There are times when continuing to sail a ship without a retrofit is a recipe for disaster. Just as a sailing vessel needs some dry dock time to scrape off the barnacles and make sure all the fittings are seaworthy, so it is with a church, denomination or any Kingdom-envisioned endeavor within each sphere of culture. 

To keep sailing forward in a safe and secure fashion, we need to deal with the barnacle-like issues of culture that have attached themselves to the hull of our faith and the assumptions that have weakened the fittings of our ministry. To ignore these realities is spiritually foolish. If these issues are unresolved they will keep us from moving forward at the full potential and speed of love. Our passengers will become jittery sailing on a ship not fit for the voyage. Updating sails and fittings and scraping off barnacles do not damage or replace the hull of a sailboat. It merely makes it seaworthy. The same applies to our ministries.

The hull of our faith is never in a place of compromise if a wise captain is at the helm. This kind of leader is apostolic and will always turn the ship towards port for a time of retrofitting no matter what the perceived loss of revenue might be or what kind of disagreement emerges over the interruption. A vessel of ministry enters a sea of jeopardy when foolish and fearful managers are at the helm. This kind of leadership will continue to sail on in an attempt to keep the status quo afloat without having the challenging discussions and resulting determinations that a retrofit of a ministry will require. 

New ports of call exist in our future. Getting there is only dangerous if fear sets our course.