Which boat are you in?
Perhaps you are in a rowboat. I was in a rowboat for much of my life. I relied on myself to get everywhere. The captain of my boat was legalism. I had to continually get right with God. Everything I did was so I could get somewhere. The effect of my rowboat was pride and exhaustion. I was further in the race than others, so I would judge them. I was holier than thou. On the surface I would be cheery but in my mind, I would be rolling my eyes. Why couldn’t they be as smart, confident, disciplined, strong, etc? I was also exhausted. All I did was row and row and row. There was always a verse to memorize, rules to obey, grades to get, money to be made, respect to earn, a body to discipline, people to impress. When I got behind, I reasoned that others were given better boats, better motors. It wasn't my fault. When the seas got rough, I had nothing but my weary arms and my poor attitude. When I was ahead in my row boat, I thought I was the better than the Harvard sailing team; when I was behind, I had no hope, nothing but despair. It wasn’t until my arms gave out and I saw Jesus standing there on the water, imploring me to leave my row boat.
Perhaps you are on a battleship, where everyone and everything is a threat to you. If you don’t get your way, then the cannons go flying. The workplace is your war theatre; you are intent on domination and control. The people around you are suppressed. You think you’re standing for what’s right, when really you are just bullying people to believe what you believe.
Perhaps you are floating on a plank of wood, not knowing where to go.
Or perhaps you find yourself on the sailboat. You are completely reliant on the wind, completely reliant on the Holy Spirit (wind and spirit are the same word in Hebrew I believe). But you won’t catch any wind unless you put up your sails and maintain them. In this boat, there is no pride, because you are not in control. And there is more than leisure, because you have to keep your sails ready and willing. It takes effort on our part and the power of the wind to get us anywhere. The sailboat is humble. The sailboat is meek. It brings peace and it brings joy. On a sailboat, you are not idle or overworked. You are not prideful or in despair. Cruise shippers might mock the sail boat for its lack of delicacies and treasures. Row boats might scoff at how dependent and ineffective the sailboat is. But those on the sail boat know peace. They know the wind. They know their weaknesses and they know their capabilities. Ultimately, the sail boat is a delightful voyage--adventurous and peaceful.
Our society is full of rowboats and cruise ships, battleships and floating planks. You don’t see many sailboats anymore. We’re all on the USS American Dream, where we have all our needs met and all our desires uncontained. Think about it, if you are reading this, you are in the top 5% of the world in wealth. You’re the elite! We are so rich that our poor live like kings compared to the rich in other countries. We are so rich that our median household income ($43000 or so) is over 20 times the income of 2/3 of the world (about $1700). You make the average salary of a household in a few weeks. You’re rich! But Jesus is never concerned about whether we are rich enough. Instead, he says “I am concerned that you have too much. I am concerned about what those riches cost our relationship to you, to your relationship with me, and to those around you.” Because when we look past the needs of this world, it is social genocide.
Tony Campolo says it in a less "politically correct way":
I have three things I'd like to say today. First, while you were sleeping last night, 30,000 kids died of starvation or diseases related to malnutrition. Second, most of you don't give a shit. What's worse is that you're more upset with the fact that I said shit than the fact that 30,000 kids died last night.
What does living on the sailboat look like? Galatians 5:22-23 : But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. If we truly have the Holy Spirit in us, shouldn't we have these fruits to a supernatural amount. Ask yourself: Are you more loving than your rowboat friends, more joyful than cruise ship friends, more patience than your Jewish friend, more self-controlled than your Muslim friends? If God is in us, then people should be able to tell!
Once, in prayer, I saw myself on a sailboat in the middle of the ocean. The water was calm and I couldn’t see anything no matter where I looked. But I understood that this water was God’s grace, and I was lost in it. The good thing about being lost at sea is that you can’t see what’s behind you. All your past history and mistakes are no longer in your vision. The challenging thing is that you can’t see what’s ahead or where you’re going. All you can do is trust the wind to push you where it wants to. Sometimes the wind is calm and serene and sometimes it’s pushing you faster than you are comfortable. Regardless, I knew I was heading towards a certain place. I knew that my destination was my home. I knew my home was the land of my King. I longed for it. It’s like a place you would find painted in the Chronicles of Narnia. I have never seen it, but I know it’s there (despite what I feel sometimes). Also, I could picture others who were still in the dock, afraid to set course. They wanted to be safe. They felt too connected to the past. They wanted to know exactly where they were going. They wanted to make sure they had enough supplies and comfort to get there. But yet, they sat there at the dock… just floating. I knew, however, that boats weren’t meant to sit at the dock. They were meant to go somewhere. The words “Let’s risk the ocean. There’s only grace.” sang in my mind.
