The Backpacker’s Gospel

FINDING PURPOSE ON THE ROAD

Have you ever asked yourself what this is all about? Why we live? What is the meaning of life? Although we have all had a moment where we asked ourselves this, these questions have somehow become cliché. We laugh at them, call them silly and we might give a funny answer so we can go ahead with our day. We don’t want to give up our lives, we don’t want a change because we like what we have. For many of us, this is how we’ve lived a majority of our life, but not for the backpacker. Traveling around the world with only a backpack on his back he asks himself the hard questions and exposes himself to many different answers. Not satisfied with the status quo of the modern world, he leaves his home and goes abroad. Here, he finds it in science, nature and eastern religion. Together these young adults form a whole different unexplored sub-culture that never stays long in one place. 

Not long ago I was one of them. My whole life I grew up in this small Christian town that had all the answers (or so it seemed). It didn’t take me long to rebel against it and leave my home to look for meaning. I went all over the world looking for a sense of belonging, purpose, and freedom. I thought that the traveler had it figured out. “They must really be happy” I said to myself. I was wrong, very wrong. I came to realize that every single person on this planet grows up with a empty void inside of them, a longing that can only be satisfied for a temporary moment. It doesn’t matter if you try to fill this void up with money, fame, wealth or freedom, traveling and experiences, it just doesn’t seem to end. Well, not until we solve the problem. 

We have tried all our lives to do it all on our own, but we are created to be with our Creator. From the moment we set foot on this earth there is a massive wall between us and God, and it’s called sin. We can try as hard as we like to make it go away or to distract ourselves with other pleasures that only last for a moment. But, only when we turn to Jesus, the one who has paid the price for us to get back to God our Father, will we have fullness of joy. He gives new life, identity, and purpose.

It has been four years since I decided to live for Jesus. Since then, I’ve worked in many different places and talked to many different people. I’m currently working in a hostel in Amsterdam wherein I get to talk to backpackers from all over the world. I see my old self in the eyes of the backpacker coming through our front door. What would you tell your old self from four years ago? I would share the truth with him, point him in the right direction, and embrace him with loving arms. That is because it is the goodness of God that leads man to repentance. It’s the love of God that draws people to Him. 

– Niels B.