Cruise Ship Church

 

A friend of mine and I had a conversation about church once.  In that conversation he made a great statement.  Sometimes, church can be what he termed, "cruise ship church".  I had to break that down in my mind for awhile because the name had alot of implications.  It says alot about a church building, its leadership and even the people in the church.

 

I actually came racing to this place in my mind because tonight I listened to Francis Chan talk about how churches in many generations made obvious mistakes when we look back, but it was not obvious to them at the time.  For example,

 

During Martin Luther's day, Catholics would sell indulgences where people could purchase forgiveness of their sins.  Only a few stood against this heresy but many in the church accepted the practice.

 

During the Civil War, churches in the south supported slavery.  Looking back, this really doesn't make sense to do such a thing, but again many in the church accepted the practice and only a few stood against it.

 

So the question he raised that compelled me was, "What is it that we accept in our generation that we will look back on and say, 'That was pretty dumb'?"  What have we accepted?  We really have to take a step back and look at ourselves from a distance to find such an answer.

 

Francis Chan gave the answer that I had in my mind.  He said that we are a "consumer church".  We come to church on Sundays expecting good music, good programs and good teaching and we live in this shell of what church should be.

 

So think about it for a second.  What do you expect of church?  Do you expect all of those things?  Do you search out good programs and good facilities?  Do you come to church with the mentality that the church is there for your needs?  What is church really for?

 

After my friend made the comment about cruise ship church, I had the luxury of going on my first cruise ever.  I have to admit I had a great time.  Some friends came and it was alot of fun.  However, "cruise ship church" echoed in my mind on the boat.  When I was on the cruise, it was about me.  They had shows for me, food for me (6:30am to 1:30am), a movie theater, music, games, relaxation, convenience, comedy, swimming, a workout room and a view that was amazing.

 

As all these attributes played out in my mind, I started making comparisons to American church, and to be honest, I cringed.  We can go to church today and watch shows and movies, play games, sit in comfortable seats and pick a church close to our house.  Many have great programs and do a great job in entertaining our kids.  You can go to yoga at church, join the basketball team, the softball team, a gym in some places and it's all well and good.  None of these things are bad in and of themselves, but the question that crippled me was, "Have we missed the boat?" (awkward question being on a boat at the time)

 

Have we made church about us in action even though we talk about God?  When I look at the early church, it was not about the best programs or speakers or facilities.  It was about people who relied on God so much that they couldn't make it without Him.  If God did not intervene in their situation, Christianity would have died off as another cult.  But God demonstrated His purposes through the churches and He made known the name of Jesus to billions of people through the ages.

 

I believe it is time to abandon ship.  It is time for Christians to change the norm of Christianity.  Every believer needs to make it their responsibility for their faith, not the ship captain or crew.  We should not rely on programs to teach our kids when God gave that role to fathers and mothers. 

 

We cannot live off our parents faith and live out our faith like our parents did.  This is our generation and our responsibility.  In a time where America is about consumerism, the church has to reject it and make church about God again, not only in well educated teaching, but we desperately need God glorified in our actions.  The world needs to see the power of God in His Church (with a capital C).  It is time for us all to get off the ship and hit our knees.  It is time for us to really be the Church again.