The lovable Disney film Moana, tells the story of a young girl who lives on a Polynesian island and is the daughter of the chief. Like many fathers, the chief is overly protective of his daughter, and also of the people he rules.
As a result, the people of Moana’s village are in a bit of a rut. They are rather uninspired and somewhat in-grown, not sure of their purpose or destiny. And Moana feels the same unrest. The core of the movie catalogs her struggle to discover her identity and calling.
But here’s the key. While she is curious about what her future should be, her breakthrough comes when she begins to consider the past. One night she explores the hidden caves on the island and discovers a fleet of boats that have been sealed away and forgotten. Then it hits her: “We were voyagers!”
This core realization is the key to her identity. Her people were not (originally) a static people, an in-grown and home-bound people, but rather they were people on the move. They were travelers, always looking to move forward rather than backwards.
When I first saw this film with my daughter a number of years ago, I was struck by how much Moana is a picture of the early Christian movement. (Yes, even when I watch Disney movies I am still doing academic work in my head!).
In the midst of my current research project, I am learning this afresh. It’s something I sort of already knew, but had forgotten to some extent. As I have been studying the early Christian sources I had a bit of an epiphany similar to Moana’s: “We were voyagers!”
In other words, one of the central features of the early Christian movement was that they were a people who traveled, and traveled extensively.
Of course, the remarkable missionary efforts, and rapid expansion of the Christian movement in the earliest centuries, have been well-documented (see Rodney Stark, The Rise of Christianity). Indeed, the new Christian movement could be characterized as one with a “transient life-style” as believers sought to evangelize the world around them.
Harnack’s classic study, which need not be rehearsed here, catalogs a substantial number of early Christian leaders/teachers who were known for their extensive travel. Of course, this would include first-century individuals like Paul, Peter, Priscilla and Aquila, and many more, as documented in the book of Acts and beyond. But, Harnack also highlights the extensive travel of later Christian leaders such as Justin, Hegesippus, Julius Africanus, and (especially) Origen.
Origen travelled to Sidon, Tyre, Bostra, Antioch, Casesarea, Nikomedia, Athens, Nicopolis, Rome, and number of other cities (some of which he visited more than once). Such travel was made possible because of the advancements made in the first-century Roman roads, though journeys were still slow and often dangerous.
But, Christians didn’t just travel for missionary work. They traveled for two additional reasons. First, travel was the way they spread Christian writings in the ancient world. It wasn’t just a generic message that these missionary-teachers were promulgating, but particularly Christian texts. Even in the first century, we see that early Christians had a remarkably well-organized network for distributing their writings. For instance, Paul frequently names the letter-carriers who would often have to travel great distances to deliver his epistles.
Second, and equally important, Christians traveled for the purposes of fellowship, networking, and encouraging one another. Despite the lack of modern travel conveniences, Christians traveled great distances just to be with one another. They were so highly networked, that one recent writer referred to early Christians as having a “Holy Internet.”
Indeed, this is why hospitality was such a big deal in the early Christian movement. It wasn’t just about having people over for dinner. It was more about giving people a place to rest and refresh during their extensive travel. In the ancient world, inns were few and far between, and often sketchy and poorly managed. Christian hospitality, therefore, was the core resource that allowed the gospel to spread.
So, how does realizing “We were voyagers!” affect our Christian lives today? Well, it certainly doesn’t mean that every believer must attain Executive Platinum traveler mile status in order to be considered faithful and godly. Some may be called to such a life, others may not.
But it does mean that all of us have to reckon with the fact that the core of our Christian identity relates to travel. We are not to be an in-grown people, walled up in our homes of self-protection. But we are to be out and about, so to speak, always looking for ways to spread and advance the kingdom. For some this may mean traveling thousands of miles to a foreign country. For others, it may mean just walking down the street, looking for a way to reach your neighbors for the cause of Christ.
The “We were voyagers!” mentality also means that we must remember that we are a people who are made to gather together. With the rise of social media, this has become a lost art. Some have assumed that watching church on video, or meeting together over Zoom, is just as effective. While these practices might be necessary in certain times and for certain situations, the last few years have taught all of us that physical presence really matters.
The early Christians understood this. They knew that survival was directly linked to being with one another for encouragement, accountability, and fellowship. Being together was so important, that Christians would travel significant distances—often with great cost and real dangers—so that they could bless one another.
So, if you want to recapture your identity as a believer, don’t just think about the future. Look to the past. Remember what Christians have always been: voyagers. We are travelers. As such, take up the invitation of Paul: “Travel with us as we carry out this act of grace that is being ministered by us, for the glory of the Lord” (2 Cor 8:19).
Brent Hoover says
Hey Michael,
This is excellent and a very good metaphors for regaining identity.
I’ve been in missions work in Asia for 3+ decades and I can share that they have a better grasp of their identity than we do in North America! Someone said we have become more like a cruise ship than the Coast Guard.
Keep imagining!
