“You sank my battleship!” That was the famous phrase from the classic Milton-Bradley game, “Battleship.”[1]While that may have been an enjoyable game played by families for decades, the premise is based on a military strategy of “search and destroy.” That’s obviously darker than the red plastic pegs finding their way to your pretend plastic ships (or even the cool sound when you made a “hit” with your torpedo on the electronic version).
A traditional Navy battleship, a Coast Guard cutter, and a Navy mercy-class hospital ship, and a cruise ship – they share the same personnel capacity relative to their hull sizes. In fact, pound for pound, you could probably fit more people on a battleship than a mercy-class hospital if it weren’t for all the ammunition and weapons they carry.
Yet, their missions are all so different! A cutter is intended for protection, search, and rescue. A hospital ship is protected under Geneva convention and is solely to care for the sick and injured. And a cruise ship – that’s to get from one point to another – and have a blast doing so!
But a battleship, or more poignantly, a destroyer (which has the lowest ratio of hull to crew size due to the amount of weaponry it must carry), has one purpose – to destroy.
There are those who read this from Paul’s words in 2 Corinthians 10:5 (ESV):
We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ. The key word there is, “destroy.”[2]
Couple that with Paul’s talk of the “armor of God” in Ephesians 6, and it feels like William Wallace (Braveheart) stirring us into battle!
It’s tempting, then, to take up our arms and sound “General Quarters” – we’re going head-to-head with “the evil of the culture around us.” We justify ourselves by saying, “It’s time to take a stand against sin.”
Perhaps that’s why there is a popular mantra circling around Christian circles, which says, “Christianity is a battleship not a cruise ship.” While that might seem rallying and inspiring, it’s also how to get the Gospel wrong in eight words or less.
Maybe it’s true – that we’re not on a cruise ship. Exclusively shut in with luxury and pleasures without a care about where we’re going or how we’ll get there. But Christianity is not a battleship with a mission to “search and destroy.”
First, in 2 Corinthians 10:5, Paul wasn’t talking about destroying or taking down people. Listen to how the NLT phrases it: We destroy every proud obstacle that keeps people from knowing God. We’re not fighting – we’re sharing hope and grace – with the truth of the Gospel.
Second, the “armor of God”? All of it is for defense – not offense. Even the “sword of truth” used a Greek word that meant a “dagger” – something you could defend yourself with if you had to – but not to charge the enemy with across the plains of battle.[3]
So, no, we’re not on a battleship. Unless that battleship has had its main guns removed and ammo unloaded so that it has more room to rescue people.
Nowhere in the Bible are we called to go on the offensive against people – or even governments or culture. Nowhere does God tell us to condemn and convict people of sin (by the way, that’s His job). Nowhere are we commanded to “wage war.” In fact, Paul says just a couple verses earlier in 2 Corinthians 10:3 (NLT), “We are human, but we don’t wage war as humans do.”
By contrast, we are commanded to “preach the Gospel,” “be salt and light,” “make disciples,” “pray for open doors to the Gospel,” “turn the other cheek,” “love our enemies,” “bear with one another in love,” “show mercy,” “be compassionate,” “care for widows and orphans,” “show brotherly love,” etc.
The irony is, figuratively, it takes more courage to board the cutter or the hospital ship than the battleship. As one of my seminary professors recently posted, “Outrage is easy. Outreach . . . not so much.”
“When are we going to be tough on sin?” We’re not! That’s not our job. And just saying, aren’t we glad that the One who really has that job wasn’t tough on us for ours? But instead took that toughness – that penalty for us on the cross? That’s grace.
Jesus – He just sank our battleship!
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[1] The Battleship game is now produced and sold by Hasbro.
[2] The NIV uses the word, “demolish.” The Greek word there is καθαιρέω (kathaireō), which means “to bring down,” “to dethrone,” “to tear down,” “to destroy.”
[3] The word, “sword” in Ephesians 6:17 is the Greek word, μάχαιρα (machaira), meaning “short sword” or “dagger.” Incidentally, the root of our word, “machete.”