Hospitality in the Name of God

By turning the ethnographical gaze towards an Evangelical community in Beirut, Lebanon, which greets, hosts, and takes care of displaced Syrians, this thesis explores how believers motivate themselves to engage in humanitarian work. After the influx of refugees, caused by the spill-over of the Syrian civil war, the Lebanese society has experienced a widening social distance between the sects and faith-groups that fragments the country. The thesis employs the term “distance” to make sense of not only the historical developments that lead to confessionalism, but also to the current economic and social situation in Lebanon. This is further contrasted with “closeness”, manifested in a small faith-based community in Beirut, which inter-religiously welcomes the Other. The social support work in the church is in essence humanitarian, but at the same time faith-based, and while one is not mutually exclusive of the other, this combination might in some cases lead to ethical and theological tensions, such as issues of conversion and unbalanced power relations. In fact, I argue that ‘the gift’ in a discourse of faith and humanitarianism is not without meaning, and the thesis explores different theoretical approaches to the gift in order to understand anticipations of reciprocity and the inherent power involved in giving to someone who cannot return the gift. The thesis asks if there is such a thing as an unconditional gift, and whether recipients still feel obliged to repay. Finally, we hear the voices of the community members themselves, as pastors, employees and volunteers negotiate and makes sense of their choices to wholeheartedly greet the stranger, in the name of God. Each person creates for themselves a multi-layered reasoning for engaging in humanitarian work, and some value the faith aspect higher than others. By investigating closer the different stated reasons, the thesis aims at displaying a broad range of why believers choose to show kindness and compassion towards strangers – a trait that is sorely lacked in the contemporary world