Hospitality is what Basileians offer to each other and to those yet beyond the Church that creates a thin place, kingdomcultural environment where Theosis happens. In subcultural and countercultural thinking, hospitality is conditional upon believing in order to belong. Kingdomcultural hospitality extends to all a welcome to belong in order to believe. These two different forms of hospitality are rooted in two different views of the nature of evil. If evil is seen as permanent, as subcultural and countercultural thinking assumes, then hospitality is perverted into creating prisons that put some in bondage. Ironically, with subcultural hospitality, the hosts become captive in their own prisons, locking out everyone else who doesn’t believe like they do. Countercultural hospitality does just the opposite; it creates gulags to imprison those who are not welcome in the “hospitality” zones that those who control power and wealth have built for themselves. But kingdomcultural hospitality doesn’t see the world as a place where evil has the last word. Therefore since the world is not lacking in abundance, hospitality may be offered to all. As Jesus declared in parable form, “Then the master said to the servant, ‘Go out into the highways and hedges, and compel them to come in, that my house may be filled’” (Lk. 14:23).
Also see Belong in Order to Believe, Hosts, Kingdomcultural, Theosis, and Thin Place.