So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus Himself being the cornerstone, in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. In Him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit.
-Ephesians 2:19-22
Being a visitor has some enticing perks. There is an excitement when visiting somewhere new, experiencing those things that are not within your normal routine. As a visitor, we meet new people that we don’t know and they don’t know us. It feels like we are free from our past, free from responsibility and even free from our reputation. Most of all, it feels like we are free from our mistakes. On the surface, being a visitor can bring a sense of happy and hopeful bliss.
But the reality is, eventually, no matter how hard we try, we will always overstay our welcome. At that point, we have to either choose to become a part of wherever we are or to migrate somewhere new, starting your visitor status over and over again with every move.
An important understanding about being a visitor is that you have to be invited. If not, you will be considered an intruder and treated accordingly. A place that entices you in is a place that usually allows you to become complacent. It cultivates a consumer mentality where you, the customer, is always right.
Even though those inviting places we visit can bring a break from our normal routine, that too often becomes mundane. This is because we cannot be a permanent visitor.
We inherently long for a sense of permanence, a place that we not only call home, but a place we securely feel at home. Within new places or new relationships, the visitor status has a shelf life. When that expires, we must either leave or commit to becoming a resident. Becoming a resident brings with it so many advantages over being just a visitor. We actually become a part of something much greater than ourselves. Not only do others develop a genuine love for us, but we develop a genuine love for others. We now are a part of a home, a body that brings a sense of belonging in times of hardship and a place to celebrate in times of victory. Finally, we can stop running and bouncing from place to place and relationship to relationship because we have found something a mere visitor cannot have, true connection.
There is a tragic plague upon American Christianity. It is rampant and widespread in its reach. The end result will always be isolation, apathy and loneliness. It is the habitual church visitor. Now please understand, it is important to initially visit multiple churches to determine what they believe, how strong their Biblical foundation is and how you can grow there. But too often, many simply attempt to remain a habitual visitor, never committing, never opening themselves up, never serving. While remaining a visitor, they use a church to their own selfish benefit until they are either convicted to go deeper or the enticing factors of visitor status have worn off. For the latter, at this point they simply move on to the next church, jumping from one place to the next in a fleeting attempt to remain uncommitted. As a result, they generally remain unchanged. How tragic to remain only a visitor when the Lord calls us to be a part of the Body.
Jason Metz, Lead Pastor
