Even neatly arranged napkins communicate, "You are worth the effort of attending to the small details." And all of this is critical to evangelization. It says, "I consider it an honor to be in your presence." A smile, a hand held out in friendship, a willingness to look the other in the eye, seeking conversation - all are ways of acknowledging and honoring the other's presence. Hospitality communicates to others that they have value. Hospitality, at its core, is much more than cookies and neatly arranged napkins. In training others for evangelization, I have begun to stress that 90% of evangelization is hospitality. So, yes, it is fitting that the opposite of hate should be that action that welcomes, that invites and embraces. You see, the message of hatred is basically, "You are not welcome here." Hatred is actively pushing the other away as a loathed, detestable being. Within hatred there is at least enough importance attributed to the person to deem them worthy of being hated, but indifference simply says, "You're not even important enough to acknowledge!"īut having made this point, this professor went on to ask, "So if the opposite of love is indifference, what is the opposite of hate?" With his class completely stymied, he went on to answer (as though the answer should have been obvious!) that the opposite of hatred is hospitality. The opposite of love is not hatred, but indifference. A philosophy professor that I had while in seminary once asked his class, "What's the opposite of love?" Now, many people have heard the answer to this question.
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