Living in the Lifeboat, Pt. 2

The kids in Wednesday class had no problem with the lifeboat activity, they jumped right in and they were pretty much in agreement. There are some interesting observations to be made from this. 15 people on the boat and they could take 9. This is who they decided to keep: the doctor, Orlando Pace (a pro-bowl offensive tackle for the St. Louis Rams), a youth minister, a factory worker, a farmer, a structural engineer, a boy scout with ADHD, and themselves. Everyone of them had 7 or 8 votes out of 8. From there it was a tie between a cowboy cheerleader (only the males voted for her) and a boy named Pete, whose story was told in the previous class. He was the reject in his school that everyone made fun of. He was poor and had bad hygiene, but he picked up 4 on the sympathy vote.

This is who was left behind: a welfare mother, Paris Hilton, a teacher with multiple sclerosis, Fabio, and a Down Syndrome child. I asked specifically about the last one, and they all assured me they would not leave [three members of our congregation with Downs Syndrome, and all three very loving and caring]. Relationships do matter. But once there ceases being a relationship, we start to think of what value they have based on what they can offer in productivity. If I put their names down specifically, they would have voted from them in an instant, but they thought of someone who they don’t know and have no relationship with. Is this tough to hear? Absolutely, but if we are honest we all make these kind of assessments. I am no different. I hesitate to put all this information down because it is a sensitive topic. But the reality is we all struggle with valuing people based on what we think they can give to society by being a productive citizen verses what we are called to which is selflessly loving others and seeing their value through the eyes of Christ. I’m somewhat surprised the youth minister got all those votes, because honestly, if I were stranded on a desert island, I’m not really sure what I could offer other than good theology and a few jokes. I’m not sure I would be the most useful at all. They connected youth minister to me, who they have a relationship with, instead of some great youth minister somewhere else that they don’t know. Relationships matter greatly, and it influences how we see the lifeboat.

But a relationship with Christ should have the lifeboat mentality sinking. Society does not give people value! It only takes them and uses them for their own means. Once you stop being productive you are thrown aside. Christ is where identity and value must come from. For from Him we learn love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control as well as wisdom and understanding. You never outlive your usefulness to the Lord or to His kingdom. But He asks us to die to ourselves, so that we can be free and live outside of the lifeboat mentality.

Two songs by Derek Webb that illustrate this point:

"What Is Not Love" on I See Things Upside Down

What looks like failure is success
And what looks like poverty is riches
When what is true looks more like a knife
It looks like you’re killing me
But you’re saving my life

But I give myself to what looks like love
And I sell myself for what feels like love
And I pay to get what is not love
And all just because I see things upside down

What looks like weakness can do anything
And what looks like foolishness is understanding
When what is powerful has not come to fight
It looks like you’re going to war
But you lay down your life

But I give myself to what looks like love
And I sell myself for what feels like love
And I pay to get what is not love
And all just because I see things upside down

What looks like torture is a time to rejoice
What sounds like thunder is a comforting voice
When what is beautiful looks broken and crushed
And I say I don’t know you
But You say it’s finished
When what is beautiful looks broken and crushed
And I say I don’t know you
But you say it’s finished

"Love Is Not Against the Law" on Mockingbird

Politics or love
Can make you blind or make you see
Make you a slave or make you free
But only one does it all
And it’s giving up your life
For the ones you hate the most
It’s giving them your gown
When they’ve taken your clothes
It’s learning to admit
When you’ve had a hand in setting them up
In knocking them down

Love is not against the law
Love is not against the law

Are we defending life
When we just pick and choose
Lives acceptable to lose
And which ones to defend
‘Cause you cannot choose your friends
But you choose your enemies
And what if they were one
One and the same
Could you find a way
To love them both the same
To give them your name

Love is not against the law
Love is not against the law
Love, love, love love