The current of today flows toward making yourself happy, even at other’s expense. People marry selfishly, they work selfishly, they drive selfishly, they give selfishly. “I want a wife that serves me and always makes me feel like a million bucks, I want a government that serves and protects me, I want a car that never breaks down, and traffic that gets out of my way, and I want everyone to praise me for donating the pile of clothes that sits in my basement, because that was a sacrifice.” We thought self-celebration would make us happy. But when we live in the sailboat, the wind of the Holy Spirit takes us against the current. We live sacrificially, marry sacrificially, etc. “If I have a wife, I want to give my life as a gift to her, as Christ gave his life for us, and I will obey my authorities—God first, then the human governments He put in place—and I will be patient in affliction and joyful in suffering and I will consider others better than myself.” When we live like this, people will realize that their rowboats and cruise ships are slowly sinking, and they will jump ship, losing their life so that they might find it.
So let’s set sail. The Holy Spirit can take us through any storm, and it is in the storms where we see Christ's power, where we see him standing on the waves.
Perhaps you are in a rowboat. I was in a rowboat for much of my life. I relied on myself to get everywhere. The captain of my boat was legalism. I had to continually get right with God. Everything I did was so I could get somewhere. The effect of my rowboat was pride and exhaustion. I was further in the race than others, so I would judge them. I was holier than thou. On the surface I would be cheery but in my mind, I would be rolling my eyes. Why couldn’t they be as smart, confident, disciplined, strong, etc? I was also exhausted. All I did was row and row and row. There was always a verse to memorize, rules to obey, grades to get, money to be made, respect to earn, a body to discipline, people to impress. When I got behind, I reasoned that others were given better boats, better motors. It wasn't my fault. When the seas got rough, I had nothing but my weary arms and my poor attitude. When I was ahead in my row boat, I thought I was the better than the Harvard sailing team; when I was behind, I had no hope, nothing but despair. It wasn’t until my arms gave out and I saw Jesus standing there on the water, imploring me to leave my row boat.
Perhaps you are on a cruise ship. Sounds wonderful, doesn’t it? Cruise ships are loaded with all the best food and it’s all you can eat. And since you’re on vacation, the calories don’t matter. Every day is spent waking up and searching for pleasures. How will I pleasure myself today? Will it be food, or relationships, or video games? Will it be jet skis and thrills, or sitting in the sun and wasting my worries away? The captain of this boat is pleasure. But the effect of riding this USS fun boat is frustration and devastation. We become bored with everything. Every thrill is like the other. No matter what pleasure we seek, we still yearn for more. We are never satisfied. It is chasing the sea wind, as Solomon would say. Because we throw responsibility to the wind, our desires turn on us. Our God is our stomach, and our stomach can’t handle another fried Twinkie. Cruise ships are big and bulky. They plow through anything in their way. When we ride the cruise ship, we plow of the poor, the oppressed, the drowning, the wind-battered, and the storm-bruised. We reason: “I am on a less luxurious ship than those around me. I must be a good Christian. I must be so generous to throw my leftovers overboard to those left behind.” Unfortunately, all the all-inclusive fun we have spent our money on isn’t making us happier. An increase in prosperity doesn’t make people happier or healthier. In fact, to supply the needs of a high consumption lifestyle, you have to stretch out your time and energy, thus reducing the joy from relationships and leisure around you. A study shows that once you hit about $13000 a year per person, money does little to increase happiness…. That’s most of us (or our parents). We’re all on the USS American Dream. But perhaps there is more to life than riding the cruise ship till sunset.
Perhaps you are on a battleship, where everyone and everything is a threat to you. If you don’t get your way, then the cannons go flying. The workplace is your war theatre; you are intent on domination and control. The people around you are suppressed. You think you’re standing for what’s right, when really you are just bullying people to believe what you believe.
Perhaps you are floating on a plank of wood, not knowing where to go.
