Church as Usual

My pastor teaches in "sea-stories." Pastor Wayne was in the Navy for over 20 years, captaining submarines. "Jesus taught in parables; I teach in sea-stories," I've heard him say multiple times (for the benefit of new-comers). "Do any of you know the difference between a fairy-tale and a sea-story? A fairy tale begins 'Once upon a time', while a sea-story begins, 'This is the absolute truth...'"

Over the years, I have grown to know his sea-stories almost as well as he does. He uses them to illustrate principles he's teaching, explain confusing situations, make an important point, or just entertain us. For the most part, though, he tells his tales with the direct intent of teaching.

Example:

When he was in the Naval Academy, he took up boxing. Not because he was particularly good at boxing, but because he lacked ability in every other sport. Nevertheless, he did make a bit of a name for himself - mostly, because he is a "south-paw" (in other words, left-handed). Since the number of left-handed boxers are greatly dwarfed by the number of right-handers, he had an advantage. Right-handers know how to fight right-handers, and most often face-off against righties, so they (the righties) have little practice against lefties. On the other hand, lefties mostly fought righties, so they had to know how to fight both right- and left-handed.

His coach recognized the perk of Wayne's situation; in fact, he taught Wayne a simple, 3-move sequence that invariably landed the opponent on the mat. During one season, he was undefeated in his category. Just because of the "formula."

Well, one match changed all that. His opponent's coach had watched Wayne during many fights, and had figured out the routine - and taught a counter-sequence to the opponent (we'll call him "Bill"). When they faced each other in the ring, Wayne started his "winner" combination...and found himself on the mat. End of round one! He crawled to his trainer, who praised him - "You're doing great! Keep it up!" Round two: Why bother saying anything besides the fact that it was identical to round one? "Wayne, you're doing--" "Be quiet! What I'm doing isn't working. Show me something else to do!!"

So, after learning a couple different moves, he re-entered the ring and proceeded to flatten his rival. Since he lost two out of the three rounds, he lost the match. But that wasn't the point.

The "moral" of the story: We have an Enemy that has been studying our tricks. He knows the formula, and has counter-moves that knock us out whenever we try to fight. We can't do things the same way any more. Life (both spiritual and physical), church, work... If we aren't proactive in out-smarting our Foe, he'll always have a tactic ready against us. Why aren't there more healings? Why are so many pastors resigning because of discouragement? Why is the nation falling away?? These questions prompt an answer that suggests we need a paradigm shift. Church as usual isn't working any more. Satan knows our patterns. He is a careful observer - he pays attention to his enemy's tactics! Why aren't we more careful about his??

The answer to the old formula isn't a new one: the answer is complete and total dependence on God. Building relationship with Him (not just doctrines and head-knowledge). Unity with one another; all Christians are members of the same Church. We seem to forget that too often. Rather than focus on the beliefs that divide and distract (what does Satan love more than disorder in his enemy's camp?), we must re-center on the unifying foundations of our Faith.

Opening cans of worms has never been my cup of tea; I religiously avoid them, in fact. But this is too crucial to hide under a bushel. Sometimes, superficial tranquility must be superceded by the importance of an issue. Only when this is addressed and acted upon, can we then attain Perfect Peace.

~Chelsea