Live clean, innocent lives as children of God,
shining like bright lights in a world full of crooked and perverse people. 
Hold firmly to the word of life; then, on the day of Christ’s return,
I will be proud that I did not run the race in vain and that my work was not useless.
Philippians 2:15-16

Read: Philippians 2:12-18, 1 Peter 1:13-25
Pilgrim’s Progress Stage 2 Part 13

Relate: Before Christian leaves the Interpreter’s house, his host gathers him and speaks words of blessing and preparation over him. He reminds Christian of everything he has seen: the picture of the faithful man, the dusty room, the fire, Passion and Patience, the stately palace, the iron cage, the dreamer’s vision, and he sends him out with the assurance that the Comforter will walk with him on the road ahead. What he has seen is both warning and promise, and the Celestial City he is walking toward is worth every difficulty that lies between here and there. The Interpreter does not pretend the road is easy. He simply confirms that it is worth it.

There have been a few drastic changes at various points in my life. I have graduated, changed ministries and cities, but most importantly are when I moved from New York to Turkiye and when I left the Philippines to come to Kyiv. Maybe you have had moments where it is not so much a leaving but a commissioning. How we are sent out matters more than we usually acknowledge. In these moments, we need a person, faithful and clear-eyed, who has walked ahead of us on the road of life and who takes the time to look us in the eye before we set out to tell us that it is hard, but it is real, and it is worth it. Yes, we might intellectually know this, but someone worthy of respect speaking this to us is one of the most significant gifts one human being can give to another. I have had pastors do this for me. I have had older believers do this for me. I have had friends who had walked through fire do this for me. And every single time, I left the conversation with something I didn’t have before: not information, exactly, but courage and a healthy reminder of why the journey matters.

React: The Interpreter’s final encouragement is also a picture of what the church is supposed to be. It is not a palace where the already arrived gather to congratulate themselves on having gotten in. It is not a facility offering comfortable services to people who would prefer not to think too hard about eternity. It is a house of interpretation, a place where the symbols and struggles and dangers and glories of the pilgrim’s life are explained and illuminated and made real. It is where the new believer is taken through room after room of essential truth before being sent back out onto the narrow way equipped rather than merely excited. The Interpreter’s house is one of the most important buildings on the road. The pilgrim who spends serious time there, who does not rush through in the eagerness to be moving, will be the better for it all the way to the gates of the city. So go to church. And don’t just go to fulfill an obligation but with the intent of being equipped for the road ahead.

Respond:

Dear God,
Thank You for the godly pastors, leaders, and mentors You have placed in my life. Help me to listen well to the godly counsel You have given them for me. Help me also to be a godly encouragement to those who are coming after me.
Amen