Traveler or Tour Guide?

There are those who travel and those who talk about traveling. There are those who go places, and there are those who just talk about going places. There are those who live the walk, and there are those who talk a lot about the walk. Simply put – there are travelers and tour guides. Which one are you – a traveler or a tour guide?

What’s the difference? A traveler actually visits the places he’s dreamed of going. But a tour guide is someone who passes out maps to places he’s never even been.

Now I realize that not all tour guides are just passing out maps to places they’ve never visited, but this simple metaphor got me thinking quite a bit about which one am I? Am I actually traveling to the places that I often encourage other people to travel to, or am I just encouraging people to go to places I’ve never had the courage to go myself?

As a pastor, I often find myself seeking to spur people on to take huge steps of faith, to live life outside the boat as it were. I often hear myself exhorting others to trust God for what is unseen knowing that God will provide in unimaginable ways. But at the end of the day, I often am struck with the one haunting question – ‘am I even doing what I am so excellent at encouraging others to do?’ In others words, have I traveled to the same places that I am encouraging others to go to, or am I just the guy with the map pointing people to places I’ve never even been?

What about you – which one are you? Just passing out maps, or traveling the road that God has invited you to walk on? Scripture is filled with stories of travelers – men and women who dared to go to places that were unknown, unfamiliar all upon the promise that God would provide all they needed for the journey.

To be honest, to be the traveler is much harder. There are many questions that will remain unanswered. There are times where you have no idea how you will get from one point to the next. That’s why so many people take the path of the tour guide. It’s much safer to be the one passing out maps because there’s not much risk involved. The commitment level is low. The job description is simple – get others pumped up about visiting places you’ve never journeyed to yourself.

For me – when I signed on to follow Jesus over 25 years ago, I didn’t sign-up so I could be the guy that is really familiar with a map, but has never experienced what’s it’s like to live the life of a traveler. If you signed on to be a follower of Jesus, know that the life He’s invited you to is one of a traveler, not a tour guide. If you’re a follower of Jesus, the invitation was not to just study the map, but to travel in the footsteps of the Savior. If you’re a follower of Christ, then remember that following is a verb, it’s an action. To follow is to live life in motion, to live the life of a traveler.

God please grant us the courage to travel well and spare us from only passing out maps to places we’ve never even visited.