of your religion had nails hammered through his hands and feet and hung cross until he died, but you aren’t willing to wear a sticker for a few hours on the weekend just to make strangers feel more welcome?

There’s a disconnect here. If someone works in the field of hospitality, nametags should not even be a debatable issue. There’s a perfect scripture about this very idea, if the bible is your jam. Hebrews says:

Fear not to entertain strangers for by so doing some may have entertained angels unaware.

Hospitality is the work of the host, not the guest. Whatever objections you have about putting one on, odds are, it has nothing to do with the strangers and everything to do with your own ego.

What better way to turn from our selfish ways? What better personification of love than to stick ourselves out there for the people who are feeling scared, lost and alone?

If you’re still recoiling at the thought of wearing a nametag at your church, remember, it’s not about you. 

LET ME ASK YA THIS…
What could you do for someone right now that would be obscenely selfless?