Journeys III

Be prepared. Baden Powell coined the phrase as the motto of the Scouts, but it holds true for any trip you go on, as well as for the Christian life. Be prepared. It means you make sure you’re ready to go, you take sustenance with you and you prepare for bad weather.

Jesus was pretty clear that once you started on this journey with him there wasn’t any going back (Luke 9:57-62). Being ready to go means that you are ready to see it through ‘till the end. And part of our preparation must surely involve realising that this journey with Jesus is the only one that makes sense – where else have we to go, when only He has the words of eternal life?

And on that journey he provides the sustenance – his own Spirit who comforts (Jn 16:7) and crys out (Rom 8:15-17) and his Scriptures which teach, correct, rebuke, and train us in righteousness (2 Tim 3:16). He has also provided us with his church, our family, who walk with us, as well as those who have walked before us, and speak to us from our shelves.

And be ready for bad weather. Anyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted (2 Tim 3:12) and face trials (1 Peter 1:6ff), but we take heart for God is sovereign, and protects us from what we cannot bear (1 Cor 10:13).

Journeys II

One of the most basic rules of any journey is to let someone know where you are going. Whether it be boating, a walk in the bush, or a long-distance trip in the car, you always let someone know where you are going and what time you expect to be back. If it’s a long journey you might check in with that person occasionally, to let them know how you’re going, how you’re progressing. Why? So that if you get into trouble someone else can help you. So that someone else knows your situation and can step in if you need it.

The Christian journey isn’t really any different. Our walk with Christ is our own, but we are not alone as we walk. God in his kindness has given us brothers and sisters – a family in the church – so that we might bear each other’s burdens (Gal 6:1-3), that we might encourage each other and spur each other on to love and good deeds (Heb 10:24-25); and that, if our brothers and sisters get into trouble on their journey, we might gently restore them and by God’s grace, set them back on their journey with Christ (Jude 22-23; 2 Tim 2:25-26; Gal 2:11ff).

So from time to time tell someone how you're going, and keep an eye out your fellow travellers. Don't attempt this journey on your own - it's too long and too important - and we want to do all we can to ensure that we all make it to the finish line.

Journeys I

It is commonly said that what matters is not the destination but the journey. It isn’t not so much where you’re going, the thought goes, but how you get there. The maxim is applied to life, and, at times, to the Christian life. But like so much in theology and Christianity more widely, it is not an either/or, but a both/and. For a journey requires a destination in order to be a journey. Otherwise it’s called being lost.

Paul’s letters are full of imperatives. He was clearly concerned with the journey, with how Christians lived their lives. But he also was clear that Christians knew where they were going. They have a goal, a prize, a destination. And what they do now matters, because of that. The journey is informed by the destination.

Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last; but we do it to get a crown that will last forever (1 Cor 9:24-25).

The journey matters. But it matters because of the destination.