By Ryne Brewer
As I thought about the passages for today, my curiosity was piqued by the word other. I dove into its many uses, learning that this word can be used as an adjective, noun, pronoun, adverb, and verb. All of these forms converge on a common definition: “difference.” In some cases, it is the actual action of separating or treating someone else as distinct from oneself.
Othering is often a default response. We are immersed in a world that habitually categorizes and labels—Republican and Democrat, vegan and carnivore, iPhone and Android. While these examples may seem trivial, they highlight the tendency to identify or label someone different from us as the other. Even as Christians, our kitchen tables, small groups, Bible studies and churches all too easily slip into this practice.
Biblical hospitality gives rise to a more beautiful reality. Instead of erecting barriers between oneself and the other, biblical hospitality draws one closer to the other. This can be described as belonging—a positive form of othering—where we see our differences and welcome them in. And the good news for us as Christians is that Jesus is in the business of making room for the other. If we pause for a moment and reflect on His incarnation, we see a God who was inherently different from us—holy, righteous, good, and just. He became like the other, a human who bore the weight of all that made us other from God—our unholiness, sinfulness, shame, injustice—on the cross. This profound act reminds us of the transformative power of the gospel to change our hearts from othering to welcoming (Romans 15:7). This is the catalyst for how Jesus takes all sorts of different people and in His love makes them one (Galatians 3:27–29).
The act of making room for others in our lives as Christians happens when our hearts and lives are transformed by Jesus as He makes room for us. Jesus made room at His table for His friends and betrayers. Jesus made room in His life for sinners and tax collectors. At His darkest hour, Jesus made room for a thief, for me, and for you. And as we prayerfully ask God to help us make room for others today, this quote from Dietrich Bonhoeffer reminds us of who creates hospitality in our lives: “Christ stands between us, and we can only get into touch with our neighbors through him.”
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