When the apostle Paul was transported to Rome in chains in Acts 27, he wasn’t taken on a prison boat, a military ship, or a pleasure craft. He sailed on a cargo ship that was transporting goods from one part of the Mediterranean to another. When a typhoon overwhelmed the vessel, the sailors threw the cargo overboard to lighten the ship and keep it afloat. Next to death itself, this was the ultimate sacrifice for those on ancient shipping vessels, for the transport of goods was the lifeblood of the ancient economy.

That was two thousand years ago, but cargo ships are still the lifeblood of the world’s economy. For centuries, goods floated over the waterways in much the same fashion as we read in Acts 27. But that changed in 1843 with the launch of the SS Great Britain, a marvel of modern engineering with steam engine, iron hull, and screw propeller. If you visit the docks in Bristol, England, you can still tour this great vessel. Another forward leap occurred in 1956, when trucking tycoon Malcolm McLean developed the concept of container shipping, with entire truck beds being driven on board. This avoided the need for loading cargo one pallet at a time.

Today the oceans are filled with super cargo ships, each specifically designed for the cargo it carries—oil tankers for oil and gas; reefer vessels for fresh or frozen products like fruits and vegetables; bulk carriers for loose cargo like coal or grain; container vessels packed with truck beds; Ro-Ro vessels for cars, buses, trucks, heavy rolling equipment, and anything else on wheels. And don’t forget banana boats, especially designed to carry … well, bananas.

If we had a satellite display of the world’s waterways with a dot for every cargo ship on the “seven seas,” what country would be exporting more goods than any other? You guessed it—China. At a distant second place would be the United States, followed by Japan and South Korea.

The fellowSHIP of the church hauls only one type of cargo, but we take it around the world, into every port, to every island and continent and tongue on earth. It’s the Gospel, the message of the Cross. Jesus said, “Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature” (Mark 16:15, KJV, emphasis added).

The Message of the Gospel

One of the best descriptions of the Gospel is 1 Corinthians 15:1-4: “Moreover, brethren, I declare to you the gospel.… that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day.” No ship in the history of maritime commerce has ever carried cargo as simple and as powerful as that. God so loved the world He became a man—Jesus—who offered Himself a sacrifice for sin, died a bloody death at Calvary, rose on Easter Sunday, and offers us the opportunity of experiencing life abundant and eternal.

Some ships carry grain and bread, but our cargo is the bread of life. Some are filled with oil and gas to meet the world’s energy needs. But the Gospel is the power of God unto salvation for everyone who believes. Some vessels carry silver and gold, but the value of the Gospel is beyond price. Some ships are designed to transport cars and trucks, but the power of the Gospel can carry us all the way to heaven. No wonder the hymnist said: “Bear the news to every land, climb the mountains, cross the waves; Onward! ?tis our Lord’s command; Jesus saves! Jesus saves!”

The Magnetism of the Gospel

This message holds a wondrous attraction for those who need it. We don’t have to pressure people to accept its truth. Our job is to present the Gospel and share its life-changing message, and then we depend on the Holy Spirit to anoint it with power. Jesus said, “No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up at the last day.… And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all peoples to Myself” (John 6:44; 12:32).

The spiritual magnetism of the Gospel has its physical counterpart in the magnetic forces God built into our universe. Every schoolchild knows there are invisible forces in the world that make things move by pushing them or pulling them, attracting or repelling them. The discovery of magnetic fields provided a tremendous impetus to ships and sailing, for sailors could chart their courses using compasses. The first navigational compasses for ships date from as early as A.D. 850. But the magnetism of the love of God has been irradiating from the throne since the beginning of time. When you seek to win another person to the Lord, remember you’re not doing all the work alone. The Holy Spirit is doing the invisible work of drawing that person toward a decision. As we do our part, He is responsible for the results, and we depend on the magnetic power of His Gospel.

The Mission of Spreading the Gospel

That provides all the encouragement we need to engage fully in the mission of spreading the Gospel. Whoever and wherever we are, that’s our cargo.

Many years ago, the daily newspaper of Lewiston, Maine, ran a front-page story titled, “The Cap’n Didn’t Cuss—His Rope Slipped and He Preached a Sermon to the Crowd.” The story involved a sea captain with bronzed face and close-cropped white beard who devoted his life to transporting goods up and down the coast of Maine aboard his ship, the Alert. On this particular day, he stopped in Portland, Maine, to take on a cargo of salt, which he proceeded to load himself one barrel at a time. Those who gathered to watch gasped when the rope slipped, sending the barrel crashing to the deck. Someone told the captain he was getting too old to work. Hearing that, the old fellow turned and preached a sermon to the crowd, telling them the Lord expects us to be about His business as long as we’re able. “The Lord put me here to speak a good word for Him and do my work too,” he said, “and as long as He is willing, I’ll do both.”

A reporter in the crowd, curious to know about the man, discovered he was Reverend George W. Lane, who considered himself a sailor-missionary to the coast of Maine. He devoted his life to sailing in and out of the New England seaports, around the capes and to the offshore islands. As he ferried goods from harbor to harbor, he evangelized. During his years of ministry, he established Sunday schools for more than fifteen thousand children and took the Gospel to small islands virtually cut off from other human contact. When Lane showed up with his cargo of provisions and supplies, everyone came to his ship; and everyone heard the Gospel. The newspaper said Captain Lane and his ship, The Alert, were packed with “Gospel Cargo.”¹

We’re like Captain Lane, all of us going about our business, engaging in our trades, sailing in and out of the harbors of this world bearing the cargo of the Gospel. Everything you and I do should be motivated by packaging the Gospel message so others can know Jesus Christ.

In these days when the tide of history is rising, we’re alert and ready to do what Jesus commanded for us in Luke 5:4: “Launch out into the deep.” I hope you’re ready to do the same in your own life and ministry. Let’s chart our course, nail our colors to the mast, and say “Aye-Aye” to the Captain’s command. Let’s catch the rising tide and take our precious Gospel cargo to every heart and harbor on earth.

Sources:

¹“The Cap’n Didn’t Cuss: His Rope Slipped and He Preached a Sermon to the Crowd.” The Lewiston Evening Journal, June 16, 1893.