By the way … someone suggested an aircraft carrier as a more apt description of the church. The analogy is actually better than mine (battleship).
I quote:
I believe the military vessel that would best represent the church for our metaphor would be an aircraft carrier. They are the lead ship (central focus, much like the church) in an fleet of support vessels (the community). They inspire one to search the skies (heavens) with an almost limitless reach/influence (missionaries heading to/in the field).
The give and take relationship of this vessel and its accompanying fleet would easily encompass more of the points we are working to understand. It is very much a symbiotic relationship. It provides the fleet with purpose, guidance, support and defense; all of which it receives from its fleet in return. For without the fleet (us), there is no need for the aircraft carrier (the church); likewise, without the aircraft carrier (the church) there would be no purpose or direction for the fleet (us, or would there be an "us" at all... without the church?).
Anyway … whichever you prefer, the battleship or the aircraft carrier (or none of the above) … the heart of the analogy is really a comparison. The larger point I want to make is that of a compare and contrast between the Military Unit (Aircraft Carrier), and the Civilian Unit (Cruise Ship). And here’s the question for the church: Which one better describes the work of the church?
Do we want to be on the Cruise Ship (a Caribbean Cruise) OR on the Aircraft Carrier? I have to admit the Cruise Ship is tempting. Look at it. It's beautiful and you can tell it belongs in clear aqua-blue waters and white sandy beaches. It has all the latest technology so that it can steer away from storms and promise you waters like glass all the way to your destination. Your cabin comes equipped with a king sized bed and a Jacuzzi tub. It's a place of comfort and fellowship and fun. It's a ship built to cater to your every whim. You don't have to bring much on board because everything is provided. All you can eat at every meal. The best entertainment every night. Organized fun on the Lido deck.
Everyone once in awhile you stop at a beautiful port and rub shoulders with the natives. But not for too long. As soon as you tire of that you can get back on the ship where you are protected from the rest of the world. It's a great place to be. There's no real mission except your comfort and relaxation ... but, hey ... what's wrong with that?
Now look at the Aircraft Carrier. Yuck. It's an ugly gray and it has all those bulky guns that just get in the way making things too crowded. There are no cabins. Only row after row of bunk beds where you sleep with dozens of others who are on the same journey. You eat mass-production food that is served on long, crowded tables. No private bathrooms. No organized fun. No Lido deck parties. When you stop at a port it is to resupply the ship for the journey. You are not there to have fun. You are there to accomplish a mission.
You become family with the several thousand others on the ship. Even though you may not know everyone on the ship, they are your brother or sister because they may save your life. You are there to get a job done. There is something that needs to be done and it is your job to do it and if you don't do it -- if you are not at your station at the right time -- people die. Sometimes you save lives. Sometimes you rescue the helpless. Other times you are called to fight. If there is a battle to be fought ... you are ready to fight ... if necessary ... even die for the cause of the whole.
Now, which metaphor sounds more like the church?
Whatever metaphor we decide on … it must contain this idea of selfless, sacrificial dying to self for the greater cause (which, of course, in our case, is Jesus Christ). The governing metaphor must contain this idea: It’s NOT all about YOU.
Let’s chew on that for awhile …
Blessings,
Pastor Ellis
Though the short term desires may be met, I’ve found that most of my endeavors to satisfy my personal selfish indulgences have led to little if any, long term fulfillment.
ReplyDeleteIt seems as thought the primary purpose of the cruise ship is to fulfill a personal desire of self indulgence. It only exists to cater to an individual’s beck and call. It only gives them what they want.
Often with reservation and/or some hesitation, I have undertaken endeavors that I had no desire to participate in. Other endeavors I endured with the expectation of little, or nothing in return for my labors. These endeavors, I involved myself with due to a sense of obligation or duty. Much like the aircraft carrier, you’re there because you need to be and not necessarily because you want to be.
