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Over the past year, two books have had a marked influence on my life, faith and ministry. I was shocked to discover that, despite this impact, I had failed to review either of them here. While I failed to review things here, I have purchased and given away these two books more than any other in last few years. The first is “Simple Spirituality: Learning to See God in a Broken World” by Chris Heuertz of Word Made Flesh. This book played an important part in developing a real expression to my early Franciscan spirituality and is widely applicable and important to the Christian community. The other book is “Making Room: Recovering Hospitality As a Christian Tradition” by Christine Pohl, Professor of Church in Society at Asbury Theological Seminary. In this essential volume, Pohl offers a very accessible and inspirational history and foundation in the discipline of hospitality, followed by a very realistic call to restore it properly in our context today. Few books receive such unequivocal praise from me.
Therefore, when I discovered that Heuertz & Pohl were teaming up for a book, my interest was immediately stirred. Curiosity became excitement when I read the title: “Friendship at the Margins: Discovering Mutuality in Service and Mission”, a clear and powerful intersection of both of their strengths and passions. From IVPress:
“In our anonymous and dehumanized world, the simple practice of friendship is radically countercultural. But sometimes Christians inadvertently marginalize and objectify the very ones they most want to serve.
Chris Heuertz, international director of Word Made Flesh, and theologian and ethicist Christine Pohl show how friendship is a Christian vocation that can bring reconciliation and healing to our broken world. They contend that unlikely friendships are at the center of an alternative paradigm for mission, where people are not objectified as potential converts but encountered in a relationship of mutuality and reciprocity.
When we befriend those on the margins of society by practicing hospitality and welcome, we create communities where righteousness and justice can be lived out. Heuertz and Pohl’s reflections offer fresh insight into Christian mission and what it means to be the church in the world today.”
In a wonderful gesture from Chris Heuertz and IVPress (Thanks Adrianna!), I was given an advanced copy to read. I will be coming back to this book off and on in the coming week, including an interview with Chris. So stay tuned! For now, I want to leave you with some of the defining questions from the beginning of the book. Please take some to read this section and answer as best you can in the comments:
“Sacrificial love is at the heart of mission and reconciliation. But love and reconciliation can seem pretty abstract until we ask questions like What does reconciliation look like when you love Jesus and want the best for people who are caught in situations of terrible evil, need or despair? How would our lives and our ministries be different if our understand- ings of love emphasized friendship?
“This little book is an extended reflection on these questions. It contains many stories of friendship and love and puts friendship at the center of reflection on reconciliation and mission. We want to ask What difference does it make for mission, discipleship and the church when friendship with people who are poor is a central dimension of our lives? What is the impact on those with whom we minister? How are we changed? What does it mean for the church, for reconciliation and for the practice of mission?“
