In Paris, the Olympic games have started. A grand moment for the French capital to present itself to the world and put its best up for display. But Air France/KLM is not too happy about it, because many people stay away from Paris, because of the burning Olympic fire and the chaos that the games will cause. It seems that there are still many hotel rooms available, and the restaurants are quite empty; ‘normal’ visitors are staying away, because of the havoc of organizing the Olympic venues smack in the middle of the city.
The Oeschinersee, close to Kandersteg in the Berner Alps, has been named a world-heritage site a while ago. The lake really is stunningly beautiful and has a serenity that is astounding. The place has since attracted so many tourists, that it tends to overcrowd.
Instead of having to put in some effort, walk up to the lake and enjoy the pristine Alpine surroundings, people are whisked up by a gondola and then transported with an electro cart to the lake. There they pose for 15 selfies and are then transported back to the gondola, where they can have a cheeseburger and other non-Swiss snacks, before they hop on the gondola back down again. They have paved over paradise.
A friend told me that some place close to where she lives has been declared a world-heritage site too. I told her: “Don’t be too happy about it, it might just spoil the beauty of it.”
There are many examples of beautiful places that are overrun by tourists, because they have become famous on social media: Iseltwald in Switzerland where people are crowding each other out to take a picture on the famous pier, Venice that is levying a fee to get in, to keep mass tourism at bay, Amsterdam where people traffic is so dense that pickpockets have free reign.
Every upside has its challenges. A growing, happening church has more challenges than a declining and dying church. More people = more cooperation = more conflicts = more challenges = more grace needed.
The upside of personal and spiritual growth also has its challenges. More growth brings more responsibility. When growing spiritually, you become more interesting for the adversary, the devil, to curb that growth and take you out. He’ll use any means to do that. By your own mistakes, circumstances, or just by lulling you back into oblivion.
In Romans 12, the apostle Paul tells us:
For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the faith God has distributed to each of you. For just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, so in Christ we, though many, form one body, and each member belongs to all the others. (Romans 12:3-5)
“Think of yourself with sober judgment.” Better to grow solidly and firmly like an oak tree, than a beansprout grows in a day and is gone tomorrow. Make sure your spiritual growth and stability is networked in a body of believers, where your growth is not only dependent on yourself, but can be borne by a community.
Quick wins are often quickly lost. Perpetuate growth by anchoring it.