Welcoming the Stranger

From an email from Scott Gronholz (our high school pastor at UPC) a few months back: "One of the most formative books I read in seminary is called “Families at the Crossroads”. It's a short yet powerful book about a theological understanding of church, communities, and families and the role society plays in raising children. In one of the concluding chapters, the author, Rodney Clapp, talks about the concept of welcoming children/ teenagers as a meditation in welcoming in “the stranger”. He says, “the postmodern world is a world where we are much more aware of and must learn to live with the “other,” those unlike us no less than those like us. In postmodern terms, then, we might say Christians have children so we can become the kind of people who welcome strangers.”

Later he says this- “Christian parenthood, then, is a practice in hospitality, in the welcoming and support of strangers. Welcoming the strangers who are our children, we learn a little about being out of control, about the possibility of surprise (and so of hope), about how strange we ourselves are. Moment by mundane moment- dealing with rebellion, hosting birthday parties, struggling to understand exactly what a toddler has dreamed and been so frightened by in the night- we pick up skills in patience, empathy, generosity, forgiveness. And all these are transferable skills, skills we can and must use to welcome other strangers, especially to those strangers who are not our children but our brothers and sisters in Christ.”

Wow! Have you ever thought of your kids as being placed here as a way of disciplining and training YOU? What a wild idea. God is using your kids and all of the struggles you are without question currently dealing with to mold and shape you into a more generous and hospitable and patient person. I hope this can be an encouraging word to you today! When we struggle with our kids we are learning and growing. And I suppose I want to remind you today that the most important role you can play in your adolescent’s life is a stable, loving, consistent, open, mature supportive person. It's hard work for sure! I struggle everyday, but we believe in a God of grace and everyday we get a fresh start."