Tuesday, December 4, 2012

Why I Dislike the Word "Journey" as a Description of the Christian Life

This past Saturday, my wife and I were without three of our four children. The in-laws took em. Given this "freedom" I was ready for a nice day of rest. My wife, on the other hand, was ready for something else. While I had sleeping on my mind, she had shopping on hers. Christmas shopping. Dang.

Needless to say, she got her way :) As we were on our way to the first store, I looked over and asked her the very important question, "What's the plan?"

I cannot handle shopping without a plan. I need a goal - an end in sight. Something to keep us focussed and to keep us from wandering around the stores from one sale sign to the next. If I am going to endure shopping, I need to know that it will be over in the future. Shopping for me is a mission.

She was reluctant to give the plan. Why? Because shopping for her (that day) was a journey.

There is a huge difference.

Missions have goals that, once accomplished, the mission is over. Men and women are able to endure all sorts of hardship, suffering (I'm shifting from the shopping analogy at this point), and tribulation, as long as they know these things will end once their goal is reached.

This is why Christian hope is necessary for enduring sacrificial living.

People on a mission have little patience for journeying.  It doesn't make sense walking unless we are walking somewhere. Without an end in sight, there is only wandering - sometimes for years...in circles.

As we travel through this world, we always long to know where we are going? If the answer from our leadership is unclear, then they are not really leading. And as followers, we quickly become hopeless grumblers, rather than obedient soldiers.

This is why I have a distaste for the word journey as a description of the Christian life and faith. The only good example of a journeying people in the Scriptures is the children of Israel in the wilderness. They were journeying because they were rebellious, refusing to follow the leadership God provided. They longed for Egypt and had little hope in the Land of Promise.

This is why a lack of Christian hope produces a life of little to no sacrificial endurance.

We must also pay attention to the context and content of Moses' exhortations to the second generation. In an effort to keep them from the patterns of their parents, he kept the goal in front of them - urging them to obediently follow the Lord's commandments as he led them across the Jordan, into the Promised Land.

The crossing of the Jordan and the conquest of the Land was no journey. It was a mission. Joshua was a leader, not a wanderer. He had a clear command, motivation, and goal (Joshua 1). His leadership produced soldiers, who knew and expected the conquest to be tough. But they also knew it'd be worth it because of the end.

Similarly, the Christian life is a mission, lead by Christ's commands, empowered by his Spirit, and motivated by the inheritance he has purchased and promised. We must always be looking and hoping for what is ahead.

When the Christian asks, "Where are we going?" Christ's answer is clear, not ambiguous. The Word of God is a relatively small book with clear instructions, intrinsic power, and hopeful promises.

Disclaimer: I understand that there are some temporary situations in the Christian life that may be accurately described as a journey. However, it should not be a description that is allowed to stick around too long. People quickly lose heart.

Disclaimer 2: I am not saying that those who shop are journeyers in the Christian life. I used shopping only as an analogy :) If you know of a way that I can rightly judge all journey-shopping as inappropriate for the Christian life, please tell me! I am looking for any excuse to outlaw the practice.

Encouragement for the Christian: Hope in heaven. Attentively listen to Christ's commands. With the power he provides, make it your mission to love like crazy.

2 comments:

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  2. Very good thoughts. I do agree that the term "journey" is greatly overused in today's emergent culture. As you seem to be alluding to, the value of life is not simply in the experience (i.e. "the journey") but in it's fulfillment (telos). As I sit and reflect on the these ideas I would suggest to you a few useful ideas of non-existential journeying.

    1) Too often we cling so tightly to the plan, willingly suffering the necessary losses along the way, that we fail to stop and reflect on the little blessings of the journey. I can recall a time this past spring when I was convinced I had many paths in my life figured out. (Always a big mistake!) I had to be brought to a place of brokenness before I could see my daily need for the Lord in my journey. In taking the time to reflect on how I God had brought me to where I was, the Lord revealed to me many new facets of His grace which I had previously ignored. While the journey is not the goal, embracing the journey enriches life's progress in Him.

    2) There are far to many other examples of the term “journey” in the Scripture to staple it's meaning the Exodus alone. The Lord commands many people to go on a journey, not for the experience, but to discover His will. The particular mission is not always clearly discerned in the beginning. (Disclaimer: I agree with you that the macro mission is clearly proclaimed, but it's particular applications in our own lives are not often "crystal.") In my present journey, I am daily finding how the Lord will surprise and excite me as a walk with Him. Is there not something to this analogy that fills out the Christian experience within the confines of the mission?

    3) Our culture has lost the biblical idea of journeying to a pagan existentialism. See the following quote from Greg Anderson:
    “Focus on the journey, not the destination.
    Joy is found not in finishing an activity but in doing it.”
    Scripture makes it very clear that joy is found in the journey, but not one that is a without much pain and struggle. (James 1:3-5) Journeying with God is full of pain and progress, heartache and healing, refection and redemption. As we rediscover God’s idea of the journey through Jesus’ reconciliation of the wilderness, we can come to experience healing as we trust whole-heartedly in God’s calling on our life.

    This being said, I understand I am be being slightly pedantic. Your point is well taken and clearly necessary. I simply wanted to buy back some redemptive use of the term “journey.” Thanks for your patience. I hope we all embrace the mission of the gospel and the journey that takes us there. In the meantime, we can all enjoy an afternoon of relaxation and shopping. You go, Katie!

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