Welcome Aboard the Titanic

WELCOME ABOARD THE TITANIC

The great ship left Southampton on April 10, 1912 and she headed for New York City. It was her maiden voyage and it was filled with all sorts of wealthy passengers. 2224 passengers set sail that day including the ship’s designer. It was to be a gala event and most of the world was paying attention. The ship provided all the luxuries anyone could want on a ship, and everything seemed very normal. That is until just before midnight on April 14^th. Without warning this great vessel hit an iceberg and began to sink.
It was widely presumed that the Titanic could not be sunk. But within a few hours she broke apart and sank. It was a great calamity and it made worldwide news. 1514 people lost their lives. While they partied eternity loomed. Surrounded by gold and tinsel, and faring sumptuously, their lives were required on that horrific night. Who among them sounded a warning? Who experienced any foreboding? The food was spectacular, the champagne was flowing, the music was inspiring, and all was well with the world. But in the darkness was an iceberg which stood between the Titanic and New York. Most would not live to see New York.
Close your eyes and imagine being on the great ship. Think of having no care. Think about enjoying all the wonderful amenities. Imagine being surrounded by lavish accoutrements and being waited on hand and foot. Now open your eyes and look around. We are sailing on the Titanic this very day. We enjoy all the technologies money can buy, and most of us will have to buy new and larger clothes next year. Even if they are not larger, many believers will still buy new clothes. Most believe this ship cannot sink.
The ship sails on.
Wars here and there and rumors of impending wars swirl around us. People massacred in Syria and elsewhere but it is just a news item. Professional football has begun and the dormant excitement is revived. The stores are filled with people buying school clothes and pens and paper and book bags. The election approaches, and like chromosomes taking sides before splitting, the political sides have been formed.
The ship sails on.
Bigger and better buildings provide for bigger and better congregations. Incredible music programs and all sorts of elaborate ministries for children often define a church. The preachers have rock star status and they have learned the art of fundraising very well. Tithing will help avoid God’s wrath and bring about much material blessings. Millions upon millions of dollars flow freely to television hucksters who fly in their own jets.
The ship sails on.
No longer satisfied with being inconvenienced by going to the movies to see explicit violence and sexual content, the cable companies pump loads of visual garbage into tens of millions of homes including professing believers. Promiscuous actors receive their awards and give lip service to Jesus. Church teens learn inappropriate behavior at an early age, and being armed with the social network and texting they delve deeply into areas reserved for marriage.
The ship sails on.
All kinds of marriage seminars are given throughout the evangelical community. Sermon series’ on how to have a happy marriage abound. Books and Cds flood couples with great advice for their marriage. Valentine’s Day banquets with special speakers uplift couples every year. But all the while adultery and divorce remain rampant.
The ship sails on.
The sex saturated culture is not enough for the church.She must encourage more and more sex with incredible frequency. Titlating sermons preached upon beds behind pulpits and on roof tops create sexual thirst. Preachers have clandestine rendezvous with illicit internet material as well as mental imagery involving other church women. This must be the path to purity.
The ship sails on.
The Joel Osteens and the Rick Warrens and the Rob Bells entertain the masses and throw out all kinds of theological fairy tales and the people love to have it so. Peruse the Christian bookstores and see professing believers who own them making money selling heresy and Christian trinkets. Listen to “Christian” television as men perfect all sorts of ways to separate people from their money with false promises of earthly success.
The ship sails on.
Sit back and take in the amazing sight as millions upon millions of people trudge to and fro on Sunday mornings with nary a change and with a redundancy that resembles rush hour traffic. The restaurants love the church folk as they provide much Sunday traffic for their establishments. Football games begin at 1:00 so everyone can get church out of the way and enjoy what Sundays are really for. Like an assembly line the parade of evangelical pew dwellers discharge their religious obligation secure in the knowledge that eventually heaven awaits them.
The ship sails on.
I know, how bleak. What a downer. Why not just enjoy yourself and bask in what God has provided? Yes, go ahead and dance. Pop the champagne! This ship will not sink unless we let the gays or Muslims or North Koreans or the liberals take away our earthly freedoms and sink this ship. And no one wants that. After all Captain Washington has set our course.
But lurking in the distance is an iceberg of colossal proportions. This one cannot be avoided. This is the iceberg of God’s judgment and it will soon come upon the entire world. Millions of church goers will be suddenly awakened but without a hope. The warnings will be history and the future will now be the present. Millions of professing believers may find that their profession was leaky to begin with and that their tepid confession will hold no water. They will seek for a life raft and find none. There will be only one chance and that chance is gone forever.
But millions of passengers have been told there are plenty of life rafts, in fact God has a seat for everyone regardless. False voices like Rob Bell have told then there is no iceberg, and that the only troubled waters are here on earth. Eternity will take care of itself. Do not worry, and if the ship should spring a leak, you can always put on a life vest later.
The ship sails on. The ship sails on. The ship sails on and on and on and…

Suddenly and soon…

The ship collides with a divine iceberg and has sunk.

All who trusted in this ship’s seaworthiness have perished.

Forever.

Until then, turn up the music and let then party roar.