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When Jesus taught the crowds, he would often speak in parables. Parables are fictional stories that are drawn from real life (probable and relatable) circumstances. Waiting for a bridegroom, planting seeds, and looking for a lost coin are all examples of parables told by King Jesus, himself. Each parable is designed to make a point about the Kingdom of God.

Sometimes, though, reality gives you a parabolic event that, when analyzed, can clearly point to Kingdom principles at work in the facts. Such was the case when Kim Jong Un’s brand new warship sunk while he looked on in embarrassment.  

Last week, according to this story from the Wall Street Journal, Kim Jong Un ascended the VIP podium to watch the launch of a new warship, part of an effort to upgrade the aging North Korean fleet. The warship, instead of being launched in a more traditional fashion, was launched sideways.

Sideways.

The front end of the ship slid into the water while the rear end stayed on the dock. Since the ship was top-heavy with weapons, it fell on its side, in front of the leader of the nation, and sunk.

On to the Kingdom principles we see at work:

(1) Balance was needed to keep the ship afloat. This ship, in its showy pride and its effort to flex military lethality, had overloaded the topside with weapons. There was insufficient balance (ballast) to even it out. A top-heavy ship is prone to accident. So, too, are we when we load up for bear, looking for a fight in the name of God, without paying attention to our foundation. It is important to be able to defend the faith in any forum. But when the counterbalance of depth in God’s Word and devotion to Christ are missing, then the ship is prone to sink. In fact, it is that depth of faith which shapes when, how, and if we enter a particular fray (particularly those online).

(2) There was a right way to launch the ship. Sideways was not the way, especially when considering the type of vessel. There is a right way to go into the war against the enemy of our souls, and those are found in terms of time: time in prayer, time in the Word, time in fellowship, time in discipleship. God gave us these so that we may launch, each day, to face the wiles of the enemy that lurk in every corner of our world, our homes, and our minds. If we are to launch into this battle, we must do it right. Otherwise, we are prone to sink.

There are other spiritual parallels we can make from the ideas that the launch happened on an accelerated timeline (a battle that is engaged too hastily), launching into each day on the wrong foot (without prayer and time in the Word), and the pride found in the might of man without God (it will ultimately fail). But for the moment, spend some time reflecting on the lessons we can learn from Kim Jong Un’s failure.

And pray for the people and families that are paying the price for this embarrassment. They need Jesus. They need us to pray for them – battle on our knees in intersession for all the people of North Korea. This is a battle that we must engage in without being sunk at launch.