Recently I got a chance to watch Bryan Loritts’ opening talk from the Downline Summit this spring.  He offered a challenging question: is your church a battleship or a cruise ship?  Take a moment and let that hit you.  Is your church taking the battle to the enemy, with every person fully committed to winning the cause?  Or is it a cruise ship, existing merely for the comfort and enjoyment of its many passengers?

Convicting concept and powerful metaphor.

But the more I thought about it, the more I realized that the metaphor easily extends beyond “the church” when I consider who the church is.  The church, you see, is me.  And you, if you are a follower of Jesus Christ.  So I have to look at my own life.  At my own family.  At my own checkbook.  I have to ask myself, am I in the battle or on the cruise?  So I thought of a few questions I am wrestling with that you might want to ask yourself as well.

1. Am I getting orders from the Admiral or giving orders to the cruise director?

2. Do I eat and sleep where my commanding officer tells me, or do I spend my time deciding which buffet to visit?

3. Do I start each day equipping myself for battle or do I begin my day planning how I will entertain myself?

4. At the end of my days am I weary from work for the cause or am I unsatisfied because I have spent my day feeding my appetites?

Talk it over with your man or woman. 

Tomorrow, a classic article on “Consecration to a War Time Lifestyle” by Dr. Ralph Winter.