There is a kind of hospitality that keeps people needy strangers while fostering an illusion of relationship and connection. It both dis-empowers and domesticates guests while it reinforces the hosts' power, control, and sense of generosity. It is profoundly destructive to the people it welcomes. When hosts recognize their own need and inadequacy, even as they minister to others who are in need, the power differential between hosts and guests is reduced. Humility is a crucial virtue for hospitality, and especially important in keeping hosts' power in check.
Power is a complicated dimension of hospitality.
The role of host is empowering because it is an acknowledgment that one has rightful access to a place of meaning and value, and that one has the authority to welcome other persons into it. The host role affirms that what you have and what you offer are valuable. An important transformation occurs when people without power or status have the opportunity to be more than guests, when they, too, can be hosts. It is a time when their contributions can be recognized and when they are not defined first by their need. All communities have some boundaries, although some are more explicit about them than others.