The story of your life, the story of life in general, can be difficult and frustrating to understand. The story we believe we are living determines how we respond to what is going on around us.
Gary Barkalow of The Noble Heart Ministry has a very powerful metaphor to help us understand our place in “the story” of life. He paints the picture of a “cruise ship” versus a “battleship”.
Some people picture life like being on a cruise ship. Those people who see life through the lens of being on a cruise ship believe they are entitled to a vast array of comforts and conveniences. They expect the food to be exceptional, their needs to be catered to and the overall experience to very pleasant. When the food isn’t the way they expect it to be they whine and complain. “This isn’t what I paid for.”
When the entertainment isn’t to their liking, or the activities are not what they were hoping for, they demand or expect changes to be made. If there are people staying in the cabin next to them that are acting unruly or inappropriately they will ask the authorities on the ship to deal with them, or ask to be moved to a more pleasant location on the ship with better ‘neighbours’.
When things get difficult – perhaps the seas get rough, people get sick and some hardship sets in – they are quick to declare, “This isn’t what I signed up for!”
All of this is a ‘rights’ oriented perspective. “I have paid for this, so I better get what I want.” “I do this, so you do that.”
However, those who picture their story like they are on a battleship have a completely different perspective. They expect difficulty. They expect hardship. They expect food and conditions to be adequate, but do not demand them to be exceptional. The purpose for being on the ship is not their self-gratification, their personal happiness or their personal pleasure. No, the purpose for being on the ship is the mission – to fight for freedom from the oppressor.
Those on a battleship do not expect to be served, they expect to serve. They do not expect to give orders, but to take orders. They are not demanding comfort and convenience, but are choosing courage, character, commitment and conviction. When they are called to “man their battle stations’ and take their place in the conflict, they are quick to do their duty out of a love for each other, their commander and the mission in which they are engaged.
Those who have responded to the call to serve on a battleship do not have a ‘rights’ oriented perspective. No, they have a ‘responsibility’ oriented perspective. “I am called to serve, so I will inconvenience myself and lay my life down for the greater good.”
What drastically different perspectives on the story of our lives.
Sadly, many people in the church have bought into the cultural deception that life is supposed to be a cruise ship. When, in reality, we have been called to take our place on a battleship to continue the fight that Jesus began. We are called to “man our battle stations”, and continue to fight for the freedom that Jesus purchased for us through His death and resurrection; to see God’s Kingdom come and His will be done on earth as it is in heaven – in us and through us.
I know I have been guilty of wanting a cruise ship life, a life of comfort and convenience, but that’s not the nature of our call, of our mission. Not that life is about the battle. No, life is about God’s kingdom of righteous, peace and joy. But Kingdom life is opposed and surrounded by battle, and the life God has for us and through us is worth the fight.
A true warrior can’t love war. He must love peace, because that’s what he’s fighting for.
Let’s resist being ‘Cruise Ship Christians’ and choose to be ‘Battleship Believers’ manning our battle stations on God’s Kingdom battleship called “Freedom”.
Psalm 144:1
“Praise be to the Lord my Rock, who trains my hands for war, my fingers for battle.”
Romans 14:17
“For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking, but of righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit,”
Matthew 10:38, 39
“Whoever does not take up their cross and follow me is not worthy of me. Whoever finds their life will lose it, and whoever loses their life for my sake will find it.”