Or perhaps you find yourself on the sailboat. You are completely reliant on the wind, completely reliant on the Holy Spirit (wind and spirit are the same word in Hebrew I believe). But you won’t catch any wind unless you put up your sails and maintain them. In this boat, there is no pride, because you are not in control. And there is more than leisure, because you have to keep your sails ready and willing. It takes effort on our part and the power of the wind to get us anywhere. The sailboat is humble. The sailboat is meek. It brings peace and it brings joy. On a sailboat, you are not idle or overworked. You are not prideful or in despair. Cruise shippers might mock the sail boat for its lack of delicacies and treasures. Row boats might scoff at how dependent and ineffective the sailboat is. But those on the sail boat know peace. They know the wind. They know their weaknesses and they know their capabilities. Ultimately, the sail boat is a delightful voyage--adventurous and peaceful.
Our society is full of rowboats and cruise ships, battleships and floating planks. You don’t see many sailboats anymore. We’re all on the USS American Dream, where we have all our needs met and all our desires uncontained. Think about it, if you are reading this, you are in the top 5% of the world in wealth. You’re the elite! We are so rich that our poor live like kings compared to the rich in other countries. We are so rich that our median household income ($43000 or so) is over 20 times the income of 2/3 of the world (about $1700). You make the average salary of a household in a few weeks. You’re rich! But Jesus is never concerned about whether we are rich enough. Instead, he says “I am concerned that you have too much. I am concerned about what those riches cost our relationship to you, to your relationship with me, and to those around you.” Because when we look past the needs of this world, it is social genocide.
Tony Campolo says it in a less "politically correct way":
I have three things I'd like to say today. First, while you were sleeping last night, 30,000 kids died of starvation or diseases related to malnutrition. Second, most of you don't give a shit. What's worse is that you're more upset with the fact that I said shit than the fact that 30,000 kids died last night.
What does living on the sailboat look like? Galatians 5:22-23 : But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. If we truly have the Holy Spirit in us, shouldn't we have these fruits to a supernatural amount. Ask yourself: Are you more loving than your rowboat friends, more joyful than cruise ship friends, more patience than your Jewish friend, more self-controlled than your Muslim friends? If God is in us, then people should be able to tell!
Once, in prayer, I saw myself on a sailboat in the middle of the ocean. The water was calm and I couldn’t see anything no matter where I looked. But I understood that this water was God’s grace, and I was lost in it. The good thing about being lost at sea is that you can’t see what’s behind you. All your past history and mistakes are no longer in your vision. The challenging thing is that you can’t see what’s ahead or where you’re going. All you can do is trust the wind to push you where it wants to. Sometimes the wind is calm and serene and sometimes it’s pushing you faster than you are comfortable. Regardless, I knew I was heading towards a certain place. I knew that my destination was my home. I knew my home was the land of my King. I longed for it. It’s like a place you would find painted in the Chronicles of Narnia. I have never seen it, but I know it’s there (despite what I feel sometimes). Also, I could picture others who were still in the dock, afraid to set course. They wanted to be safe. They felt too connected to the past. They wanted to know exactly where they were going. They wanted to make sure they had enough supplies and comfort to get there. But yet, they sat there at the dock… just floating. I knew, however, that boats weren’t meant to sit at the dock. They were meant to go somewhere. The words “Let’s risk the ocean. There’s only grace.” sang in my mind.
The current of today flows toward making yourself happy, even at other’s expense. People marry selfishly, they work selfishly, they drive selfishly, they give selfishly. “I want a wife that serves me and always makes me feel like a million bucks, I want a government that serves and protects me, I want a car that never breaks down, and traffic that gets out of my way, and I want everyone to praise me for donating the pile of clothes that sits in my basement, because that was a sacrifice.” We thought self-celebration would make us happy. But when we live in the sailboat, the wind of the Holy Spirit takes us against the current. We live sacrificially, marry sacrificially, etc. “If I have a wife, I want to give my life as a gift to her, as Christ gave his life for us, and I will obey my authorities—God first, then the human governments He put in place—and I will be patient in affliction and joyful in suffering and I will consider others better than myself.” When we live like this, people will realize that their rowboats and cruise ships are slowly sinking, and they will jump ship, losing their life so that they might find it.
So let’s set sail. The Holy Spirit can take us through any storm, and it is in the storms where we see Christ's power, where we see him standing on the waves.
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