From
the moment that God told Abraham to leave his home and follow him
(Genesis
12:1-3), God’s people have understood that they are on a journey.
That
being true, the essential question becomes, “How are you making
that
journey?” There are two
options: You can be a tourist or you can be a pilgrim.
Tourists
leave their real life behind for a little while so that they can
visit another
place. Generally, they
travel in groups
and do not mix much with the local people.
They hit the highlights of various regions, but they do not
really
experience what it is like to live in that part of the world.
For
example, in 2001 a group of us from Estevan went to Israel.
Despite all that we
did and saw during those two weeks, I cannot say that I know what
it is like to
live in Israel. I was in
the country,
but my experience was an artificial representation of life there. For example, even though the
tension between
the Palestinians and the Israelis was higher than normal, we were
told not to
talk about the subject. We
were in
Israel, but we did not experience every day life in that country.
On
the
other hand, pilgrims do things differently.
They actually live where they are and get to know people. They do not skim the surface. They are immersed. The journey is their life.
God
has
always wanted his people to be pilgrims.
When the Israelites were deported from their homeland, God
sent Jeremiah
to them saying, “Build houses and settle down; plant gardens and
eat what they
produce. Marry and have sons and daughters; find wives for your
sons and give
your daughters in marriage, so that they too may have sons and
daughters.
Increase in number there; do not decrease. Also, seek the peace
and prosperity
of the city to which I have carried you into exile. Pray to the
Lord for it,
because if it prospers, you too will prosper” (Jeremiah 29:4-7). Instead of standing apart,
they were to dig
in and influence those around them.
Too
often, God’s people huddle in their own groups, do not really get
to know
anyone and are disengaged from the real life around them. That will not help anyone.
Tourists
see things. Pilgrims
influence
them.
Be a pilgrim.
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