We were fortunate enough to celebrate our fortieth wedding anniversary in 2012 with a trip to Nova Scotia, Canada. That so happened to be the same year as the one-hundredth anniversary of the sinking of the Titanic (of which we were not aware at the time.)
However, we discovered that the Maritime Museum of the Atlantic in Halifax, Nova Scotia offered an exhibit of Titanic memorabilia including actual artifacts and models. We visited and found that ships from Halifax were instrumental in recovery efforts after the tragedy. It has been determined that only about 706 of the 2240 passengers were rescued. The Titanic was thought to be unsinkable, but many avoidable mistakes contributed to the tragic loss.
1 Timothy 1 describes a shipwreck of faith. Paul issues warnings for the young Timothy as he is poised to take the helm of the church at Ephesus. There are pitfalls to avoid if he heeds Paul’s advice. Timothy’s pastoral goals will be love with a pure heart and a good conscience, and genuine faith. Paul identifies Hymenaeus and Alexander as blasphemers whom he has reluctantly delivered to Satan. They were shipwrecked by their actions. He urges Timothy to fight the spiritual battles he will face by stewarding the prophetic (inspired by God) words he has received and by “holding faith and a good conscience: which some having thrust from them made shipwreck concerning the faith” (1 Timothy 1:19).
Pride was at the root of the wreck of the “unsinkable” Titanic and is a root of spiritual shipwreck as well. If we get careless, thinking we can do no wrong, we are open to sin and deception. Let us hold onto our faith and keep our consciences clean. We can avoid shipwrecks.
– Nan Robertson
Christ Fellowship