December 9th

Wandering

          My brothers and sisters, if anyone among you wanders from the truth and is brought back by another, you should know that whoever brings back a sinner from wandering will save the sinner’s soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins.

James 5:19-20

             This passage has taken on an entire new meaning for me since becoming a parent.  Before I had children, I would just shake my head.  Who would willingly leave the truth?  Why would someone leave Jesus?  They must be rebellious and evil and they definitely deserve whatever troubles come their way. 

            Then I had a child who was born to wander.  It did not matter if he was walking with his family or hiking along a trail with his classmates or running with a mob in a cross country race, the boy wandered from the path.  I regularly position myself as the group sweeper when we are on a journey together.  The role of the sweeper is to be at the back of the group and redirect the stragglers back to join the group.  This gave me a perfect position to view the wondering process as it developed.

            At first, my son is walking or running with the group.  He is engaged and excited to be with his pack.  Then he starts looking around and humming to himself.  His pace slows and his eye will catch sight of something interesting.  It could be something shiny.  It could be a tree that reminds him of something.  It could be a root or a rock or a cloud or a bug…oh, if I had a quarter for every time that we jumped off the path because there was a bug bothering us.  Then the boy stops.  He crouches down to pick something up as the group keeps moving.  Without everyone else reminding him that he is supposed to be walking along the path, he forgets and starts wandering in a different direction and then he is off in his own little world and it could be hours until he realizes that he is lost and his pack is no longer around.

            People do not wander away from the truth because they are evil or stupid.  They wander because they don’t know.  They don’t know where the path is going and how good it is.  They don’t know the dangers that exist when they are cut off and isolated and lost.  They don’t know what else is out there and they are curious.  They don’t know why they have to walk when they are already tired.

            The sweeper gets to remind the stragglers of what is ahead of them.  We get to encourage and exhort and escort the wanderers towards the finish line.  That could mean reaching the summit of a mountain hike.  That could mean finishing a race.  That could mean getting to go on a favorite ride at the amusement park.  That could mean coming back to Jesus and finding eternal life.

           

A moment to reflect:

When have you wandered?  What brought you back?