FREE SPACE

All Bingo cards have a Free Space. Not all Christians do. A strong and positive response to kingdom opportunity will occur when more believers possess that Free Space.

I speak of that place where strangers are free to enter our space with room to be themselves without pressure to become as us. Oh how we talk big church talk. We oppose this and sigh over that. I think the most inspiring trait of any congregation is to know those who give strangers Free Spaces. We have those who are always taking someone in, keeping them for the night or a week. I'm talking about strangers; not friends. We have those who see homeless people and go back to give them assistance. These are Free Space offerers. So I quote Henri Nouwen....

"Hospitality, therefore, means primarily the creation of a free space where the stranger can enter and become a friend instead of an enemy. Hospitality is not to change people but to offer them space where change can take place. It is not to bring men and women over to our side, but to offer freedom not disturbed by dividing lines. It not to lead our neighbor into a corner where there are no alternatives left, but to open a wide spectrum of options for choice and commitment.....The paradox of hospitality is that it wants to create emptiness, not a fearful emptiness, but a friendly emptiness where strangers can enter and discover themselves as created free....Hospitality is not a subtle invitation to adopt the lifestyle of the host, but the gift of a chance for the guest to find his own."

A couple of Sundays ago David and Lisa Combs were on their way to Bible class. They noticed a woman standing at a major intersection holding a card foraging for help. While David and Lisa turned around to go back for the woman they saw two other cars from Memorial Drive pull alongside to hand her money.

David and Lisa took the woman to breakfast; yes, they skipped class. Not everything in her story seemed to match. But the right thing about this occasion is David and Lisa offered her a rare and important moment as God searches for her. They offered her a Free Space.

It is the vision of ones as David, Lisa, and those passing along the money at an intersection that I think really make our congregations what He wants us to be.