To those who are reading along in this series of articles, this is the second post. This post fundamentally asks where or how we search for authenticity. It includes some elements which you may not agree with or which you would like to dialog further about. I invite your observations.
In literature related to spirituality, this duality of dwelling and seeking can be seen as a phenomenon that goes beyond contemporary social trends. Philip Sheldrake describes this duality between the spirituality in place and spirituality that is found in journey (1996) as he describes the early Celtic traditions before 700 which describe primarily a faith of transition between the fixed stable life and the more unstable life-styles of what he calls the holy wanderers. Perhaps the recent social shifts described by Putnam and Wuthnow help to explain the present fascination with Celtic Christianity. Sheldrake points out that many of the current perceptions of Celtic Christianity are not all together accurate. The “myth”, however, that has developed about Celtic Christianity resonates deeply with societal shifts away from a spirituality of place to a spirituality of journey. Celtic Christianity seems to embrace a more contextual, grounded, varied yet uncomplicated, messy, even chaotic faith and spirituality than the conventional, institutional forms (Sheldrake 1996, 3). According to Sheldrake, The importance of pilgrimage and journey in the Celtic tradition, balanced with a strong sense of place, are sentiments that are very much in tune with the experience and temper of our own age (1996, 3) and are perhaps a clue to the connection in short-term missions to expressions of “finding reality” when people travel for short-term missions. A physical journey that acts out an inner journey, therefore, may be understood as one factor that differentiates this type of travel from many forms of modern tourism outside of what has been called niche tourism.
In the introduction of Tourism: Between Place and Performance, Coleman and Crang (2004) describe a form of moving away from location and toward discovery. Their focus is somewhat distinct from that of Wuthnow and Putnam as they describe various modes of tourism. One particular mode that they describe draws from George Ritzer’s foundational “McDonaldization Theory” (2008). This particular mode of tourism, according to Coleman and Crang is about expanding the space of home rather than visiting the other (2008, 2). In this sense, they are moving toward a type of location, but in reality they may just be taking their own location on a trip. Reflective of many short-term missions trips, this form of tourism is associated with the McDonaldization of travel in which tourists seek out tourist space such as a McDonalds where they will find familiar surroundings and predictable food, those who bring food from home along with them, or those who chose to stay in tourists hotels which reflect surroundings reflective of their home surroundings. This form of tourism, according to Coleman and Crang insulates tourists rather than allowing them to experience the culture of the location as they seek more of the same. A twist to this search for sameness is the search for an experience of others which is staged or which is in some way reflective of similarity. Goffman’s theory of front and back regions (Hughes-Freeland 1998) describe how the front or that which is experienced by the tourist is the staged show, while the back regions contain the authentic experience. MacCannell (1976) argues that as people seek the authentic, the back stage is put on show and in the process, authenticity is lost or threatened. An example of this in short-term missions are missionaries who receive requests from short-term mission teams who want to come and be a part of a Jesus Film showing or they want to come and ‘do evangelism’. Because these were people who donate money and want to see where there donations were going, missionaries scurry to get a group of people from a local church who will set up the film in a park so that the visitors can experience an ‘authentic’ experience. In this sense, the back stage had been moved to the front stage.
A second mode of tourism described by Coleman and Crang which has linkage to short-term missions and which is contrasted with those who seek more of the same, is what they describe in terms of ‘romantic’ (as opposed to ‘mass which is used to describe those who seek sameness). This mode of tourism includes those who seek for places which carry symbolic capital and which are measured by the adventure, difficulty, cost, or exotic nature of the trip. Coleman and Crang point out that since this type of tourism is always just beyond the reach of tourists, it is driven by type of loss of authentic place (2004, 4). This understanding of a search for location can be found in tourism literature from the mid to early 1970’s. Dean MacCannell (1976) is cited by Coleman and Craig as he noted tourism as an existential quest for ‘authentic’ experiences.
Brent Plate (2009) describes contemporary pilgrimages (which could be classified as niche tourism) to places such as the Trinity Atomic Test Site in New Mexico, the gravesite of Elvis Presley, and ground zero in New York as places that people visit because a kind of sacred power has been invested in the particular place. Plate argues that although some would call this just “tourism” instead of “real pilgrimages”, that there are many similarities in the two and that there is very little if any real distinction. According to Plate, both are born from a desire to travel, to head into an unknown, foreign place where one might experience new sights and sounds and tastes and smells, and ultimately to be corporeally inspired by some transcendent locale. There is something about the quest itself, whether for noble, pious, pure, impure, or just plain curious reasons, that make the journey potentially transformative…pilgrimage is tightly bound to our sense of identity, and sometimes the best way to find ourselves is to get lost. (Plate 2009, 263)
The lines between tourism and pilgrimage therefore are not as clearly delineated as would appear since contemporary tourism has aspects of pilgrimage. The distinction between pilgrimage and missions also present a challenge when considering short-term missions.
In the case of Celtic pilgrimage or other Christian pilgrimage, some would debate whether one would call this missions and whether the participants would be considered missionaries since the primary focus was spiritual or ascetical (Sheldrade 1996, 67). Another way to state this is that the primary objective of pilgrimage is normally the person who is on the spiritual journey, as opposed to the focus of missions which is normally on the host location and the salvation of others. Sheldrake (1996,67) points out that some have described the Celtic Church as a mission church rather than a missionary one. The primary reason for this is the fact that the wondering ascetics did little explicit conversion work, but rather found ways to work out their own salvation as they journeyed.
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