Choose long journey

A tourist and a pilgrim are two distinctly different mind-sets.
We have all been tourists. We have identified certain places to visit, consulted guide books and purchased maps. We have packed our suitcases, making certain to include our cameras and video recorders. By car or bus or train or plane or ship, we have traveled with the objective of seeing “the sites.” Castles, waterfalls, museums, specialty restaurants, waterparks, and “local color” festivals are on our lists. At the end of the vacation, we return home tired, a little poorer, and very thankful to be back.
Few of us have been pilgrims. We usually associate such people with a distinct purpose to travel to some holy place. Muslims are supposed to make at least one pilgrimage to Mecca. In early American history, we learn about the Pilgrims who came to America to escape religious persecution and to found a different society. This second sense is really the most basic idea of a pilgrim. He is a wanderer, not satisfied with life as it is, seeking a different country.
In days gone by, Christians identified themselves as pilgrims, and we still occasionally sing pilgrim songs, especially if we like country. “Pilgrims for Jesus in a low land of sin, hoping that we at last the life crown may win, serving the Master thru the morning are we: sunset is coming, but the sunrise we’ll see.”
We understand the concept from scripture.  Peter wrote to “the strangers” and urged them to “pass the time of their sojourning here in fear.”  Christians, as strangers and pilgrims, are to abstain from fleshly lusts,” (1 Peter 1:17; 2:11).  We are on a journey that takes us through this world, its values and pleasures, all the while focusing on a different place.
I wonder if the mindset of society hasn’t won out, transforming us from pilgrims to tourists. Instead of persevering on the pilgrim trail to the celestial city, do we instead take brief vacations to see the sights and then return to our “normal” life? Our excursions are for the most part enjoyable — a concert here, a retreat there, camp, an Alaskan cruise with some big name Christian celebrity. We take a few pictures, buy a CD and a sweatshirt, listen to a tape, and even shed a tear or two. But we are glad to get back home. Many churches cater to the tourist, planning the worship services and other programs for their entertainment value. The staff become the tour guides or travel agents.
A tour is a vastly different experience than a pilgrimage. May we always know the difference. May we always choose, deliberately, the longer journey with heaven as our destination.