John 3:1-8; James 1:2-8
If you don’t think that hoisting sails, capturing the wind, and using sailboats as a way of looking at our Christian faith, as we are this July, then consider what I learned this week.
There’s a part of the sailboat that juts out from the front of the sailboat. Do you know what this portion of the sailboat is called?
It’s called the “PULPIT!”
If you don’t believe me, I have this diagram to prove it.
So, I am legitimately climbing into the “pulpit” of this ship, and I’m going to get out on the bow. From this vantage point, I plan to continue telling you about how we need to hoist the sails in our heart and capture the wind that is the Holy Spirit, which Jesus told Nicodemus about in John 3 when the Captain said, “The wind blows where it chooses, and you hear the sound of it, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.”
Last Sunday we saw that Christians need to hoist their sails and capture the wind of the Holy Spirit if we are to bear good fruit for the
Today, with the help of the letter of James in the New Testament and the inspiration from the cover of our bulletin, from the “pulpit” of this ship, I hope to show you that if we are going to harvest souls for the kingdom of God….and there’s plenty out there to harvest,….then on this ship we are going to need an “unwavering” faith in our hearts. We need a faith where there is little room for doubt, “for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, driven and tossed by the wind,” says James in chapter 1, verse 6.
Who will have a better chance at harvesting souls for the
The difference lies in whether you want to be a “bottle Christian” or a “boat Christian.”
What’s the difference, you ask?
A message placed in a bottle and tossed into the waves by a marooned sailor will always, always be a VICTIM of the waves. It will be driven and tossed by the sea, which, we know, is driven by ever-changing, unpredictable winds.
When winds blow in upon us – trials, challenges, obstacles, resistance, and suffering –doubt looks for a doorway into our heart. And if it does, we will waver in our faith, our confidence will evaporate, and we’ll become more and more like a bobbing “bottle.” A “bottle Christian” will come up short in harvesting souls for the
A “boat Christian,” on the other hand, harnesses the wind and consequently, rides the waves. He is not tossed by them but uses them in order to win the race of faith and harvest souls for the
When we hoist the sails of our heart and capture this inner wind, we will become “boats” for Christ. As we hoist these sails and capture the inner wind of the Holy Spirit, the result will be the unwavering faith that’s needed to harvest souls for the King.
So, how can we have the unwavering faith so that we can be
a victorious “boat” instead of a victimized “bottle?”
James 1:2
An “unwavering” faith comes as we hoist the sails in our hearts when seas are rough and choose joy in that moment.
Warren Weirsbe, in his commentary on, reveals a navigational tool for all who would rather be unwavering “boats” and not wavering “bottles,” victors instead of victims: “Outlook determines outcome, and attitude determines action.”
In other words, your outlook regarding the winds that come against you on the outside will determine the outcome of whether or not you will be victim or victor, wavering or unwavering, bottle or boat.
The attitude you chose to have when the winds of this unpredictable world come against you will have a direct bearing on the action you choose to take.
James said, that when the winds blow against you in this world, the outlook you should have and the attitude you should choose if you want to be an unwavering, victorious, “boat” that effectively harvests souls for the
Now the Greek word for “joy,” which James chose in his letter, is the word chara, and it literally meant, “calm delight” or “calmly happy.”
The reason why James tells us to embrace the outlook and choose the attitude to be calmly happy when suffering comes and the winds blow is because that’s the only way you can move up from being a “bottle” to being a “boat.” It’s the only way that we can grow up and hone our sailing skills. Trials mature us. Challenges grow us.
Listen, who do you have more confidence in – a person who has been through great trials, weathered extraordinary storms, and still is sailing on with an unwavering faith in God or someone who at the slightest puff of conflict begins to doubt and gets frazzled?
Who would you trust more to sail you from
It’s a no brainer.
So a Christian who’s becoming a “boat” with an unwavering, victorious faith is the Christian who chooses the attitude and outlook of joy when the winds of suffering come.
Why? Because they’re crazy?
No, because they know they know that this wind is going to help them become a better captain, one who the unsaved will trust to harvest them for the
James 1:3-4
An “unwavering” faith comes as we hoist the sail that goes by the name endurance for it will capture the wind of the Holy Spirit that leads to a plentiful harvest.
The most common sailboats have two sails that must be hoisted if the boat is going to capture wind and go anywhere.
The first sail that the captain will hoist when he’s ready to set-sail is the “mainsail.” It’s the big, triangular sail that runs toward the back of the sailboat. It captures the most wind and thus is the main sail that drives the sailboat forward through the waves.
The first “sail” that James says we should raise when the winds of suffering begin to blow and we’ve chosen the outlook and attitude of joy, is named “endurance.”
James chose here to use the Greek word hupomone, which literally means “cheerful endurance.” There’s that crazy word “cheerful” again. We Christians are truly crazy people, aren’t we, especially if we want to be “boats” instead of “bottles.”
An unwavering, victorious faith that transforms Christians from “bottles” to “boats” that effectively harvest souls for the
My uncle is a retired Navy captain. He lives in
Why the difference? Why is he calmly enduring the increase in the wind? It’s because he knows that it’s the only way to increase his skills. It makes him “unwavering.”
When the winds of suffering pick up, keep the “endurance” sail hoisted, for it will take you from being a bottle to a boat, from a wavering to an unwavering faith, from victim to victor, from a sleeper to a harvester.
James 1:5
An “unwavering” faith comes as we hoist the sail that goes by the name wisdom for it will capture the wind of the Holy Spirit that leads to a plentiful harvest.
Now, let’s hoist the forward sail.
It’s called the jib sail by my Navy uncle when he’s in his pulpit out on
The word “jib” means “to shift,” and so it is used by the captain to help keep the sailboat on course, shifting ever so slightly it to catch the ever-shifting winds.
For us to stay on course with an unwavering faith, effectively harvesting souls in the ever-shifting winds that blow in and out of our lives, we need to hoist this sail in our hearts so that we can capture the inner wind of the Holy Spirit who gives us God’s wisdom. Notice that James connects wisdom to faith in these verses, and that’s because wisdom is the jib sail of the soul that helps to shift our thoughts and actions so that we maintain our faith in spite of the shifting winds that blow in and out of our lives.
A good friend who suddenly betrays you will call for you to shift your sails so that your faith and love do not waver, and the jib sail in your heart that we call the wisdom of God will help shift you so that you stay on course.
Wisdom from God will help shift your faith so that you stay on course to victory when hurricane news of cancer, illness, accident, and death slam into your life.
Someone spreading gossip about you will cause you to have to shift your faith so that you can forgive them and pray for them, and the jib sail we call “wisdom” will help make this happen.
When the winds in your world shift and threaten your faith, you need to go to the Holy Spirit in prayer and ask for wisdom because divine wisdom will keep your faith from wavering. Wisdom will keep you on course. Wisdom will make a “boat” out of a “bottle” and a captain out of a yeoman. The harvest is plentiful, but if you do not know how to shift, you won’t get to them. God’s wisdom will get you there.
Too often Christians and churches look more like a ship with its sails unfurled, rolled up and tucked neatly away. We’re flying the flag of our faith, but when the winds come, we don’t hoist the mainsail of endurance and the jib sail of wisdom. In order to have the unwavering faith that harvests souls for the
