Travel as a theological practice – Baptist News Global

Three countries. Four trips. Twelve flights. And more hours in vehicles than I can count (seriously, I tried on my phone calculator and gave up). This summer has been filled with my favorite pastime: traveling.

Exploring foreign places and embracing new experiences is refreshing and exhausting, rewarding and challenging. Beautiful landscapes come with jet lag. Picturesque alleys are paired with culture shock.

Savannah Green

Traveling takes us out of our normal routine. It places us in a dissimilar, temporary routine where our comforts, desires and expectations are met with truth. We realize our corner of the world is designed differently than other corners.

For instance, Jerusalem’s streets are lined with markets and motorbikes, while my streets are lined with churches and SUVs. My sister organizes her house differently than I organize my apartment. The fast-paced life I live in the U.S. is a foil for the quaint life of a retired couple in England’s Peak District.

When I travel, I am faced with the realization that my reality is not a standard mold. How I show hospitality might differ from how someone else expresses it. My expectation of a fun day does not excite everyone. Aldi is not everyone’s routine grocery stop. And believe it or not, not everyone wakes up, makes coffee in a Moka pot, flavors it with vanilla almond milk and sips it from an aesthetically pleasing mug every morning.

“When I travel, I am faced with the realization that my reality is not a standard mold.”

Spending time away from these practices reiterates their underlying truth: they are not fulfilling or lasting. The earthly place I live and routines I make are not eternal. They are not binding. They are not my home; but they point to my home.

As a Christian, I participate in the kingdom of God in the present. The Holy Spirit empowers me to live in a way that gives a witness to others. I am part of the church, united in Christ with brothers and sisters. Yet, my soul longs for the kingdom of God in the future. I look to eternity where Christians will exist in the glory of God. Sin will be no more, creation will be made new, and God’s covenant with humankind will be restored.

My comfortable apartment and scheduled calendar pale in comparison to eternity. The quality of our here and now is made poor by belongings, routines and places. The quality of eternity is made rich by God.

Traveling reminds me of my eternal home. It points me to God’s kingdom and how I participate in it now. Stepping out of my ordinary provides a refreshed perspective on its purpose. I relearn to purpose my life as one that reflects Christ. My schedule, apartment and work become transformed by the Holy Spirit into use for the kingdom. My ordinary no longer serves me but serves Christ and others.

When I woke up and drank tea (not Moka pot coffee) made by my hosts in England, I was reminded this ordinary routine has purpose. It is different than my routine, but because my hosts did it to serve me and fellow travelers, it reflected Christ’s love to us. The Christian family who sold souvenirs to us in Israel live in a culture and work a job different than my own. Yet I saw in their normalcy a desire to serve Christ and others.

Travel teaches us what ordinary is in foreign places. It opens our eyes to how different our daily routine is from others. But through the lens of Christ, we can see eternity in every kind of ordinary.

It is in walks in the Peak District deep green fields. It is in conversation shared over Israeli hummus and pita bread. It is in airport layovers. It is in emails, grocery trips and meal prepping. It is in a morning sunrise over the Sea of Galilee. It is in pub nights with friends. And it is even in mornings of Moka pot coffee.

Savannah Green serves as a campus staff minister for Baylor InterVarsity GFM and as a ministry resident at First Baptist Church of Waco, Texas, for college and international students. She is pursuing a master of divinity degree from George W. Truett Theological Seminary at Baylor.

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