Now I know how Jon Stewart felt when Dick Cheney had his little hunting accident. This is just too easy…
James White, Phil Johnson, Steve Camp, David T. King, and others are leading an eight-day Carribean discernment cruise entitled “Pulpit Crimes: The Criminal Mishandling of God’s Word.”
Aboard a posh Holland America cruiseliner, discerners will enjoy presentations from these individuals and others in order to help them understand how to rightly handle God’s word, starting at the biblically low price of $579.00 per person. I assume there will also be shrimp cocktails and midnight buffets.
You could also, say, feed the hungry or somesuch nonsense, but hey, we’ve got discernment to do here.
To be fair, it costs just as much to go to a convention and stay in the convention hotel. The Emergent Convention is no exception. I’m not sure churches should be dropping a thousand dollars to send their leaders to the big conventions - and there seem to be more conventions every year.
In fact, if anyone sees this job opening, let me know so I can apply for it: Pastor of Conference Attendance - a full-time staff position dedicated to going to seminars, conventions, and conferences in order to keep the church up to speed.
I’m sorry, but this just looks bad, even if the prices are reasonable. When WorldVision has a board meeting, their board members stay at La Quinta (ask Rudy). The Osteens may fly first-class, but I think La Quinta should be the norm.
In my tribe, conventions are held in church buildings or university facilities. You stay with a family from the local church. You don’t spend money like you’re celebrating your latest Oscar. And you certainly don’t take a cruise to talk about how right you are.
Learning is good. Conversations are good. Networking is good. Dropping five or six figures on a conference is just wrong. Emergent, listen up. YouthSpecialties, listen up. We need to cut this junk out.
What you’ve described really resonates for me.. that role as a pastor of conference attendance would be a dream job for me!!
If you happen to see a ministry opportunity listing anything remotely resembling that, please drop me a line ASAP!
The world would be such a better place if people would just restrain themselves to the lifestyle we judge to be sufficient for them.
Personally, I like the idea of a cruise ship ministry. You have a new group of 1000 hedonists each week to pass out pamphlets to. It’s a tough job buyt someone should do it!:)
Opie-
Point well taken :). The issue of our own complicity in overly self-absorbed and exorbitant lifestyles is not lost on me. We have a lot of work to do in this area (says me on my laptop that cost the same as a k-12 education for a child in Africa).
What is especially odious about this cruise is its flaunting of American Evangelical wealth and privilege, and the juxtaposition of that wealth alongside what claims to be the most orthodox strand of theology.
This is simultaneously a celebration of being rich and being right, neither of which is our prerogative to as Christians to celebrate. I think humility and poverty are more appropriate postures for those who follow Christ.
[...] Thanks to Rudy at Urban Onramps for pointing me in the direction of a revealing blopost over at Radical Congruency, asking whether churches should start appointing people to the role of Pastor of Conference Attendance. [...]
Is this for real? It’s not a spoof post?!
Yep, it’s for real. Sovereign Cruises is in the business of putting on “Meetings & Conventions at Sea.”
What bothers me more than the cost is the conspicuousness and triumphalism of taking a theology cruise. Lots of things in our society cost more than $579, but few are so blatant in their celebration of the self.
Isn’t this really about being glad one is correct in one’s beliefs about God?
I don’t think it’s really about teaching discernment. If it is, I will be glad to be corrected. Here’s how to prove it:
If this cruise is really about helping people become more discerning readers of scripture and followers of Christ, send other people instead of yourself. If you’re already signed up, chances are you won’t learn anything new from the speakers - just hear a lot of things that reinforce what you already believe.
No, send someone who is weak in the faith, someone with bad theology or an inadequate view of scripture. Pay for their airfare and cruise ticket. And have them tell you about it when they get back. Wouldn’t that achieve the stated goal of this cruise better than going yourself?
I have seen other cruises that don’t seem to bother me. They are the kind of things where people are invited along to relax in a tropical environment and hear some of their favorite speakers(if that is what they are into). As far as a church paying to send pastors on a cruise like this, I can’t see it. If a church is going to pay for a vacation for their pastor it should be far away from a conference that talks about church, that is not vacation!
Now this may not be my prefered group of ministers. The idea that bugs me is hey come along with us on a cruise while we waller in self and show you how we are right and others aren’t. I am wiht Justin on that point.
[...] In fact, as I found out when reading up on the Discernment Cruise, Phil actually edits most of John MacArthur’s books. That says a lot, with MacArthur being as big an author as he is. So I figure I’d probably read the transcript of Phil’s speech when I get around to it. [...]
As far as I’m concerned the only minister that’s going to be able to afford to set this up is a con man who got his money by scamming those gullible enough to take him at his word.
[...] The liability insurance issue drives me up the wall. As I mentioned in the discernment cruise post, I think Emergent is spending entirely too much money and making entirely too much fuss about its events. It’s hedonistic. You are basically giving middle-class white males like myself a theological justification for spending too much money on themselves to have fun and hang out with like-minded people. [...]
Would the world be a better place without cruise ships?
[...] Without saying too much…take a look at this post and/or this post and decide for yourself (it isn’t a joke). [...]
If there weren’t poor and homeless people all around us, maybe I could see it. But how can we as the Church justify in using God’s money and resources to go on cruises or conferences? What happened to the Church using tithes and offerings to help those in need?
God gives us all things to richly enjoy for His Glory and our Good.
It may not sinful to go on a cruise- it is a matter of conviction that may or may not be sinful per individual Whatever is not of faith is Sin. However ,it is a matter of conviction and a matter of stewardship. So you decide for yourself what is right or wrong concerning yourself -not others.
From a Christian Hedonist
[...] has been pointed out on other blogs the discernment crew at “sovereign cruises” are not the only folks wasting copious [...]