Discussion Questions

In Bryant’s Iraq hiking story, the men with guns greeted him with “Welcome, welcome” and immediately fed him chai, goat cheese, naan, and nuts—what does that moment expose about the power of hospitality to disarm fear, and what does it reveal about God’s heart toward “the stranger” even in risky places? JumpstartAnother way to ask: When the armed men welcomed Bryant and fed him right away, how did that kindness calm fear? What does it show about how God cares for strangers, even in dangerous places?

Bryant defines *philia xenia* as loving strangers/immigrants “like you would love your own brother,” and even hints it can include “enemy”—where do your instincts resist that definition, and what do those resistance points reveal about what you believe God is like? JumpstartAnother way to ask: Bryant says loving strangers means loving them like a brother, maybe even like an enemy. Where do you push back against that, and what does that show about how you think God is?

Bryant contrasts hospitality with *xenophobia* and links xenophobia to “nationalism… fear and preservation,” even warning that Christians can “buy into” it—what are the most subtle ways fear of outsiders shows up in Christian homes and churches without ever using the word “fear”? JumpstartAnother way to ask: Bryant connects hospitality with the opposite of xenophobia and says fear can hide under nationalism. How can fear of outsiders show up in Christian homes or churches without people calling it “fear”?

Bryant says we think “embassy” means a cold, formal building, but learned it’s more like the ambassador’s private quarters—if your home is an “intimate” Jesus-embassy, what would have to change about privacy, schedules, and what you consider “off limits” to outsiders? JumpstartAnother way to ask: If your home is meant to be a personal “Jesus embassy,” what would need to change about your privacy, your schedule, and what you won’t share with outsiders?

In the Old Testament texts he cites (Exodus 22; Jeremiah 22; gleaning laws), God repeatedly ties care for sojourners to Israel’s memory (“for you were sojourners in Egypt”)—what early-Christian assumptions about identity and memory would make this kind of hospitality feel non-optional rather than “extra”? JumpstartAnother way to ask: God told Israel to care for outsiders because they used to be outsiders in Egypt. What beliefs about who we are and what we remember would make hospitality feel required, not optional?

Bryant says the Sermon on the Mount felt like it was “all about loving the stranger,” and highlights God sending sun/rain on evil and good—how does that confront modern evangelical instincts about reserving practical generosity mainly for “those who deserve it” or “those who might respond well”? JumpstartAnother way to ask: Jesus says God gives sun and rain to both good and evil. How does that challenge the idea that we should mainly help people who “deserve it” or who will respond the way we want?

When Jesus eats with Levi and “a great number of tax collectors and others,” Bryant frames Jesus’ line “I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance” as a “vision statement for hospitality”—how would your guest list (and your willingness to be misunderstood) change if that sentence actually drove your table fellowship? JumpstartAnother way to ask: Jesus ate with tax collectors and sinners and said he came to call sinners to repent. If that guided your meals with others, who would you invite, and how willing would you be to be misunderstood?

Bryant calls the Good Samaritan “the center of Christianity” and emphasizes the phrase “he went to him/over to him”—who are the people near you that you keep helping only from a distance, and what would it cost (socially, financially, reputationally) to “go to him” the way Jesus highlights? JumpstartAnother way to ask: In the Good Samaritan story, the key move is that “he went to him.” Who do you help only from far away, and what would it cost you to get close and help in person?

Bryant quotes Emperor Julian saying Christians advanced through “loving service rendered to strangers… caring not only for their own poor, but for ours,” and adds the idea that the church grows fastest when it has “no sympathetic state” to delegate work to—what parts of mercy ministry have you quietly outsourced to government/institutions, and how has that reshaped your church’s witness? JumpstartAnother way to ask: Julian noticed Christians cared for strangers and even for non-Christian poor, and Bryant says the church can grow without a supportive state. What care for people in need have you handed off to government or organizations, and how has that changed how your church is seen?

In Bryant’s “remove bottlenecks” driveway analogy, he names specific internal obstacles: “back-a-long-lane,” “holier-than-thou,” spiritual/physical dichotomy, individualism, “my personal space idols,” plus lowering expectations for deep theological conversations and scraping off “Pinterest” hosting standards—what is the single biggest bottleneck in your life that keeps your home from functioning like a Jesus embassy, and what concrete step would actually “tear it out” this month? JumpstartAnother way to ask: Bryant lists “bottlenecks” that keep us from welcoming people well. What is the biggest thing blocking your home from being a “Jesus embassy,” and what one specific step can you take to remove it this month?