Brent
Dave Lin says
My family and I also enjoyed this movie quite a bit!
Bob H. says
I enjoyed this a great deal, and as a sojourner along a pilgrim’s progress of my own, I can relate through business and holiday travel that have taken me to 34 countries. One of the highlights of a business trip to China some years ago was the opportunity to share the gospel after a dinner with Chinese colleagues in Beijing using chop sticks on the table to show the timeline of OT, the Cross (chopsticks were perfect for this!) and the NT era. The most sobering of all travel, however, was being in India for repeated business trips. That Reginald Heber wrote “Holy, Holy, Holy” prior to his missionary work in India is one of the most prescient examples of God’s working to prepare a sojourner for His work I have ever seen.
On a personal note, I was an elder when you were an intern at the church out here in Mesa…
Gregg Doyle says
This blog article is perfectly related to a recent (May 2022) mathematical analysis and prediction model on the decline of UK mainline denominations.
In the model this is referred to as the “E” (enthusiasm) factor.
Dean says
In Australia at present Aboriginal culture is having a revival in society. They probably share a similar devastating experience to the American Indians in the clash of cultures. The Aboriginal people are no longer nomadic it would seem but still very family orientated.
Abraham would be a classic OT voyager along with Moses etc. It’s good to be reminded about the how & why of Christian hospitality in NT times. There is a rich history in the church that seems just as forgotten or dust covered. And when it is brought to light it is so refreshing.
The sincere communion of the saints is a precious thing for sure.
Lucille Gaither says
Needless to say, saints of the early church had to travel because of persecution. Everywhere the saints went, they took the gospel with them. That is how the gospel was spread. So much of their travel was not voluntary. Consider 1 Peter 1:
“Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, to the strangers scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia,…”
The apostle wrote to Christians that had to flee persecution, esp. from Rome.
Gary Sweeten says
A wonderful metaphor. For several years I traveled around America, Scandinavia, Russia, Europe, and SE Asia. I also received many friends from those nations.
First, I learned a lot about communicating in a cross cultural vastly different from mine. Second, they learned a lot about our culture. Third, we all saw that some of our cultural biases and pride was misplaced. Fourth, I discovered that many, if not most of my language and ideas were not useful in most of those cultures. For example, many had not heard of Calvin, Luther, or the Reformation. Latin is not useful either. Fifth, most of my Counseling training was helpful. Family Systems Theory was extremely useful. Individualistic theories not very useful.
Carol Rogers Smith says
Dr. Kruger,
Greetings. We just returned from our 9th mission in Nepal, with the Anglican Deanery, a mission of Singapore. I was praying over a mission report to our congregation and supporters and thinking how this rapidly growing Deanery has been formed by travel out to all the remote areas where the Gospel is growing. Imagine my joy to read your article. Thank you and bless you!
Sha says
Hmm let’s remember that these people were fleeing persecutions, that even when he was born, his family had to find refuge in Egypt in order protect themselves from an order massacre all infants by Herod who was then king of Judea, without mentioning all the horrible killings and slaughters that were done, and that those were apocalyptic times filled with civil strifes, judeo-roman wars and the aftermaths of the horrifically violent Roman colonisation, that got Jesus crucified, and the temple destroyed in 70 A.D ! That first christians were getting slaughtered and fed to Lions by the Kings and the Emperors and wh . Most of these people were forced to exile, dying in neighbouring and distant countries, what about the missionaries ? Where they really on a candid Disney land Moana cartoon trip saying ” We were voyageurs!”? This cartoon would in any ways have been deemed a pagan heresy by the religious authorities at the time, in any ways, and it’s author would have been burned, tortured or crucified for having produced it…
Andrew says
Please come to Malaysia and Southeast Asia, Dr Kruger!
Gary Sweeten says
Carol Rogers Smith. I was teaching at St. Andrews about Building great interpersonal skills for ministry when the Bishop asked if my training would fit with Evangelism. I said yes but I would contact my friends in Denmark who implemented my Teleios skills with evangelism.
I discovered that there were three people in Nepal teaching Teleios. The Dean asked me to get those materials when the three Danes came to Singapore. I did and gave them to the Dean because the Anglicans had 50 churches there.
Carol Rogers Smith says
Dear Gary, Thank you for sharing. What a great contribution. Who was the bishop, dean then? We lived in Singapore in the early eighties and are so grateful for the amazing diocese. Thank you so much for sharing.
Blessings in your ministry,
Carol
Gary Sweeten says
Carol,
I went to Singapore in 1994. Moses Tay was Archbishop for most of my time and his brother was the Dean of St. Andrews. They were doing Alpha and my Scandinavian friends in Denmark were as well.
I taught at FCBC which trained all their Counseling Cell Group Teams. I also taught in most of the Anglican churches. I trained the Anglican Pastoral Counseling group that formed in early 2000’s.
My materials were translated into Chinese, Malay, Nepalese, etc. I am now doing online training at Relationalpeace.org