Friendship on the Margins, Marginal Friendship, or Something Else?

In the most recent issue of the Evangelical Interfaith Dialogue Journal, I wrote a review for Friendship at the Margins:Discovering Mutuality in Service and Mission. This book makes for intriguing reflection in light of a conversation I recently had with a dear friend of mine. She is a rabbi, and I am a pastor. While when we meet every few weeks for coffee, it is by default and not primarily intention that we are having an interfaith conversation. The more primary objectives of our conversations tend to focus most often on support for our respective leadership roles in religious communities. It is incredible how much easier it is to relate, at times, to leaders in other faith traditions than with laypersons in my own. The nature of religious leadership carries distinctions from other types of leadership, such as leadership roles in business. However, the nature of religious leadership does not appear to shift drastically from one faith to another so much as from one role to another.

My question then becomes this: Is my friendship with this rabbi missional because it is an authentic friendship outside of my own faith? Do the supportive intentions of our conversations, rather than the civil focus on theological distinctions, mean it is not missional? What does my friendship with this rabbi have to do with our respective understanding of and relationships with God?

Hospitality and Interfaith Dialogue

From Dr. Richard Mouw's Convicted Civility and Interfaith Dialogue article in our summer issue:
"True hospitality carries with it an element of vulnerability. When Jesus showed hospitality to people whose lifestyles and ideas he strongly opposed, it got him into trouble with the religious leaders of his own day: “The Pharisees and their scribes were complaining to his disciples, saying, ‘Why do you eat and drink with tax-collectors and sinners?’” (Luke 5:30). To be sure, those religious leaders were guilty of quite a bit of self-righteousness. But we can at least understand something of their concerns. When we show hospitality we are often taking some risks."

When I think of the word "hospitality" outside a theological context, images of hosts inviting guests into their homes appear in my mind's eye. I can see a family providing a homemade meal for friends passing through town. Fresh, clean towels and linens might await such guests. After getting cleaned up from travels, perhaps there is a good conversation in the living room while sipping on coffee or tea. What these image communicate are a warm generosity, implying hospitality as a happy gift to the guests, not the hosts. With these images, the definition of hospitality would imply it is in fact the host's honor to have the guests, though convention would say the honor is the other way around. After all, the guests are the ones getting free room and board. Thus, what hospitable hosts provide is anything but a power play; it is a kind of vulnerability in that it is a service.

Thus, when I prepare to shift this notion of hospitality into a more explicitly theological context, including interfaith dialogue, I find myself wondering what it looks like for my actions to show I am a servant, a person happy to give up a struggle for power or being right. I wonder in what ways this provides God space to teach all of us something about Himself.

Additionally, if we agree that God enters into such vulnerable conversations, I wonder what is involved with preparing our mindset and actions to be vulnerable in such interactions. Hosts do not act out of fear, safeguarding their house in case their honorable house guests decide to steal or damage their belongings. They say "My house is your house!" It might be a cliche, but its meaning is quite vulnerable. Thus, what does a commitment to this kind of hospitality look like for interfaith dialogue? In what other ways does the notion of hospitality help frame the importance of a certain disposition in dialogue? Are there aspects of hospitality that do not translate well into healthy dialogue?

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