Troop Carrier or Luxury Liner

I am currently reading the last few chapters in a book that has taken me about a month to get through (not because it's a long book, but because I take so long to read something). The book is called "Radical: Taking Back Your Faith from the American Dream". The author used an illustration when talking about the design and purpose of the church that I thought was worth getting out there for discussion. This is not meant to be a post born out of cynicism, just an honest observation. Here is what he says. . . . .(paraphrased of course)

"In the late 1940s, the US government commissioned the construction of an eighty-million dollar troop carrier for the navy. It's purpose: to have a ship that could speedily carry 15,000 troops during time of war. After it's completion, it could carry 15,000 troops @ 51 mph, and it could travel 10,000 miles without stopping for fuel or supplies. It could outrun any other ship and travel nonstop anywhere in the world in less that 10 days. The SS United States was the fastest and most reliable troop carrier in the world.

The only catch is, she never carried troops. She was put on standby once during the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962, but otherwise she was never used in all her capacity by the U.S. Navy.

Instead, the SS United States became a luxury liner for presidents, heads of state, and a variety of other celebrities who traveled on her during here 17 yrs of service. As a luxury liner, she couldn't carry 15,000 people. Instead she could house just under 2,000 passengers. Those passengers could enjoy the luxuries of 695 staterooms, 4 dining salons, 3 bars, 2 theaters, 5 acres of open deck with a heated pool, 19 elevators, and the comfort of a fully air-conditioned ship. Instead of a vessel used for battle during wartime, she became a means of indulgence for wealthy patrons who desired to coast peacefully across the Atlantic.

When I think about the history of this ship, I wonder if she has something to teach us about the history of the church. The church, like the SS U.S., has been designed for battle. The purpose of the church is to mobilize a people to accomplish a mission. Yet we seem to have turned the church as a troop carrier into the church as a luxury liner. We seem to have organized ourselves, not to engage in battle for the souls of peoples around the world, but to indulge ourselves in the peaceful comforts of the world. This makes me wonder what would happen if we looked squarely in the face of a world with 4.5 billion people going to hell and 26,000 children dying every day of starvation and preventable diseases, and we decided it was time to move this ship into battle instead of sitting back on the pool deck while we wait for the staff to serve us hors d' oeuvre."

We have undoubtedly turned the church into something it was never intended to be. . .a luxury liner. We have sat by long enough and turned our nose up at suffering, dying world long enough. It is high time we stop reading and writing and blogging about it and do something about it.

I'm not beating around the bush here or simply dropping hints. I am being as suggestive as I can. We have glazed over passages like Luke 12 long enough. "Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat; neither for the body, what ye shall put on. The life is more than meat, and the body is more than raiment. . . . .but rather seek ye the kingdom of God; and all these things shall be added unto you. Sell that ye have, and give alms;. . . . .for where your treasure is, there will your heart be also." This is coming from someone (and I say this as humbly as possible) who is finally beginning to take this literally, (as it was intended to be) and trying to change the way I think and live in order to fulfill this.

~Smitty