Let’s go sailing
Chapter 4 of The Church of the Perfect Storm was written by Alan Jamieson. In this chapter, he explains that “the storms approaching the church demand seasoned sailors of faith with much experience, skill, intuition, courage, fast thinking, and thoroughness” (page 54). Who are seasoned sailors and how do we become seasoned sailors?
Seasoned sailors are those people of faith who have weathered the storms. They have improved by life struggles, challenges, and crises. Not only does seasoning refer to people who have conquered and met the challenges of life, seasoning refers to salt as it adds flavor and improves the taste of food. People become seasoned by “having the salt rubbed in many times” (page 54). We become seasoned sailors by getting beat up a bit by jobs, situations, and people.
I’ve had my share of challenges and “beatings” in jobs and ministry positions. Directly in the middle of those situations, I wonder why things are happening this way and things aren’t working out the best way. Looking back on those situations, I sometimes still don’t know why things had to happen that way, but I see that those challenges have made me stronger and able to handle future situations. In new positions we think we have it all figured out and we know what we are doing. It takes speed bumps and waves along the way to slow us down and rely on God to steer the boat.
During each storm we become more seasoned sailors and more prepared to handle the next storm and trusted to come alongside others in their own storms. We have to remember to be prepared. We can’t wait till storms hit to read the manual or ask for advice. “Only the experience, skill, and courage of seasoned sailors will do” (page 61).
So come on. Let’s go sailing!
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