Hospitality and Faithful Discipleship

The essence of our vision is quite simple: that we may receive the love of Jesus so deeply into our lives that it propels us to love God and our neighbors with all of ourselves, thus sharing the good news of Jesus with each person who is among us.

Keith Wasserman

According to the authors, our acts of love and generosity help us become more like the one who has welcomed us, and they are powerful expressions of our faith, humanity, and identity.

Ephesians 2:8-10 says that we are “created for good works.” That helps us understand why we often feel good when we do good things. It is because we are most complete, most fulfilled, when we are being who we were meant to be.

For over forty years, the community of Good Works, Inc., has shared life with its neighbors in rural southeastern Ohio, a region with high poverty rates and remarkably resilient people. Offering friendship to those without a support network and shelter, care, and community to people without homes, those involved with Good Works have made it their mission to embody the gospel in innovative ways. What insights can be gleaned from Good Works, and how might these lessons be applied to our own communities and churches? 

Keith Wasserman, the founder and executive director of Good Works, and Christine Pohl, a scholar of hospitality who has written extensively on church and mission, explore challenging insights from the story of Good Works and how it has grown over the years into a unique expression of discipleship in the body of Christ. At the heart of this community’s story are connection and mutuality. Good Works functions not as a charity or social service agency but as a place where everyone has the opportunity to both serve and be served. And although worship is a central paradigm for life at Good Works, Keith and the leaders of the community regularly partner with non-Christians from all walks of life who desire to help. 

Christians who hunger for life-giving involvement in their local communities – wherever they might be, and in whichever circumstances – will find inspiration and guidance in this quiet but powerful Appalachian ministry. Short prayers and questions for reflection at the end of each chapter make Good Works a book to be studied and shared among those who know that love of God and neighbor is the starting point, but who aren’t sure where to go from there.

The authors have documented the following five themes that have emerged from the Good Works community over the years:

Worship – Worship is at the heart of discipleship, service and community.

Integrity – A strong commitment to integrity means that how they do what They do is crucial.

Perspective – Understandings and commitments are fundamentally shaped by what we allow ourselves to see and experience, where we locate ourselves, and which sets of lenses we use to gain clarity of vision.

Friendship – Forming relationships with people who are different from ourselves allows us to understand God’s kingdom in fresh ways.

Leadership – Reflections on leadership from within community can offer important guidance and correction.

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