Going Slow with Dr. Low

Where are you called to live and what are you called to do there?

I just came back from a week of Family Camp at the Bible Camp I grew up at.  As many of you have experienced, summer camp is always a bit of a Christian bubble where everything feels good, safe, spiritual and even fun - the troubles of the world seem to slip away for those few days.

I often hear people at the end of camp using phrases like, "And now it's time to go back to the real world".  While I understand the phrase and have used it myself, as I've gotten older I have began to resist the notion that this is the real world.  Is the busy, materialistic world full of temptations and not very God-focused really the real world or does the camp atmosphere actually represent true reality (God's reality) more than the so-called real world?  There are arguably valid answers on both sides.

I had a few conversations at camp with people who said they would feel guilty staying at camp too long or living in a Christian bubble like that for too long.  They believe they are needed as "salt and light" out in the real world so, as much as they enjoyed their time at camp, they were ready to go home and be lamps in the world.

While I appreciate the sentiment and attitude of those wanting to live and serve in the heart of our busy cities (most of the campers were from Calgary and Edmonton), I also believe some people are called to live in smaller towns, rural settings or even Bible Camps.  And to me this is the point that really matters in the end - what/where someone is called to.  There is nothing really more godly or valuable about living in the country serving at camp versus living in suburbia and loving the soccer moms and dads around you - both are part of God's Kingdom and both are necessary for serving God's people.  So, all things being equal, it's important to slow down your heart and mind long enough to seek and sense God's calling in your life.  He calls some of us to be salt and light in the busy suburbs and highrises of our cities and He calls others to live so-called simpler lives in smaller, quieter settings.  There's no sense feeling proud or guilty of living in one or the other, the only thing that matters is what God is asking of you.

Where are you called to live and what are you called to do there?


Submitted by Dr. Rob Low, a Spiritual Life Coach with From Beginning to End Ministries.