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Common discovery on the journey

Lynne Baab • Tuesday September 30 2025

Common discovery on the journey

Samuel Wells writes that trying to be inclusive and trying to exercise hospitality can have overtones of pride and control because we are the ones doing the action. Instead of using the terms “inclusive” or “hospitable,” he suggests,

“A better term might be common discovery — something we more readily appreciate when we’re away from our own familiar territory. It’s not, ‘You can belong in my club because I’m generous.’ It’s, ‘Being with you is showing me there’s something beyond us both, toward which we’re each heading, and to which I’m realizing you’re in many ways closer than I am. Let’s make our way there together.’” [1]

Do you see all the journey language in his words? “We’re each heading” toward something. Perhaps “you’re in many ways closer than I am. Let’s make our way there together.” In fact, we appreciate our common discovery with others most “when we’re away from our own familiar territory.”

Let’s pay attention to the journey together. Let’s tell each other about our discoveries and their significance. Let’s notice God’s presence in our steps, the world around us, our thoughts and feelings. Let’s support each other in the discoveries we are making.

You may know that Samuel Wells is the vicar of St. Martin-in-the-Fields, the Anglican church across the street from Trafalgar Square and the National Gallery in London. He undoubtedly interacts with many travelers who are in London for various reasons, including tourism and trying to experience God’s presence in their travels. He also ministers to an established congregation that welcomes travelers.

I really like his emphasis on common discovery. It can be tempting to view our Christian journey as an individual endeavor: I’m on a pilgrimage with Jesus through life. That’s true, but not enough. I love the congruence of recent social science research and theology on the importance of human relationships. I read lots of articles on wellness, self-care, and aging. They draw on social science research, and most of them stress the importance of relationships for emotional and mental health. In what feels like a similar theme, theologians in the past few decades have increasingly emphasized the social Trinity — we are made in the image of a relational God.

I also like Wells’s emphasis on common discovery. I remember the rigidity of the Sunday School classes I experienced in junior high school that led to my rejection of Christianity for a few years. Those classes involved fill-in-the-blank worksheets. The answers were right or wrong. No discovery there! How wonderful to engage in a new kind of Bible study at InterVarsity Christian Fellowship conferences in college. We were encouraged to observe details, ask questions of the text, look for major themes and connections, and discuss the relevance of the passage to our lives. Wow, that was fun! We engaged in common discovery.

Wells continues,

“Christianity stops being our entitled possession and becomes God’s astonishing invitation. It turns out we don’t get to hand out the invites, and the opportunity isn’t to become like us; it’s to become God’s companions. The Holy Spirit is constantly bursting open our narrow understandings of who belongs and what the rules are. We’re being transformed from weary, entitled hosts to excited and grateful guests.”

We become God’s companions on the journey, and God invites us to engage with our fellow travelers in a process of discovery and transformation. Wells concludes with these words, such a stimulation for prayer. Note that he continues to evoke the picture of being on a journey:

“Our life in every precious moment is a priceless gift; the world is a dazzling theater of wonder. The church isn’t an enclave whose boundaries we patrol; it’s a dynamic meeting place where we’re all guests and we’re all discovering and everyone’s en route to something ever more fabulous.”

God of all priceless gifts, thank you for your generosity to us. Help us see your world as a dazzling theater of wonder. In our challenging moments, help us trust that we are en route to something even more fabulous. Thank you for the travelling companions you have given us. Open our eyes to discover together what you want to teach us and where you want to guide us.

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My new book is available for pre-order for Kindle. The paperback will be released on October 15, on the same day the Kindle edition will fly through cyberspace to you. The title is Almost Peaceful: My Journey of Healing from Binge Eating.

Next week: Peace on the journey. Illustration by Dave Baab: walking and biking path along Lake Washington in south Seattle.

Posts and articles where I discuss hospitality in a way that encourages common discovery:

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[1] All the quotations from Samuel Wells in this post are from “Guestability,” Christian Century, September 2025, 35-36.



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