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For a description of the journey phases referred to in this devotion, go to the Journey Phases page.  Earlier articles can be accessed by clicking the buttons on the left.

Thoughts on how our many journeys fit together. . .

One Life, Many Journeys

by Rev. Dr. Lee B. Spitzer

The following night the Lord stood near Paul and said, "Take courage!  As you have testified about me in Jerusalem, so you must also testify in Rome."

How Many Journeys?

The classical Christian understanding of journeying envisioned the Christian life as a life-long singular ascent of the soul toward God in heaven.  This ascent began at the time of one's initial commitment to Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, and ended in heaven following death.   Three stages of this journey were recognized:

1. Purgation:   A stage in which the primary activity of the soul consisted of repenting of sinfulness, worldliness and whatever else might hold the soul down from its heavenward flight.  Imagine a hot air balloon held down by heavy weights.  As the weights are cut off from the balloon, the balloon can begin to slowly rise skyward.  As we confess and repent, the weight of our sinfulness is reduced and our soul is given new freedom to soar toward God and heavenly concerns.
2. Illumination: As the Spirit of God gains progressively greater control over our soul, it prepares the soul for deeper communion with God.  This process involves illuminating the soul so that the Christian can forsake sinful lifestyles, vices and Satan on a deeper level than in the purgative stage.  Further, and more positively, this illuminative work of the Spirit opens up new possibilities for relating to God; the soul is encouraged to embrace the traditional virtues.  As the soul rejects  vices and embraces virtues, it becomes more sanctified.  This is a journey goal which cannot be completed in this life.
3. Union with God in Love: Following death, the soul experiences its heavenly union with God.  Fully sanctified and perfected, the soul can now embrace God's love in its fullness, and for all eternity.  This is the goal of the classical Christian journey.  Before we enter into heaven, the soul must content itself with temporary experiences of this love (what we often call mountain top or mystical experiences). 

This three stage journey model is embraced by most Christian traditions.  For example, evangelical Protestants speak of the Christian life in similar terms.  Stage one is represented by conversion, stage two by the life-long process of progressive sanctification (growing in holiness), and stage three by eternal life.

Although there is nothing wrong with this understanding of the Christian life, it inevitably leads to two unfortunate results.  First, since the singular journey takes more than a lifetime to complete, success along its stages requires an extraordinary amount of dedication and fortitude.   Only extraordinary laypeople, monks, nuns, saints, pastors and missionaries seemed to make significant progress.  The rest of us left the journey up to these spiritual specialists who had the time and call to excel spiritually.    Second, because the journey focuses on growth in holiness as its goal, and most people don't consider themselves to be saints, it became difficult for Christians to focus on how to grow and to measure progress.  Accordingly, it becomes easy to give up trying, or to settle for superficial (and moralistic) criteria for measuring journey progress.

In contrast, the Endless Possibilities model sees each life as being made up of many shorter-term journeys.  Each of these journeys is defined by a theme which expresses a part of God's will for our lives.  As we embrace these journeys and fulfill the journey themes, we express faithfulness to God.   In Acts 23:11, for example, two of Paul's journeys are mentioned - his journey to Jerusalem, and his subsequent journey to Rome.  God calls him to testify first in the Jewish capital, and then in the gentile capital of his day.  The progress of each journey can be described by using the Endless Possibilities five phase journey model.  In each of his many journeys described in Acts, Paul sought to be faithful to God's call.  And each journey provided him with invaluable preparation for the next. 

God calls each and every one of us, regardless of our level of spiritual maturity, to embrace and fulfill many journeys as we go through life.  Progress in one journey prepares us for the challenges of future journeys.  Each of my three pastorates can be viewed as distinct journeys.  As I look back over these journeys, it is clear to me now that the first pastorate prepared me for the second, and both of them prepared me to accept the challenges of the third and current one.  When our lives are considered to be made up of multiple journeys, it is easy to see the progress we have made; all we need do is line the journeys up, and reflect honestly and appreciatively on how we have grown in faithfulness. 

The changing and evolving of journey themes symbolizes progress and growth as well.  For example, most people experience an interesting journey pattern: redemptive level journeys (primarily designed to enhance growth within our souls) usually serve as a prelude to mission level journeys (primarily designed to transform the world around us).  In turn, mission level journeys often provide a context in which God reveals the need to address personal deficiencies or growing edges; embracing this challenge leads us into a new redemptive level journey. 

Can I Handle More than One Journey at a Time?

Once we become adept at discerning journey themes, it becomes clear that God calls us not only to a lifetime filled with serial multiple journeys (one journey follows another), but also to embrace a number of journeys at the same time.   Our lives are wondrously complex, and represent a host of journey themes being played out simultaneously.  Here's an obvious example: I am a pastor and a father at the same time.  Both are discreet journey themes which play out according to the five phases of the Endless Possibilities model. 

God gives us multiple journeys in order to assure balanced growth.  Most people, upon reflection, usually can discern both redemptive level and mission level journey themes being played out at any given time in their lives.  By balancing inner growth with service, we progress in a holistic manner.   This kind of journey linkage prevents self-centeredness (a spiritual disease which stems from an overemphasis on redemptive themes) as well as burn-out (an equally dangerous spiritual disease which is caused by an exclusive attention to living out mission themes). 

Journeys being lived out in a simultaneous fashion need not be in the same phase at the same time.  We can be in phase two of one journey, and phase four of another, for example.  The correspondence between concurrent journeys is not based on a phase alignment, but rather on thematic considerations.  Journeys which serve to balance one another are based on complementary themes.  When journey themes complement one another, progress in one journey supports progress and growth in the other journey.  We draw spiritual strength from their linkage.  However, if journeys pull us in opposite directions, we feel spiritually torn apart and spread too thin.   When journeys conflict, it may mean that we have misinterpreted God's will regarding the theme, timing or importance of one or more of the journeys. 

We'd love to have your response to this article! 

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