Parable of the Cruise Ship (Article from January 2011)

The Parable of the Cruise Ship

The kingdom of God is like a wonderful cruise ship, with God as its captain.  The cruise ship is a place to be with God—spending time with him, relaxing, being active or being quiet—endless varieties of ways to enjoy God.

A certain woman stands on the ship.  All around her stretches a vast ocean.  From the deck of the ship, it looks beautiful.  The sea beckons her with its deep blue and cool wetness.  She even glimpses hints of the wonders below the surface like dolphins frolicking and majestic whales breaching.  So, instead of sticking with the one who created her, she climbs the rail and leaps off the ship. 

Now God created the ocean too, with all of its marvels and mysteries.  To a person alone in the water however, the view changes drastically—she is now at risk of becoming shark bait, or being stung by jelly fish or of drowning.  The appealing parts of the ocean are still present, but the woman is too busy just trying to keep her head above the water.

“How can the captain allow me to suffer like this?” she thinks angrily.  “If he’s such a loving captain, I wouldn’t be drowning, and the sharks would not be circling around me!”

Meanwhile, back on the ship, what is the captain doing? 

Is he oblivious to her suffering? 

Is he playing shuffleboard?

Is he sternly watching her, while shaking his head and muttering, “What an idiot!”?

Is he proclaiming piously, “She got what she deserved!  If you jump off a ship into the ocean, you’re going to drown!”?

No, the captain frantically sounds the alarm—“Man overboard!”

The woman, busy shaking her fist at the ship and blaming the captain for her plight, doesn’t notice at first that the captain has thrown her a rope.  Then she splashes and flails, trying to reach the rope, but she is too weak to hold on.  Even when she thinks she has it in her grasp, it slips from her fingers.

The captain knows that the woman is not likely to be saved by the rope, but he knows she needs to try.  He loves her, and he will not give up!

So he risks everything to save her—he strips off his uniform jacket and hat, and dives into the waves.  He, too, now deals with sharks and other dangers, but he purposefully and fearlessly swims to the woman.  Just as she’s going down for the third time, the captain comes to her side to save her.

The woman’s first reaction is to push the captain away.  She’s still angry and resentful of the captain for her miserable situation.  Then she feels so stupid and ashamed for jumping off the ship.  She resolves to rescue herself, return to the ship on her own, and then be with the captain—ignoring the fact that he’s treading water beside her.

The captain, however, does not give up easily.  He shouts at her to take his hand and even slaps her face to try to get her attention.  Ultimately however, the captain cannot save someone who chooses not to be rescued.  And some point, the captain will have to get back on the ship with or without the woman.

Finally, the woman realizes what the captain wants from her.  Gasping to him that she is sorry for being a fool, she stops struggling.  Immediately the captain pulls her into his arms and swims back to the ship.

Back aboard the ship, the woman worries how to face the captain now that he has saved her from certain death.  She soon understands however, that the kind of captain willing to personally dive into the sea in order to save her is unlikely to hold a grudge.  In fact, to her utter amazement, he and all those around them cheer and celebrate.  The captain throws his arms around her in the biggest bear hug ever! 

As the woman sits there, covered in stings and wounds, the captain gets right to work administering first aid, and staunching the flow of blood.  As she limps around the deck, she still hurts, but she’s so happy to be alive, she can bear it.  She still can’t get over the lengths the captain went to in order to rescue her.  She has never felt so utterly and completely loved.

As the woman rests on the deck, safe and secure, she wishes she could repay the captain to whom she owes everything.  She studies other survivors around her on the ship.  Some are gathered in tight groups, laughing and enjoying each other’s company.  Some are blithely playing shuffleboard.  Still others are stretched out on chaise lounge chairs, blissfully snoozing in the sunshine. 

As the woman stands there, she hears a faint cry.  She glances around, uncertain where it came from.  Moving toward the rail, the cries get louder and are joined by other cries.  When she reaches the rail, she gapes in horror at the surface of the ocean around her.  All around the ship, struggling people bob in the waves.  A few fellow passengers also stand at the rail.  A woman next to her shakes her head sadly and with a deep, regretful sigh, walks away to visit the buffet.  A man on her other side yawns and glances longingly at the lounge chairs.

“There’s really nothing we can do,” he says, patting the woman’s shoulder before he quickly slinks away.

Standing there, the woman’s own experience comes flooding back.  She shudders as she recalls the feeling of being in that water—the stings, the anger, the struggle and fear, and the hopelessness.  When she thinks of all the captain did, her shoulders straighten, and her hands tighten on the rail.

“Man overboard!” the woman shouts.  Leaning as far over the edge as she can, she desperately tries to get through to any people she can.

“Please!  Just stop struggling and let the captain save you!” she yells.  She becomes hoarse with her efforts, and tries to get other survivors on deck to come and help.  They ignore her, so she turns back to the ocean, and keeps trying.  How could she possibly turn away and take a nap when the captain who saved her is out there now trying to save others?

The woman watches in despair as some people never stop fighting the captain.  She sees others do hear her, but they just shake their fists at her in response.  She weeps as she watches men and women slip silently beneath the waves.

But the woman also notices that some listen desperately to her instructions.  They turn to the captain who’s there trying to help them.  When she sees one struggle end, and the captain’s powerful strokes back to the ship, she’s overwhelmed with joy!  She jumps and cheers in elation.  But not for long—she knows that many, many others are still out there drowning.  The captain needs her help to rescue them, and he counts on her.

When God created us he could have made us like Stepford wives—seemingly “perfect” in every way, but unable to think for ourselves and to make choices.  We would never reject God, because we wouldn’t be able to.

Instead, God designed us with minds of our own, giving us the chance to know him intimately of our own free will.  The risk for God is that we may reject him.  God cannot have it both ways:  he can’t give us free choice, and then give us only one option to choose.

But making choices does not end once we are saved.  What does God, the captain who risked everything in order to rescue us from certain death, want from us?  Will we huddle together with other passengers gossiping and complaining about the service on the ship?  Or nap in the sun?  Or will we do everything we possibly can to help the captain rescue as many people as possible?

The choice is ours.