"Mom & Dad went to Hawaii
and all I got
was this lousy T-Shirt"
This came to mind yesterday afternoon as I was listening to the new Bishop for the West Ohio Conference* speak at Ginghamsburg UMC.
He spoke, in part, about the difference between Pilgrims & Tourists. Pilgrims are on a journey to get to somewhere significant. Tourists want to hit the sights they have seen on postcards and pick up a t-shirt or mug to prove they were there.
My mind almost always moves directly from words to images, and so it was perhaps inevitable that I could immediately see this T-shirt for sale at any number of Christian outlet stores:
"Jesus went to Calvary
and all I got
was this lousy T-Shirt"
In a judgmental moment, I added a postscript to the text on the shirt: '... and most days, to be honest, that was all I wanted out of the encounter'.
I was thinking of how tempting it is to experience what Christ has done as a tourist - or (perhaps even worse) as a member of an audience.
Jesus went to Calvary and all I got was this lousy T-Shirt
- but that's not a complete story.
Jesus went to Calvary - . . . and defeated Death and its power over me and all of Creation - and all I got was this lousy T-Shirt
Jesus went to Calvary - . . . and broke the power of Sin and mortally wounded the Adversary - and all I got was this lousy T-Shirt
Jesus went to Calvary - . . . and opened to door to Life, and to a relationship with the God who made us - he went there and made his death an invitation to live as God's sons & daughters - and all I got was this lousy T-Shirt -
We need more than spiritual souvenirs. The world needs more Pilgrims who are going somewhere (to return to the Bishop's words) "on purpose" - and fewer Christian tourists.
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The new Bishop for West Ohio is Gregory Palmer. If you have not heard him yet, I recommend you click on this link as an introduction: Bishop Gregory Palmer preaching on Isaiah - then spend a moment thinking about whether this faith is a spectator sport, or an invitation to be on the front lines fighting against sin & death in a world where the Kingdom sometimes seems very far off.
