Morality in the convoy
C.S.Lewis in Mere Christianity talks of morality using a picture of a convoy of battleships moving across the ocean.
The morality that comes to mind first for most people is to treat others respectfully, even to treat others as we want to be treated. This is the golden rule and is excellent morality easily understood. This allows the convoy of ships to travel along with a minimum of collisions and a minimum of damage inflicted by one ship upon his neighbor. Each ship in a convoy and each individual in life should stay in its own lane and maintain speed so as not to impede others.
Realizing that others may not be employing good moral character means that we should drive defensively in order to avoid collisions that might happen through no fault of our own. In this way our morality might make up for the lack of morals in the other person but for the good of all concerned.
But there is second area of morality that is more personal. The captain of each individual ship must be aware that the internal working condition of his ship is vitally important to the convoy as a whole. If an individual ship is in bad condition then it may fail at a critical moment leaving the convoy without its contribution. Furthermore, the deficient ship will need help from others thereby using the resources of others and slowing down those that would help. This impedes the helpers and weakens them by using their resources and, by extension, slows and weakens the overall convoy.
We all know individuals that always need help, even adopting a “victim mentality”. I am speaking here of those that could help themselves if the would, that could make better decisions if they wanted to. They fail to maintain themselves in a way that they can be as self sufficient as is feasable. They become an unneccessary drain on the resources of others. This is a moral issue.
We can take this a step further and say that the captain of a ship must maintain his own health and demeanor in such a way that he does not weaken his own ship. For example, a captain that is given to drunkenness is sure to fail his ship at some point, usually a critical point, and thus cause his ship to fail the convoy. Likewise, the father and husband given to drunkenness or gambleing or overeating is inviting failure for himself and those that depend upon him.
The third area of morality concerns the overall mission of the convoy. A convoy of battleships is not traveling across the ocean the way we sometimes take a Sunday afternoon stroll in the park. No, the convoy has an objective, to display a presence of power in an area, to lend assistance in a military campaign, to provide escort for cargo ships or to find and engage the enemy. So each ship, and the captain of each ship, must be prepared and willing to expend itself for the success of the overall mission of the convoy.
In life let us keep in mind that there is an overall mission. We serve a mighty God that welcomes all who will accept his invitation to live in his Kingdom, both now and forever. But our moral conduct can and does affect others and may hinder or discourage others as they live in the Kingdom. This obstructs or impedes the overall mission that we are a part of. We have already spoken of the damage that we might do to others but here we speak of damage to the intentions of God himself.
As we go along in life, let us maintain course, do good to our neighbors and teach others to be disciples of the Kingdom.
Listen to Yeshua,
DB
02-28-25
