The Tale Of A Ship Named Eternity

Many years ago, there was a massive ship named Eternity. So large in fact, that there was ample room for everyone. From all places, all points in time, all nationalities and ethnicities, all ages, all religious preferences — all people!

Many questions

As time passed, passengers began to have questions:

Where is the ship headed?
Who decided who would captain the ship?
What is the purpose of the ship in the first place?
Why do I have to be on the ship if I didn’t ask to be?
Why do some have a better place on the ship than others?

The questions and frustrations mounted to where a few of the bravest passengers decided they could navigate the ship more effectively than the Captain.. It made no sense to be on a ship they didn’t ask to be on; to be going somewhere they didn’t choose; and to be entrusting their lives and futures to a ship captain they don’t even know.

They finally had enough

Hellbent on taking over the helm of the ship, the revolutionary band of dreamers sought to ascend to the ship’s bridge. Only one door stood between them and the captain – the sign on the door read:

“By orders of the Captain: ‘You must not open this door.
Passengers have access through all other doors.
This door to be opened only by the Captain.'”

CAPTAIN OF SHIP ETERNITY

A tragic decision

A more vocal member of the group exclaimed, “The Captain knows that when we open that door we’ll see what only he has ever been able to see. He’s afraid we’ll know what he knows and have the power he has.”

As if their lives depended on it, the men and other women in the group leaned into the door and forced it open. In a blink of an eye, something in each of them changed. And they sensed that everything around them was different as well. To their dismay, the Captain’s seat had been vacated, and the massive vessel seemed to be navigating itself. But what was its destination?

Even this small contingent of self-motivated, self-assured, self-confident, self-made, self-sufficient, self-centered individuals could not restore the ship to it’s initial trajectory. They began to feel the ship oh so subtly begin to be compromised, its stern slowly sinking into the dark waters. Day after day, year after year, century after century, they insisted on navigating the ship their way, despite the evidence that it’s path was leading to eminent destruction.

They had to tell the passengers something

The group of selfs reported to the seemingly infinite number of other passengers that everything was under control. Safe. Making good progress. They assured the masses there was no reason for alarm. Any unexpected movement or change in direction of the ship, they claimed, had been planned from the onset of the voyage.

It was only a matter of time before the passengers began to compete against one another, seeking to prove they were superior in wealth, beauty, power, prestige, and knowledge. Competition and performance became the prevalent value system of the ship, in contrast to the love, affection, connection, and community of an earlier time. Could this have all changed when the selfs went to find the Captain? When the went through the restricted door? Surely not.

Performance became the new normal

Slowly, but without fail, performing for the approval of others became the highest priority of the ship’s society. It was virtually impossible to have self-worth, value, or meaning without others believing you were deserving of it. Fear and control replaced relationship and trust. Perfectionism replaced excellence. Self replaced community. Winning replaced teamwork. Anger replaced communication. Virtually everything had literally been turned upside down.

The rich got richer, while the poor got poorer. The powerful became dominant, while the weak became powerless. The successful became more prominent, while the average became insignificant. And that’s just a glimpse of the new order of things

A warning that only a few responded to

One passenger who apparently had access to information that the others did not began reporting that the ship was going down, with only a limited time before it would sink entirely. Further, there was apparently a small door where everyone — every single passenger — could go through a narrow passage to meet a man who went by the name “The Rescuer.” He would lead them to safety and save them from the eminent peril of the sinking ship.

As time slowly passed, the number of individuals who moved toward The Rescuer continued to increase. Yet still only a fraction of the much larger number of those who ignored the warning. Sadly, the criticism, mocking, and abuse imposed on those moving to safety grew more and more judgemental, harmful, even fatal.

The ship ultimately went down

The day would one day come when Ship Eternity completely gave into the dark, cold waters of the Sea of Death. Even to the very last moment before the ship slipped to the bottom of the sea, there were people clamoring to find their way to the narrow door that led to The Rescuer. Sadly, a vast number perished with the ship.

Jesus Christ, THE RESCUER

“For [God] has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.”
Colossians 1:13-14 NIV

“What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? Thanks be to God — through Jesus Christ our Lord.”
Romans 7:24-25 NIV

“And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”
Matthew 25:46

“If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved.”
Romans 10:9-10 NIV

“And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.”
Acts 4:12 (ESV)

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