Sunday, February 5, 2012

What do you want to be as a church when we gather each Sunday and scatter for the week? If we imagined that MBC is a ship, what kind of ship are we? Recently, Jeanine and I took our family on a cruise. It was a great holiday. You have paid the price, you can eat as much as you like, and there are activities planned for all ages. Every so often there is a tour of an exotic location where we see how others live, then back to the comfort and safety of the ship. The purpose of a cruise is to enjoy being with people you love and having a good time together until we reach our destination. And if there are people you don’t get along with, there are plenty of options to avoid them. But is that what we want church to be?

If we read the Scriptures, the church is much more like a rescue ship. Each person on board has a very specific role that helps the overall purpose – rescue. Listening to those who experience deliverance from life-threatening danger, perhaps even brought back to life through CPR, reminds us how important each person is – and even more so when they enter the Kingdom of God.

On the East Coast of the USA, a community dedicated to rescuing the many ships that foundered near their small village had a motto: "You have to go out: you don’t always come back."

For me, I want to be part of a rescue ship, not a pleasure cruise. It is far more dangerous, and far more rewarding. And it is what God has called us to. Get on board!

Heath