Have you ever heard of a cargo cult? While prevalent during the World War II era, some are still active today. According to Wikipedia, “a cargo cult is a Melanesian movement encompassing a diverse range of practices and occurring in the wake of contact with the commercial networks of colonizing societies. The name derives from the belief that various ritualistic acts will lead to a bestowing of material wealth (cargo).” The supply drops used on these islands during the war included not only military equipment but other types of goods, such as clothing, medicines and food – items attractive to the native population. Wikipedia goes on to say:
Since the modern manufacturing process is unknown to them, members, leaders, and prophets of the cults maintain that the manufactured goods of the non-native culture have been created by spiritual means, such as through their deities and ancestors. These goods are intended for the local indigenous people, but the foreigners have unfairly gained control of these objects through malice or mistake. Thus, a characteristic feature of cargo cults is the belief that spiritual agents will, at some future time, give much valuable cargo and desirable manufactured products to the cult members.
To try and gain access to the cargo they saw coming to the foreigners, the natives believed that by imitating the actions of the foreigners, the “gods” would send them cargo as well.
Notable examples of cargo cult activity include the setting up of mock airstrips, airports, offices, and dining rooms, as well as the attempted construction of Western goods, such as radios made of coconuts and straw. Believers may stage drills and marches with sticks for rifles and use military-style insignia and national insignia painted on their bodies to make them look like soldiers, thereby treating the activities of Western military personnel as rituals to be performed for the purpose of attracting the cargo. (Wikipedia)
While this may seem utterly ridiculous to us, even though there are differences between such cultures and ours, are we really that different? We can go and assemble with our brothers and sisters to worship on Sunday morning, we may call ourselves Christians, but that doesn’t necessarily make it so. We may go through the motions, as the Melanesian natives did, and some still do, but is that all there is to our faith? Do we believe that by merely the external observance of our “rituals,” like those exercising cargo faith, that God will give us the “cargo” of eternal life? Externals are important, but what we do on the outside should be a reflection of what we are on the inside. Being a Christian isn’t just wearing a name. It isn’t performing certain acts in a certain way while giving no thought to what they are or what they should mean to us. To be a Christian indicates a heart responsive to the will of God, cleansed through the blood of Christ and seeking to conform to His image in all we say and do. “Be imitators of God, as beloved children, and walk in love, just as Christ also loved you, and gave Himself up for us” (Ephesians 5:1-2). When we genuinely submit to God, and give to Him our hearts, minds and lives, those external actions reflect who we truly are, within and without, as beloved children of God.
Let’s rejoice in the salvation we have through Christ, in the love He shows to us in who He is and what He does for us. Let us take seriously the hope He offers for eternity. May the name Christian be more than a title, but let it be a reflection of the deep and abiding commitment we have to our Lord, understanding His will for us and walking in His example from a heart molded and shaped by His grace and mercy. Let us in thought, word and deed so live that others who see us realize the source for our lives and “glorify your Father who is in heaven” (Matthew 5:16). “Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice!” (Philippians 4:4).