What I knew was this:
Somewhere, someone had given to me in some manner, and it was my responsibility to repay them by passing their gift on to another. I was there because I knew I was “expected to be”, it was “my job”, it was “my duty”, and it was for the “greater good of others”. Many of these endeavors were at the expense of my time any energy as well as the necessity to sacrifice personal wants and desires.
What I often found, is that what I receive in return for those hesitant undertakings was not satisfaction for what I wanted… it gave me long term fulfillment.
What I chose to theorize is this:
If we chose to succumb to less desirable, utilitarian aesthetics of the aircraft carrier, if we opt for the accommodations that might be perceived as substandard, and if we complete the tasks that are laid out for us regardless of how sacrificial they may be; we will find that the rewards of heaven will far surpass that of the most luxurious cruise ship(s) one could imagine.
Another thought on the Cruise Ship metaphor - while the ship and all of its amenities are initially exciting and fun, the novelty always eventually wears off, and most people want to do something new. To keep the passengers coming back, the cruise companies keep building bigger, better, more exciting ships, but it's a never ending cycle. As long as the point is to keep the passengers comfortable, entertained, and happy, commitment will always be fleeting.
ReplyDeleteOn both types of ships, the only committed people on the ship are the crew. On the cruise ship, they are a small minority, and they are completely focused on keeping the vast majority of the people on the ship (the passengers) happy. On the aircraft carrier (or battleship, or fishing boat, or any other type of working vessel), EVERYONE on board is part of the crew.
Just as a point of clarification - I was not advocating for the choice of cruise ship OVER either battleship or aircraft carrier.
ReplyDeleteThe cruise ship as a metaphor for the church raises as many objections in my mind as the battleship. MSW - I liked the features of the aircraft carrier you pointed out.
But in my mind - any metaphor we come up with for the church MUST include the idea of reaching out and tending to those in need. Neither a cruise ship nor a battleship have that pivotal quality.
It certainly is not about our own personal comfort and happiness. But our mission is not one performed through the projection of power and might, but through love and compassion.
MSW -- I couldn't have said it better! Thanks for sharing from personal experience.
ReplyDeleteChris -- Great observation ... I especially like your point about everyone on board being a member of the crew!
Renae C -- I love your heart for loving people with compassion. The military motif inevitably brings with it a hint of conversion by power or fear. And we know that "perfect love drives out fear." (1 John 4:18) Thanks for holding us to that! Never stop reminding us!
Blessings,
Pastor Ellis
There's nothing quite like Baptists for reinventing the wheel.
ReplyDeleteBut of course we're not reinventing; just trying to draw an old contrast in a new way. So "ship of fools" is to "cruise ship" as "ark of salvation" is to...battleship? aircraft carrier?
Renae is absolutely right. Accidental similarities to the church aside, the *essential* function of a battleship or aircraft carrier militates strongly [pun intended] against its use as a picture of what the church is or should be. As a metaphor, it sends the wrong message. It projects the wrong image. It misses the boat.
But Chris has summarized the contrast you are aiming at very nicely: church as pleasure craft vs. church as working vessel. Once you specify the *kind* of working vessel, we all get tangled up in the rigging and can't steer the discussion out of the harbor.
Nevertheless, if I thought for a moment that you really believed the essential nature of the church is most aptly expressed by the metaphor of a battleship, I would simply have to disembark.
Tempting, I know.
LDB, on 7/14 you opened your first comment with: “Well, God forgive us for reaching the point where, surrounded though we are by the distress calls of the despairing, the drifting, the deluded, the drowning, we just can't quite figure out what our mission is.”
ReplyDeleteI would venture to analyze our discussion is designed not to so much as to determine what our mission is, as it is to develop a better understanding of the definition of the church and its mission and how it relates to that(those) mission(s). Of which the end result is to help us better identify and understand our roles in the church and that(those) mission(s) so that we may fulfill the task(s) at hand to the best of our God given abilities.
That being said, using the metaphorical vantage point of cruise ship vs. air craft carrier would be a mute discussion. The primary discussion for any individual should be internal, to which the question would more aptly be, “am I a passenger, or a crew member?”