Amazing Coincidence?....I Think Not.

Yesterday i was sitting outside of starbucks enjoying the beautiful weather, when all of the sudden a man approaches me and says, "Here I just wanted to give you some interesting information on the Titanic," while handing me a postcard with a picture of a sinking Titanic. Intrigued I take the postcard, and he leaves without saying anything else.

When I finally read the writing on the back, I realized that it was a tract or a track however it is said/spelled. it claims that there are remarkable parallels between the story of the Titanic and the biblical "plan" of salvation. It is titled 'Amazing Coincidence'. i could not believe it. my feelings were so mixed. i was sad that the guy actually thought he was evangelizing to me. he thought he had shared jesus with me, the good news. also, what kind of sick mind could compare a beautiful story of love with a tragic story of pride.

Here is a summary of the track.
the Titanic = the World
the Iceberg = the Moral Law (i think i hear kirk cameron in the background)
the Lifeboats = Jesus Christ

here is one of the many tragic flaws in this comparison. the track says that only those who believed the titanic was sinking looked for lifeboats, just as those who believe they are in mortal danger (what?) will look to the 'Lifeboat of the Savior' (oh please)... but as any of us who have seen the movie know :) ...hello, only the first class passengers and women and children were let on the lifeboats first. So i guess Jesus came first only for the wealthy and women and children, and if there is room in the lifeboat then he'll take the men and the poor. thank goodness I am female.

According to this track Jesus offers us a place in the Lifeboat. I think Donald Miller would laugh so hard at this. i know i do when i think about his book 'searching for God knows what'. he specifically talks about how we have this lifeboat theory in our culture and how jesus doesn't. we look up to and admire the wealthy and powerful. we only want to surround ourselves with people who we feel are important and intelligent or can contribute to society in a positive way. Jesus however surrounded himself with 'losers' and people who had problems, made bad choices, were not considered important, were poor, etc... none of those people would have made it onto the lifeboats on the titanic. they probably would have gone down with the ship or froze to death in the water. wow!

this track brings up so many questions about the truth of christianity and i can't even write any more about it because i am outraged by it. it is ridiculous. Jesus is so much more than a lifeboat! how can we reduce him to that? God did not create this world to be a sinking ship! Where did we come up with this stuff. brothers and sisters we are in need of a change! how can we accept this as truth? Jesus, Help us! Nowhere in the entire track does it have the word Love!!!

The track ends with this sentence: "...read the Bible daily, obey what you read...and God will never let you down." Really? maybe the people who wrote this track should read the bible. Obey everything that I read? So in the OT when it talks about stoning people who sin, we should do that right? and women shouldn't teach and they should wear headcoverings? maybe i'm going a bit overboard, but i think they should put a different sentence there. why not something like,
"ask questions and seek after truth daily...and you will discover a God beyond our understanding with love beyond our understanding."