"Many, if not most, contemporary people live as vagrants—spiritually, intellectually, geographically, morally and relationally. Vague awareness of this new reality creates much social anxiety and can potentially fuel fundamentalisms, inquisitions and culture wars…. In an age of fragmentation, it may well be the case that the vocation of congregations is to turn tourists into pilgrims—those who no longer journey aimlessly, but rather, those who journey in God and whose lives are mapped by the grace of Christian practices." Diana Bulter Bass in The Practicing Congregation: Imagining a New Old Church
I think she really nails that. We are tourists, easily satisfied with what that kind of life gives us but it is not deep enough to sustain us in the really difficult places we know that life takes us. Tourists don’t have the stamina for the journey where pilgrims do. Those are wonderful words and a difficult but important challenge for the church, especially since many in the church are good at being tourists and poor at being pilgrims. How does the church then take the lead in inspiring this vocation, as she calls it? Maybe start by admitting that it is true and then strapping on some good walking sandals and setting out together.