Wanderlust & the Kingdom: Traveling for Kingdom’s Sake

[su_note note_color=”#d5d5d5″ text_color=”#91201f”]The following is the Letter from the Editor for Volume 3, Issue 4 of Christ and Pop Culture Magazine: “Wanderlust & the Kingdom,” available for free for a limited time. You can subscribe to Christ and Pop Culture Magazine by becoming a member and you’ll receive a host of other benefits as well.[/su_note]

Travel has always been part of God’s plan for spreading the Gospel. When Jesus gave His followers this perpetual command to “go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation” (Mark 16:15, ESV), going was the means for proclaiming. And Christians have gone—mission trips have been a common impetus over the centuries to travel around the world. Making the Gospel known in remote villages as well as bustling cities plays a part in the Church’s fulfillment of the Great Commission.

Although ministry-related travel is needful and good, it is easy to elevate it above other types of trips. Taking a vacation, for example, sounds quite self-serving as compared to taking a mission trip. In this issue of Christ and Pop Culture Magazine, the articles touch on several aspects of travel as it relates to faith. How often Until everything is made new again, our travels will take us to people and places in need.should we travel for ministry or for leisure and how far? What if we have the means and desire to travel on vacation—is that acceptable?

Questions like these are wrestled with in a feature titled “Who Said Travel Must Be Sexy?” written by Tyler Burns. He tells of his own evolving attitudes and motivations for travel, thereby prompting us to consider our own. Traveling to far-away places evokes excitement in us and isn’t all bad. But ordinary travel—across the street, across town, into the other room—these steps into the unknown are rarely lauded, but are needful steps for making the Gospel known. After clarifying that vacation/destination travel opens our eyes to the wonder of God’s creation, Burns then cautions:

“I believe we seek the exotic not just because of the scenery or sunshine but also because of what we believe they can bring: rest, fulfillment, satisfaction, and more. We want the calm of the waters to be our reality and the peaceful awe of a mountain range to be catharsis for our weary souls. We can find solace in new locales and broader horizons, but that disconnection from our everyday reality often skews our vision of what ultimately enriches our lives.”

Everyday travel is rarely what comes to mind when we discuss travel plans. Getting away to new-to-us places often delivers a deeper sense of awe for God’s handiwork around the world. But it can also create in us an insatiable need for the next stamp in our passport and the next wave of admiration from those who cannot go where we have gone. Ellen Mandeville speaks to this in her feature, “Sailing to Paradise: Sin, Disease, and Natural Disaster.” An epic, six-month sailing adventure to some of the most glorious islands on the planet were, indeed, awe-inspiring for Mandeville—and it provoked admiration from those who saw her photography. But it wasn’t perfect paradise, as we might assume:

“During our journey across the Pacific and through the islands, the majesty of God’s creation awed and humbled us. The brokenness and brutality of that same creation terrified us. And the hollowness of life lived for one’s own pursuits and pleasures became evident to us.”

The truth is, no matter where we travel or for what purposes, we will find brokenness there. Not only do we take it with us—we ourselves are broken people—but all of creation is also groaning under the weight of sin (Rom. 8:22). No place is left untouched. Every person and created thing needs the promised redemption found in Christ.

Until everything is made new again, our travels will take us to people and places in need, whether we travel to breathtakingly beautiful islands halfway around the world or to ordinary places close to home. Wherever we go, we carry the hope of redemption with us. Whatever our reasons for going where we go, we can be sure that God wants us to spread the good news.

—Erin Straza

Illustration courtesy of Seth T. Hahne. Check out Seth’s graphic novel and comic review site, Good Ok Bad.