Are You a Delusional Pirate?

In the movie Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest. Two pirates, named Ragetti and Pintel, are in a longboat on the open sea. They have just escaped from jail. Ragetti appears to be "reading" a Bible. But it is clear he cannot be, because he is holding it upside-down. Ragetti claims to be taking care of his immortal soul.

Pintel says, "You know you can't read."

Ragetti answers, "It's the Bible. You get credit for trying."

Are you a delusional pirate? In other words, do you believe that there is some benefit from contact with the Bible? Do you imagine that it doesn’t matter if you pay attention to it, or understand it, or hold it upside down, but somehow, someway, you get credit for trying? Do you feel that because you attended church or had devotions or listened to Christian music, or memorized a few verses, there is automatic blessing?

James 1:22 says: “Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says.”

The issue is not whether you hear it, read it, download it, podcast it, sing it, Tweet it, email it, text it, blog it, post it, cross stitch it or smoke it. The point is receiving the word is not enough, you must do it.

David Daniels “Listening alone does not necessarily lead to life transformation. The Bible is a powerful, but the Bible is not magical.”

No matter how well you understand Scripture, no matter how much it blesses you, it is not until you obey it that you “will be blessed” (v.25). Jesus defined the blessing of putting his words into practice. It is like founding your life on a rock that will survive the fiercest storms. It is catastrophe that reveals the difference between one who obeys and a delusional pirate.