What starts as work to lead people to safety can be detoured to self-indulgence
On a dangerous seacoast where shipwrecks often occurred, there was once a little life-saving station. The building was primitive and had just one boat, but the crew were committed to saving lives and kept a constant lookout for ships that got into trouble at sea. When a ship went down, day or night, they unselfishly went out to rescue people.
Because so many were saved, the station’s work became widely known. As a result, the station was overwhelmed with offers from people who wanted to give their time, talent and money to support its important work. New boats were bought, fresh crews were recruited and a formal training session was put in place for those who joined the ranks of the crew.
As membership grew, some were unhappy the building was old and had outdated equipment. They yearned for a better place to hold survivors they plucked out from the sea. So they built a large new building, replaced the old emergency cots with comfortable beds and brought in better furniture.
In time the station became a popular meeting place for the crew. They met regularly, always greeted and hugged each other, and shared stories about what had been going on in their lives. The love and care among the crew were evident.
As time passed, most members lost interest in going out to sea on life-saving missions. They hired lifeboat crews to handle this important task. About this time, there was a large shipwreck off their coast, and the new hires went out to sea and returned to the station with boatloads of cold, wet, dirty, sick, and half-drowned people.
The survivors were a mixed bunch. Some had black skin and others yellow. They were a few who were fluent in English, while most didn’t understand the language. Among them were first-class cabin passengers, and there was a clutch of deck hands. In just a short time, the station that had become a beautiful meeting spot was transformed into a place of chaos. The plush carpets got dirty and the exquisite furniture suffered scratches.
In the ensuing melee, the property committee swung into action and constructed a makeshift shower outside the building where the shipwreck survivors were cleaned before they were allowed inside.
At the station’s next meeting there was a rift among the members. Most wanted to stop their life-saving work as they were unpleasant and a hindrance to their fellowship. Others insisted that saving lives was still their primary mission and pointed out that the station still had this status. But this minority group was voted down and told that if they wanted to save the lives of all sorts of people that the station recently did, they could do this at another location down the coast. And that’s what they did.
Those who joined the original team were not transformed into disciples of the mission in which their belief in saving lives would have been deeply rooted. If this had been the case, the new members would, in turn, attract and transform others into disciples to believe in their cause.
As the years passed, the new place experienced a repeat of what afflicted and ended the mission of the station it replaced. It evolved into a place for fellowship, committee meetings and special training sessions about their mission, but few went out to save people from drowning. Survivors were also no longer welcomed in this new station that was supposed to save lives. Another station was founded further down the coast to do this.
History continued to repeat itself. And if you visit that seacoast today, you will find a number of adequate meeting places with ample parking spaces and plush carpeting. Shipwrecks are still frequent in those waters, but most people drown.
What went wrong with the mission of saving lives in this unfortunate tale?
It is apparent new members were attracted to the mission but were not adequately formed to actually love the work of saving lives. In time, they enjoyed the fellowship, which should be a by-product of the mission and not the main course.
The crux of the problem: Those who joined the original team were not transformed into disciples of the mission in which their belief in saving lives would have been deeply rooted. If this had been the case, the new members would, in turn, attract and transform others into disciples to believe in their cause.
We can view this story through the lens of the wider Christian missionary. Where do Catholics stand in comparison to other non-Catholic Christian groups? How robust are we? You will be surprised at the results of surveys that were conducted to measure how we faired.
Image: Katalin Rhorvát, Pexels
