“Not that I have already obtained this or have already reach the goal, but I press on to lay hold of that for which Christ has laid hold of me. Brothers and sisters, I do not consider that I have laid hold of it, but one thing I have laid hold of: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal, toward the prize of the heavenly call of God in Christ Jesus.” —Philippians 3:12-14
“Saddle up your horses! We’ve got a trail to blaze.” At our first Outdoor Worship of the summer, these lyrics carried across the church’s lawn. It must have been thirty years since I’d last heard “The Great Adventure” by Steven Curtis Chapman. But some of our college students recently discovered the song, and now it was welcoming Crossroadians as they staked out a place for worship on the lawn. Everything old is new again!
I’m finding the song impossible to get out of my head. And it’s taking me back to when I first heard it in the fall of 1992. I spent that semester in Jerusalem alongside other students from Christian colleges across the U.S. For weeks we would study a particular region of Israel/Palestine and then visit it over several days. And, every morning as our coach bus carried us to a new destination, The Great Adventure was the song accompanying us as we departed. So, when I hear it today, I’m taken back to those journeys along the Jordan River, across the wilderness of the Negev, by the Sea of Galilee, and through the Judean hill country.
The song resonated so deeply because, for most of us, this was the biggest adventure we’d yet experienced, and each trip was an invitation to step into God’s story and find our place within it. A great adventure, indeed!
Musically, the song fits firmly within the genre of early 90s Christian music—and mileage will vary. But I love how the lyrics challenge the notion of a static and predictable (even boring) faith and call us to throw caution to the wind and follow wherever the Spirit leads. The Apostle Paul’s encouragement in Philippians to “press on toward the goal” is an invitation to adventure. But it requires that we shift our perception from a past that seeks to define us and toward a future that has yet to materialize. Friends, this requires courage and faith.
Looking at our church family, it’s easy for me to get excited for the adventure that lies ahead. We are well versed in the steadfast goodness of God and know, deep in our bones, that the Spirit can be trusted to lead us into places of new growth, redemptive impact, and surprising grace. Yet, each day we are given the choice to stay where life is comfortable and known or to step into the great adventure that awaits us.
The gift of Christian community is that we embark on God’s adventure together, that we are never alone. May we breathe courage into one another and together look for the Spirit’s next invitation to blaze new trails and step onto new paths of faithfulness.
Grace upon grace,
Scott D. Samuelson
