Tourists and Children

Have you ever noticed that when we go somewhere new, unlike anywhere we have ever been, we tend to notice the detail in all our surroundings? We are typically filled with awe and wonder at the beauty surrounding us in this new place. For instance, the first time I traveled out of the U.S. was when I went to Cusco, Peru. Walking through the Plaza de Armas, I gazed at the beautiful cathedrals and mountains surrounding me. On this trip, I spent the week taking in all the sights, sounds and smells of this new place. I became increasingly aware of the beauty of the people around me, my love for them, and their culture. On Sunday, I even had a new perspective on our worship of God that seems to be lost in my home environment. By the end of the week, I developed such sadness when I had to leave this place after such a short time. The same thing happened when I visited Mexico City and Belize. There is something that happens to us when we get out of our familiar environments and open our eyes to the rest of the world's beauty. There comes an excitement when we are out of our familiar surrounding that is lost in our everyday lives. When we walk or drive down the streets of our hometowns, we are simply on auto drive much of the time. We don’t take the time to see the beauty of our own culture and city. It has just become a seemingly boring place where there is nothing fun to do or see. Perhaps, we need to become a tourist in our own towns again. Maybe this would open our eyes to the beauty and wonder in our own towns. Maybe this would give us a fresh perspective on the town and its people.

But what about our faith? As I think about this concept, I can’t help but think about how this can be applied to us as Christians. When we first come to Christ, our eyes are open to a new world, and we see things with a brand new lens. Our desire to know God is on fire, and we can’t get enough of Him. We are excited to be with our new family and learn new things about God, who He is, and what He says about us. There is a hunger in us that is always wanting more. However, as we grow older in our Christian life, the joy and excitement that we once had for Christ and his word is gone. It is as though we are just in the boring “hometown,” and we are just going through the motions and missing the beauty He wants us to see. I’m not saying that we all do this all the time, but more than likely, we have all seen this happen, whether it was to us or another brother or sister. I know that this is what has happened to me after three years as a Christian. This is not what God desires from His followers. We are told by Jesus, in Matthew 18:3, that unless we become like little children, we will never enter the kingdom of God. In the context of this passage, He is responding to the question of who is the greatest. But as we think about children in general, it still applies here. They get excited by the smallest of things and ask a million questions. They constantly look to their parents or those older than them with trust and love and depend upon them for their every need.

This is what God desires for his followers. He desires for us to long for him, to trust him completely, and depend on him. But, just like children grow up, as we grow in our walk with Christ, we can allow the things of the world to bring us down, and we lose that childlike faith that God desires for us to have. We find ourselves stuck in the “boringness” of life instead of looking at the world with awe and amazement no matter where we are. I believe that in order to get back to that childlike faith that we once had, we must seek to look at each day with fresh eyes and allow God to show us a more complete picture of who He is and the things that He desires for our lives. We must come to worship Him and read His word with fresh eyes, and not let it become a thoughtless habit because it is what we are supposed to do. To see the beauty in our hometown, we must see it through the eyes of a tourist, so maybe we need to see our walk with Christ through the eyes of a new Christian and be reminded of the newfound freedom and hunger we felt when we came to Christ. We must continue to express that eagerness and excitement at the marvelous love of God.