Showboat or Battleship

I love Adrian Rogers.  I listen to him almost every time I drive my car. (No joke, my radio has been broken for about 3 years and the only CD's I have with me are his sermons.)  Today I was listening to a sermon of his that I had heard at least several times, but today, one of his statements struck me like it never had before.  The statement was simple, but it blew my socks off.

"The Church is not a showboat, it's a battleship."

Man! What a statement!  As I thought about it, I realized how appropriate it was for our churches today.  Many churches have begun to operate a lot more like showboats than battleships, and there is a huge difference between the two.  Let me share with you a few of the differences that stick out to me.

A showboat exists to entertain, a battleship exists for a mission.

A showboat focuses on pleasing it's passengers, a battleship focuses on pleasing it's Commander.

The people aboard a showboat are there to be served, the people aboard a battleship are there to serve.

The people aboard a showboat look for what makes them happiest, the people aboard a battleship must work together to accomplish their objective.

A showboat's budget is focused on luxury, extravagance, and comfort, a battleship's budget must be streamlined and used in ways that will bring the most BANG for the buck (some pun intended.)

A showboat really isn't going anywhere and nobody really cares as long as the show is good, a battleship has a mission to complete and a destination in sight.

My prayer is that our churches will start shutting down the games and start loading the guns!