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The Two Ships
A Talk at the Monday Club
By Lee Bridges
All scripture citations are to the NIV-UK unless otherwise indicated.
TWO
SHIPS lay side by side some ten years ago in the River Fal in Cornwall. Their
history and background could not have been more diverse. One of them was ‘The
Redeemer’ – a missionary boat, used in bygone years by people carrying the
Gospel far and wide. The other had been impounded for drug smuggling,
having brought into the country drugs to a street value of £9m.
Two
ships – two very different functions. One devoted to the Lord’s service and the
blessing of others by giving them the message of hope for eternal life through
faith in the Saviour, the other dedicated to the accumulation of selfish riches
at the expense of the well-being of others and at the risk of sickness, ruin and
death for the vulnerable victims of drug abuse.
St. Paul, as the
Apostle to the Gentiles, became a seasoned sailor as he journeyed through
South-East Asia and into Europe, suffering shipwreck on three
occasions.
Since that early witness work, countless Christians have set sail
for distant places, obeying the Lord’s commission to go into all the world and
preach the good news to all creation.
To some of us (and I include
myself), a seemingly endless journey across a vast expanse of ocean, may
seem to be a terrifying prospect. How many found their courage faltering and
doubted the wisdom of the enterprise? The hardships and discomforts of the
voyage, and uncertainty as to the challenges ahead, tested their faith to the
uttermost, but they trusted that Jesus was their Captain; He was at the helm,
and He would bring them to a their chosen destination, to do the work of an
evangelist.
That work was in essence the teaching of the Gospel.
But as world populations increased and the curse bit ever deeper into the lives
of the hungry, the sick and the vulnerable, the loving hearts of the
missionaries led them to focus primarily on the physical needs of the world’s
poor, with a compassion they felt Jesus Himself had exercised and
taught.
What
About Us?
Are you a good sailor? A life on the ocean wave is not for me, as I
can be seasick on a pond! But while not called to the ends of the earth, we are
in a sense on a special journey under our ship’s Captain, and our mission is
still to bear witness to the Truth and to do good to all people as we have
opportunity. Simple as this may seem, it is not a luxury cruise. It is a working
journey through the Christian life, and yes, sometimes we are sick on the way.
We are bound to have our trials and testings, to fail often and to feel that we
fall short of the standard set by our Captain.
Perhaps we are not
articulate in explaining our faith to others. We may lack the courage to
challenge unbelievers, feeling they will talk us down. Perhaps even we find
doubts creep in and wonder if the wise according to this world have a point. Yet
we haven’t abandoned ship. We still see Jesus at the helm, and we have by
experience developed a conviction that only God’s plan of salvation has the
total cure for a selfish and sin-sick world, and this inevitably manifests
itself in our lifestyle and general conduct, which in itself is a witness to
unbelievers.
The Other
Boat
Drug abuse is so widespread these days that many of us have knowledge of
someone addicted to this dangerous habit. The driving need to ‘get stoned’ or
‘get high’ has brought grief to millions, while making millionaires of the drug
peddlers.
Alcohol and tobacco can also be addictive. The simple explanation
for simple folk like us is that indulgence affects the brain and tends to blot
out for a while the boredom, the anxieties, the inhibitions and the miseries of
daily living that mark the lives of so many. Liquid or powdered happiness is
their costly answer.
Christian Happiness
An oblique suggestion
was once made that as Christian believers, we too are seeking to escape the
drudgery of daily life with a pleasant tranquiliser, or possibly a powerful
stimulant. Karl Marx, German philosopher and revolutionary, taught that
‘Religion is the opium of the people.’ His suggestion was that religion is like
a drug, dulling the mind to reality, being based on fanciful expectations and
superstition, rather than on the truth.
We can perhaps sympathise
with many who regard church services as meaningless ritual intended to impress
and awe the uneducated. The pomp and ceremony of the great ecclesiastical
establishments bears little resemblance to the simple gatherings of believers in
the early Church. But for some the ritual observance has a ‘feel-good’ factor,
something the scornful would see as the opiate, the quick fix of the
simple-minded.
Those of us who favour and follow a
less showy form of worship do not escape the occasional mockery. Some
superstition and misunderstanding has doubtless crept into the Christian faith,
and many followers have failed to ‘prove all things’ and ‘hold fast to that
which is good’ (1 Thessalonians 5: 21, King James Version). A fine example was
set by the believers in Berea: ‘Now the Bereans were of more noble character
than the Thessalonians, for they received the message with great eagerness and
examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true’ (Acts 17:
11). St. Peter also exhorts us to be as sure as we can that we know what we
believe: ‘Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give
the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect,
keeping a clear conscience, so that those who speak maliciously against your
good behaviour in Christ may be ashamed of their slander’ (1 Peter 3: 15,
17).
Our faith in Jesus is not a
powerful drug which gives us a ‘quick fix’. God gives us a
complete cure — not immediately, as we have many lessons to learn
in this life before being made ready for His promised Kingdom. So we remain
aboard the ship of faith, confident that our Captain will bring us to our
desired haven. May fair winds follow us all!
If,
on a quiet sea, toward Heaven we calmly sail,
With grateful hearts, O God, to
Thee,
We’ll own the favouring gale,
With grateful hearts, O God, to
Thee,
We’ll own the favouring gale.
But should the
surges rise, and rest delay to come,
Blest be the tempest, kind the
storm,
Which drives us nearer home,
Blest be the tempest, kind the
storm,
Which drives us nearer home.
Soon shall our
doubts and fears all yield to Thy control;
Thy tender mercies shall
illume
The midnight of the soul,
Thy tender mercies shall illume
The
midnight of the soul.
Teach us, in every
state, to make Thy will our own;
And when the joys of sense depart,
To
live by faith alone,
And when the joys of sense depart,
To live by faith
alone.
—
August M. Toplady (1740-1778)
Copyright June 2009
ukbiblestudents.co.uk
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