And so it begins. The 2014 Passport Camp season starts this week with our children’s camps happening in Virginia, and our youth teams hosting camps in Florida, North Carolina, and Kentucky, with Texas up next.
This summer’s theme is ‘Follow the Road.’ The first step to get moving down the road might be the hardest of all – to follow.
‘Following’ is defined as coming after someone else. Following is inherently NOT leading. When we claim to follow Christ, we are intentionally putting Christ first and deciding to follow where he leads. There is an implied loss of control, because Christ may lead you where you think you don’t want to go. You must give yourself over to being under the authority of another. When you really consider it, it makes Jesus’ upside-down thinking make more sense – to be first, you must be last.
Following does not imply that you are a doormat – letting people trample you on their way somewhere else. It does not mean that you cannot lead. But it is an upside-down leading where you lead by example, by serving, by going the extra mile, by turning the other cheek, by losing your life to save it. Following means putting your desires and timeline second, in order to do what you know God is calling you to do.
Our campers are spending some time thinking about following this summer. But it’s a good exercise for all of us. How are we putting Christ first in our lives? How are we not? Where is the balance between our desires, and God’s call to serve?
In God’s Kingdom, the loss of control can lead to gain in understanding of where we are going and why.
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David Burroughs
David Burroughs is the president & founder of of Passport, Inc.