What’s Your Home Address?
If you have little children, or at any point raised young kids, maybe you did this: you would repeat your home address to their tiny brains so that, if they ever got lost, a good neighbor could ask them where they lived and return them home to safety.
Do you remember how old you were when you first (or finally) memorized your home address as a child? Now, as an adult, let me ask you what will seem like a stupid or obvious question: Do you know what your home address is today?
I’m not asking you to share your house number, street name, city, state, and zip code. No, I want you to consider a deeply theological question: Do you live with realistic expectations as a result of knowing where you live spiritually?
I think many of us live in a permanent state of what I call location amnesia. We have forgotten where we live.
We live as flawed people in a fallen world. There simply is no escaping it. And when we lose sight of the fact that this is a broken world where nothing works quite right, it sets us up for all kinds of trouble.
We experience location amnesia everywhere in our lives. That new job you were so excited about hasn’t turned out to be as great as you had hoped. That new church you were convinced was one of the best turned out to have many of the same flaws as your previous church.
You were so excited to move into that new house, only to discover that not everything was designed or built as well as it seemed. That perfect vacation was anything but perfect. Your new friend seemed so great until their inadequacies, flaws, and weaknesses showed up.
That highly recommended restaurant had a waiter who was rude, and the food didn’t measure up to the reviews online. The new car smell disappears faster than you want, and those wrinkle-free clothes do, in fact, wrinkle!
Day after day, year after year, decade after decade, many of us find ourselves surprised, disappointed, discouraged, or embittered at life, and I’m convinced it’s because we have ignored or denied the reality of our spiritual address. But when we read Scripture, it is a gritty, honest book. It’s a book about this world. God doesn’t pull any punches. He doesn’t paint over any cracks. He doesn’t flatter or avoid. There is no denial of what is real and true.
The Bible is honest about life in a fallen world. This honesty is a sign of God’s love. He is the wise and gentle father preparing his child for that walk through a tough neighborhood on the first day of school. He is the faithful friend praying with you before you face an unusual challenge. He is the caring physician informing you of what to expect from the disease he has just diagnosed.
In being honest, the Bible welcomes you to be honest as well. In its refusal to minimize, diminish, or deny the harsh realities of our spiritual address, the Bible calls us to face the facts as well. Things are not okay around us or inside us. The brokenness presses in on every side.
So, what should you do and how should you respond? Here are two quick takeaways (though there are many more!):
1. Be honest and mourn.
Do not permit yourself to give way to location amnesia, and do not become numb and accustomed to the pain of this fallen world. Look reality in the face and be sad at what you see. Jesus said, “Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted” (Matthew 5:4). The condition of the world we live in should make us weep.
2. Be glad and anticipate.
Even as we fully acknowledge this brokenness, we must fight not to lose our joy and awe. Yes, God has decided to leave us in this neighborhood temporarily, but he never leaves us alone. Emmanuel is with us wherever we are, and in the middle of whatever we are facing. Then recall again and again that this broken home is not our permanent address. All God’s blood-bought children are guaranteed to be part of a much better neighborhood.
Someday we will all live in the New Jerusalem on a street called Shalom, where brokenness will be no more. Until then, don’t settle for paralyzing discouragement and don’t give in to the nagging desire to quit.
God doesn’t call us just to survive. He wants us to thrive in our broken neighborhood with hearts of patience and eyes of promise. His grace makes that response and lifestyle possible!
A Prayer for Today: God, help me to have a realistic view of the world I live in everyday, acknowledging the brokenness and mourning its condition. But at the same time, Lord, help me to live day-to-day with a deep sense of joy and gratitude for what you have provided for me. Give me a spirit of anticipation for my permanent address, knowing that my future is in the hands of a God who deeply cares for and loves me. In Jesus’ name, amen.
Discussion Prompt for Children
1. What is your home address…do you know it by heart? What do you think it means to have a spiritual home address?
2. What is the true home of everyone who is a Christian? How can our true home with Jesus help us to look at this home on earth differently?
3. What makes you the most thankful for the home we will have in heaven? What do you think that home will be like? What do you think the Bible says about our heavenly home?
Reflection Questions
1. In what ways is it easy for you to forget about your true home? How has location amnesia prevented you from seeing this world correctly? How has location amnesia robbed you of joy and gratitude?
2. What has surprised, disappointed, discouraged, or embittered you about life in this broken world? How have those feelings altered your perception of your true spiritual address?
3. In what ways have you become numb and accustomed to the pain in this fallen world? Why do you think it’s appropriate for Christians to be honest about the world’s fallen state, and mourn appropriately?
4. List a few ways that you can fight not to lose your joy and awe. How can you purposefully remind yourself that this is not your permanent address?
5. In what ways can you proactively move from surviving in this broken world to thriving in it? How is God calling you to be patient when it comes to your personal struggles in this fallen world?