Relocation and Repentance

Realtors cause problems, and we like it that way. It's been awhile since I've moved, and I don't plan to move for a long time. But I've been reflecting on relocation since so many of our college students are moving over the next few days. The U-Hauls are rolling. It's just preparation for the time when one day, they want to experience the "American dream," take out a sub-prime mortgage, and relocate.

After a year of trying to sell "by owner," you finally make a decision. Call a person who will make a lot of money off you. Your realtor. But you call her because she will tell you something no one else can. The truth. After the tour and inspection, a good realtor has the courage to tell you what must be fixed, repaired, and replaced. That 1970's countertop- gone. The landscaping you've put off-- plant shrubs. The brass kickplate on the door-- polish it. You invite the realtor to help you make changes. By the time that you have invested $20,000, you say, "Why didn't I do this a long time ago so someone else could enjoy it?! This is a great house."

The Christian equivalent to relocation is repentance. Not the decision to move (much easier). Not the regret over waiting to relocate. It's the process of going from one place to another. The fixing, replacing, boxing, repairing, changing that requires a life time consult from the city of Zion. Believers understand that they have been given to the world in order to relocate home again as a citizen of the kingdom of heaven. They are on the long slow process of change, divesting oneself of the trappings of society. And moving toward a new city. They move toward a place that feels like home. And they experience the joy of repentance.