• Home
  • About This Blog
  • Contact Me
  • Subscribe
  • Comment Policy

Attempts at Honesty

Reflections on the interplay of the Bible and Culture

  • Westminster Shorter Catechism Series
  • Sermon on the Mount Series
Home Bible Reflection What I learned about the church from a cruise ship

What I learned about the church from a cruise ship

Posted on October 8, 2011 Written by Mark McIntyre 1 Comment


Open OceanI recently returned from a cruise to Bermuda from the Baltimore harbor. It was my first experience of being on the open ocean during the day where there is a 360° view of nothing but water and an occasional ship. To be on that ship in relatively calm weather, with the blue sea all around was a pleasant experience.

There were two things that I observed on that cruise that I think relate to how the church should function.

  1. The ship is intended to traverse the ocean but not remain there.
  2. Everyone on the ship knew his purpose and contributed to the success of the voyage.

No matter how pleasant the experience of sailing on the ocean was, that ocean is not my home. Humans cannot live in the ocean, we are sojourners who are on the ocean for the purpose of getting to somewhere else. The ship is not intended to remain on the ocean indefinitely, it must continue on to its intended destination.

I observed on the ship that every one of the crew members knows what he needs to accomplish to make the trip a success. Some were focused on passenger comfort, some on passenger safety and others were busied with keeping the ship moving in the correct direction. Everyone on staff knew their purpose. They were trained and assigned to do the individual tasks that make the voyage a success.

There is an old time gospel song that says, “this world is not my home, I’m just a passin’ through, my treasures are laid up somewhere beyond the blue . . .” This captures the idea of the first point. We are designed for eternity and we must strive to remember this. We are here for a few years and are proceeding to a destination. While we may enjoy the voyage, it is important to remember that the enjoyment must be secondary to maintaining momentum and remaining on course.

We also need every person trained and assigned to do the necessary tasks to accomplish the goal. Why is it that we understand this in business, the military or on an ocean vessel, but we think that there is something wrong with providing structure in the church? If the eternal destiny of the souls that are impacted by the church are at stake, shouldn’t we be more vigilant in training workers?

Yes, I understand that the ultimate responsibility for the outcome is God’s but God gives us the privilege and responsibility to use our gifts and brains to accomplish his purpose for us. Leaders in the church have the responsibility to train the members of the church, “equipping them for the work of ministry.” (Ephesians 4:11-12).

God has given his church a mission. That mission is to make disciples (Matthew 28:19-20). Like the ship’s crew, each member of the church must contribute to the success of this mission. Each member of the church also needs to keep in mind that while we may enjoy our circumstances along the way, like the ship, we need to maintain progress and move toward our destination.

As the world around us crumbles into chaos, the church needs to stay the course to be used by God to accomplish his purpose with every member contributing the success of the journey.


Filed Under: Bible Reflection, Christianity and Culture, Church Leadership Tagged With: Church, mission

About Mark McIntyre

A follower of Jesus Christ who shares observations about how Scripture should impact the church and the world. Mark is the original author and editor of Attempts at Honesty.

Follow Attempts at Honesty

Honesty in your Inbox

Prophetic Voice

On the need for a prophetic voice

The bottom line is that I need a prophetic voice in my life. So, I guess I’m OK with my pastor making me feel uncomfortable. Perhaps in this I am in a minority.

Thoughts on transformation inspired by John Donne

Divine Poem I by John Donne: Father of Heaven, and him, by whom It, and us for it, and all else, for us Thou madest, and govern’st ever, come And re-create mee, now growne ruinous: My heart is by dejection, clay, And by selfe-murder, red. From this red earth, Of Father, purge away All vicious […]

Mirror

Mirror, Mirror on the Wall . . .

What would cause enough joy to make the pain and suffering of the cross worth while? Something that could provide that much joy must be something of extreme value. It must be something that is worth obtaining.

Hammer and Anvil

Between the hammer and the anvil

The iron goes into the fire to be heated and then is moved to the anvil to be hammered into the desire form. The process is repeated until the smith is satisfied with the result.

A Challenge from Os

I was challenged by this paragraph and thought I would share it: The faith-world of John Wesley, Jonathan Edwards, John Jay, William Wilberforce, Hannah More, Lord Shaftsbury, Catherine Booth, Hudson Taylor, D. L. Moody, Charles Spurgeon, Oswald Chambers, Andrew Murray, Carl Henry, and John Stott is disapearing. In its place a new evangelicalism is arriving […]

Post Series

  • Westminster Shorter Catechism Series
  • Sermon on the Mount Series
September 2023
SMTWTFS
 12
3456789
10111213141516
17181920212223
24252627282930
« Jun    

Categories

Archives

Blogger Grid
Follow me on Blogarama

Copyright © 2023 · Focus Pro Theme on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in