Sermon Tone Analysis

Pastor’s Parable Of “Submarine” Church

In warning the First Baptist Church, Pensacola, Florida, not to turn into “a submarine,” Pastor James L. Pleitz gave this submersible parable:

“Once upon a time in the twentieth century there was a church that became a submarine.

It wasn’t as difficult as it might seem.

One day it just shut the hatch on the outside world and submerged into its own sea.

Occasionally it ran up the periscope to see where it was going.

“Once the captain got a real vision through his periscope and when he demanded that they get back to surface and fast, the crew quickly developed the bends and the sub stayed down.

“While submerged there was a lot for the crew to do.

In fact they were kept on alert and asked to make maximum efforts.

They tinkered with the machinery constantly.

They overhauled their kitchen.

They inventoried their ammunition at least once a week but they never used it.

They paid salaries to the officers and went through endless drills occasionally interrupted by prayers that no depth charge would disturb their isolation.

“The air got stale too, so did the routine, but they put up with it because the alternatives were too demanding.

Several committees even decided the stale air was good for them.

“One of the members who had sneaked a look through the periscope suggested a change in course and the giving away of their surplus supplies.

He was immediately eliminated for mutiny.

“The last entry in the captain’s logbook read, “Have probably set a new record for being submerged and maintaining predetermined course.

See no reason why we should change directions.

Crew continues to give maximum effort.

We did sight an enemy and appointed three committee members to study the situation.”

“The First Baptist Church of Pensacola is not a submarine.

We are making an honest effort to do what Jesus would do if He were here.

How about joining us in this quest, friend?”

As I read this short story, it made me think about how delicate the stewardship of Christ’s Church is in our possession.

We are charged with the care of such a delicate treasure.

It can be so easy to let it slip through our fingers and smash into a million pieces on the ground.

I have been part of a church that was this submarine.

The captain had been cast out as a traitor and the crew had mutinied.

The thing this story lacks though is a reminder that when you’re in deep water, it is easier to sink, than it is to rise up.

I have seen another local church head in this same direction.

And it is my prayer, that they don’t sink, but rise up and open their hatch again.

Because with the hatch closed and the submarine under water, nobody else can get in.

Nobody else knows where to find the door.

As I have stated, I’ve been involved in a church that was a submarine.

I’ve seen the attitudes that bring it under water.

I have witnessed those things which a church should never participate in.

- Complacency, self serving, and isolationism.

They turn away from a heart for God to a heart of self preservation.

A heart that protects themselves rather than the word of God.

I ask you tonight, are we becoming a submarine church?

Are our hatches being closed to the outside world?

Can no one find us hiding in the depths of the sea?

Are we as Christians where we think we are, or are we lost somewhere and don’t even realize it?

Looking through the scriptures, we find instances where a local church may fall into the category of becoming a submarine church.

One such area of concern is in the area of giving.

Looking to the book of Malachi we have become well versed in the need for tithing.

We read in Chapter 3 verse 10 “Bring all the tithes into the storehouse, That there may be food in My house, And try Me now in this,” Says the Lord of hosts, “If I will not open for you the windows of heaven And pour out for you such blessing That there will not be room enough to receive it.”

God desires our faithful tithe and will bless those that so do.

Many of us in this church do tithe and see those blessings poured out for us.

But I don’t want to linger on the quantity of what we give, but rather the quality.

In Malachi 1:6-10 God says ““A son honors his father, And a servant his master.

If then I am the Father, Where is My honor?

And if I am a Master, Where is My reverence?

Says the Lord of hosts To you priests who despise My name.

Yet you say, ‘In what way have we despised Your name?’ “You offer defiled food on My altar, But say, ‘In what way have we defiled You?’

By saying, ‘The table of the Lord is contemptible.’

And when you offer the blind as a sacrifice, Is it not evil?

And when you offer the lame and sick, Is it not evil?

Offer it then to your governor!

Would he be pleased with you?

Would he accept you favorably?”

Says the Lord of hosts.

“But now entreat God’s favor, That He may be gracious to us.

While this is being done by your hands, Will He accept you favorably?”

Says the Lord of hosts.

“Who is there even among you who would shut the doors, So that you would not kindle fire on My altar in vain?

I have no pleasure in you,”

God uses some very strong language here to illustrate just how displeased He was with the sacrifices which were being offered to him.

According to earlier scriptures, the sacrifice was to be a pure and unblemished one.

But the priests in the days of Malachi weren’t following those rules.

They thought by skipping on the quality while maintaining the quantity, that they would appease God.

Sure they may have been giving the right animals up to him in sacrifice, but the quality, the pureness was not there.

Do we do the same?

Just how do we give? 2 Corinthians 9:7 goes on to say that God “loves a cheerful giver”.

Why do we give?

How do we give?

For those of us that tithe, do we give because we feel obligated to?

Or do we give because we desire to.

Is what we lay before God our sacrifice of quantity or quality?

Look at Cain and Abel, they both gave of what they had.

But Cain gave some of his bounty, while Abel gave of his first fruits.

God desires our sacrifice to be just that- a sacrifice, not a payment of obedience.

When we give, we don’t give because we’ve set up a payment plan with God, no, we give because we want to give.

Our tithes and offerings are tied to who we are as a church, but it should not be considered the only form of giving.

What about our works?

In James 2:17 we read “…faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead”.

Our faith should provoke us to do for our brothers and sisters in Christ.

And I believe that we have seen a tremendous outpouring of either love or faith, or a combination of the two over the past year with all this fellowship has endured.

The question I have is have we performed works by faith or have we simply given to meet a need.

Have we given of our abundance like Cain did?

Is that what amounts to our works?

Think about it.

What are our works, and for whom did we do them?

James goes on further to say “Show me your faith without your works, and I will show you my faith by my works.”

Brothers and sisters can all of us say the same?

Can all of us show others our faith by our works?

Our works show the brethren what our faith is like.

How then do we show our faith to the outside world, how about our own community?

Did not Jesus command us in Mark 16:15 to “Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.”