Many Christians, and churches for that matter, view the purpose of the church to be like a cruise ship. We should go to church to have not only our needs met, but our wants met as well. Comfy beds, meals of choice foods, plenty of pool time, and of course mints on their pillow. The captain's (pastor's) job as well as the rest of the staff is to make sure that each person on the cruise ship is comfortable and happy and that nothing unpleasant or painful happens to them.
While this sounds nice, this is not the local church's purpose. The proper function of the church is that of a battleship. Sure the battleship has a gally where you can get good food. It has recreational areas where you can relax and enjoy yourself. However, the purpose of the battleship is to haul around really big guns and fight (in this case spiritual) enemies.
As we go about our mission to fight the good fight we pick up castaways and nurse them to health so they can serve in this spiritual battle effectively. We do not do them any favors if we let them sit in sick bay even after they are well. There is no for passengers. When the ship is inevitably attacked if there are too many people relaxing and not engaging the work of running the ship we will be at the mercy of the enemy.
The cruise ship churches will get blindsided when they are attacked. The battleship churches won't get away unscathed, but they will be prepared and able to respond.
It isn't fun to prepare for war. It isn't fun to sacrifice comfort and pleasure. But the war for men's hearts is here whether we like it or not so we can choose to fight or ignore it at our own peril.
No comments:
Post a Comment