There is a profound difference between preservation and spiritual advance.

The established religious system inevitably acquires something to protect, buildings, denominations, reputations, theological systems, salaries, congregations, traditions, positions and influence. None of these things in and of themselves are necessarily evil. The danger comes when preserving what has been accumulated becomes the governing instinct.

Then the questions change. The pilgrim asks, “Where is God leading us?” The custodian asks, “How do we preserve what God gave us?” Those questions may sound similar, but over generations they can produce radically different kinds of Christianity.

Every genuine movement of God begins outside somebody’s established expectations. Abraham leaves Ur without knowing where he is going. Moses abandons Pharaoh’s world for the wilderness. Israel follows a cloud through a desert. The prophets stand outside the comfortable religious consensus. John the Baptist lives in the wilderness. Christ Himself continually operates beyond the boundaries established by the religious custodians of His day. The apostles leave Jerusalem and ultimately turn their world upside down.

𝗧𝗵𝗲𝘆 𝘄𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝗮 𝗽𝗶𝗹𝗴𝗿𝗶𝗺 𝗽𝗲𝗼𝗽𝗹𝗲.

Hebrews gives us a remarkable description of this pilgrim mentality:

And truly if they had called to mind that country from which they had come out, they would have had opportunity to return. But now they desire a better, that is, a heavenly country. (Hebrews 11:15–16)

They had somewhere they could return to. But they didn’t.

𝗧𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗶𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗽𝗶𝗹𝗴𝗿𝗶𝗺 𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗮𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆.

The remnant always has somewhere it could return to. There are established places where they could settle down, become comfortable, be accepted and cease from the difficulties of the journey. But they desire a better country. So they keep walking.

There is a pattern that can be seen throughout religious history. The pilgrims have almost nothing to lose. They risk reputation, acceptance, possessions and sometimes their very lives to follow the Lord into places others will not go.

Then something happens. The pilgrims build something. Others inherit it. The movement acquires buildings, institutions, theological respectability, influence, positions and traditions. And now there is something to lose.

Slowly, almost imperceptibly, the descendants of the pilgrims begin defending the results of yesterday’s faith rather than exercising that same faith themselves.

The revival becomes a denomination. The movement becomes a monument. The testimony becomes a tradition. And eventually walls appear where pilgrims once crossed rivers.

The institutional mentality eventually says, “We have arrived. Protect what we have.”The pilgrim says, “I have not attained. I press on.”Paul writes..

Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected; but I press on…(Philippians 3:12 )

And then:

Forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press toward the goal…(Philippians 3:13–14)

I press on….𝗧𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗶𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗹𝗮𝗻𝗴𝘂𝗮𝗴𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗽𝗶𝗹𝗴𝗿𝗶𝗺.

There is always something further. Another depth. Another height. Another surrender. Another place where self must die. Another place where Christ must increase. Another mile along the narrow road.Jesus said……

Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it.
(Matthew 7:14)

The narrow road is not merely a gate through which we once passed. It is a way. It is a road. And roads are meant to be traveled. Every step along that narrow road takes the pilgrim farther away from where he began.And closer to his final destination.

This is why the remnant cannot be defined merely as people who exist outside institutional Christianity. A man can leave an institution today and build another wall around himself tomorrow. Nor is the remnant defined by being unconventional. Being unusual is not spirituality. Rebellion is not pilgrimage.

The remnant is defined by following Christ regardless of where He leads, what it costs, or what must be left behind.Jesus said:……

If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me. (Luke 9:23)

𝗙𝗼𝗹𝗹𝗼𝘄 𝗠𝗲

Those words demand movement. You cannot follow someone while insisting upon remaining where you are. The genuine remnant is unconventional only because down through the ages it has been religious institutions that defined convention. Only the Word of God can define what convention is.

There is something of the entrepreneur in the pilgrim. Not the entrepreneur of money or business, but an entrepreneur of the spirit. They are willing to risk everything they possess for that which lies ahead.

Yet unlike Alexander or Caesar, who were entrepreneurs of war….they are not driven by ambition, conquest, glory or the desire to build earthly kingdoms. Something infinitely greater drives them.

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗦𝗽𝗶𝗿𝗶𝘁 𝗼𝗳 𝗚𝗼𝗱 𝗱𝘄𝗲𝗹𝗹𝘀 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗺.

“For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God.” …Romans 8:14, NKJV

They move because the Spirit leads them. They walk because Christ calls them. They press on because something within them will not permit them to settle permanently in yesterday.

This is where the picture of Rome becomes so striking. There was a time when Rome crossed rivers and pushed beyond frontiers. Eventually Rome began building walls around what it already possessed.

The wall itself was not the problem. The change of mentality was.

The question had changed from, “What lies beyond the frontier?” to, “How do we protect everything behind it?” And the same thing can happen spiritually.

There comes a point when a religious movement can become so concerned with preserving what God did yesterday that it ceases pursuing God today.

The institution builds walls around what the pilgrims discovered. It preserves the language. It preserves the buildings. It preserves the theology. It preserves the history. It preserves the stories of revival. It can even preserve the testimonies of the men and women who once crossed the rivers.

Yet preserving the memory of pilgrims is not the same thing as possessing the spirit of pilgrims.The great danger is that preservation sounds remarkably like faithfulness.

𝗦𝗼𝗺𝗲𝘁𝗶𝗺𝗲𝘀 𝗶𝘁 𝗶𝘀.

We are commanded to guard truth. We are commanded to hold fast. We are commanded to contend for the faith. But there is a world of difference between guarding eternal truth and guarding our comfortable position and traditions of men.

And in vain they worship Me, Teaching as doctrines the commandments of men. For laying aside the commandment of God, you hold the tradition of men, the washing of pitchers and cups, and many other such things you do.” He said to them, “All too well you reject the commandment of God, that you may keep your tradition. (Mark 7:7–9 )

The Spirit of God is not calling His people to abandon truth. He is calling them to walk in it.

𝗔𝗻𝗱 𝘄𝗮𝗹𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗿𝗲𝗾𝘂𝗶𝗿𝗲𝘀 𝗺𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁.

The pilgrim does not despise what God did yesterday. He gives thanks for it. He learns from it. He remembers those who walked before him. But he refuses to build his house at yesterday’s campsite.

The cloud has moved. And the pilgrim moves with it. There will always be those who build walls around what God did yesterday. And there will always be pilgrims who hear the voice of God calling them onward.

They may possess less. They may have fewer resources. They may have little institutional influence. They may be misunderstood. They may be rejected. They may travel a difficult and lonely road.

𝗕𝘂𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝘆 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗺𝗼𝘃𝗶𝗻𝗴.

They have not attained. They press on. They refuse to mistake yesterday’s stopping place for today’s destination. They are willing to leave security, reputation, acceptance and established religious boundaries behind when obedience to Christ requires it…..They are pilgrims…..They are the remnant.

The institutional church builds walls around what God did yesterday. The remnant follows the Spirit into what God is doing today. Some inherit kingdoms and spend their lives protecting them.

𝗣𝗶𝗹𝗴𝗿𝗶𝗺𝘀 𝗶𝗻𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗶𝘁 𝗮 𝗻𝗮𝗿𝗿𝗼𝘄 𝗿𝗼𝗮𝗱…….𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝘆 𝗸𝗲𝗲𝗽 𝘄𝗮𝗹𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴.