book review

For Christmas one of the books I asked for was Entertaining Angels: Stories and Ideas for Opening Your Heart and Home by Annie Chapman and Heidi Chapman Beall

Some of the things I liked about this book:

1. She addresses up front the cost of hospitality. It's not easy. It takes time. It uses up resources, both financial, emotional, and time. She uses a lot of different Scriptural passages to address all of these areas, from David's statement that he wouldn't offer anything to the Lord if it cost him nothing (II Sam. 24:24), as well as a quote from a preacher that "Some of you want to take authority over demons and devils and yet you haven't even taken authority over the dirty dishes in your sink or the piles of laundry waiting to be washed."  Diligence and perseverance in the little things enable us to serve in greater things.
2. She includes a lot of simply recipes (and most of them we've had in our Apples of Gold meetings from church!)
3. She addresses areas of hospitality we often ignore: meals and assistance to the sick, gestures of thoughtfulness to those grieving, activities to and for her children and their peers, welcoming guests, among others
4. She's honest. She talks about times she failed to be a great, or even good hostess, as well as some times she didn't exercise wisdom in her younger years in attempting to be a good host and entertain strangers.

What I didn't like:

1. There's nothing biblical equating hospitality with frills. I don't think we need to use our best dishes and have everything perfect to be hospitable. Her advice to get help if needed, (hire help, which isn't an option for many cash-strapped Christians), almost runs amok to Christ's rebuke of Martha for asking Mary to help while she was "fellowshipping".
2. While she readily admits some areas put her out of her comfort zone, I'm not totally convinced of the wisdom in stepping out of comfort zones. From personal experience, stepping out of comfort zones can sometimes cause more harm than good. I'm not so certain that we should waste time attempting to develop gifts we don't have when God has enabled us in other areas. Don't get me wrong. I think God can use us mightily when we're forced to depend on Him for strength, but I've seen too many situations where people have tried to make things happen and ended up doing more harm than good.
3. Following a command of Christ, such as showing hospitality, is not a reason to be stupid. I think we should feed the hungry and help the homeless, but I'm not going to go invite people off the street into my home for Thanksgiving dinner or to spend the night.

Sometimes I wondered if in attempts to make this book a little thicker she was stretching to add things under the hospitality umbrella. And I would have liked to have seen a more common-sense, practical how-to instead of personal stories that most people can't or won't replicate. The book's an interesting read, but I don't know that it's one I'll keep long-term.