Sunday Sermonizing: Leave a Gum Wrapper in the Fountain (or Be Changed)

There are two ways to travel (and we are doing a lot of that these days).

1. Be a tourist.

View the sights. Get the highlights. Take some photos. Buy some postcards. Get the Instagrammable shots of food and mid-jump on a mountain. Most of the people you see at the Taj Mahal or Big Ben or the Eiffel Tower or at the Empire State Building are tourists. They see the sights and nothing is changed except the gum wrapper in the fountain. Move on to the next destination for more likes on Instagram.

2. Be a Pilgrim.

Pilgrims sometimes look like tourists. They might see some of the same sights. They might take some pictures. But there is a huge difference. Pilgrim’s don’t seek to change anything about their destination. They don’t leave gum wrappers or coffee cups. They come to learn. The come to be changed.

The Christian journey

It’s discipleship. Larry Norman said it best back in the day:

We’re only visiting this planet.

But we’re either here as tourists or pilgrims.

Be a pilgrim. Breathe the air. Let it change you.

Don’t leave your gum wrappers.

Instagram can wait.