Oceangate: A Modern Parable of the Disenfranchised
Unless you’ve been living under a rock, it is likely that you’ve heard of the OceanGate exploration sub and its five passengers. At this point, it is safe to say that all five passengers have died. No doubt this is a time of much grief for the families of all involved—but if you’ve followed this story with much interest, you know their grief is compounded by the multitude of memes circulating the internet over the past several days.
I view this as a rather interesting cultural phenomena that speaks much to whatever vestiges of humanity are left within us. Our propensity to make levity at situations that are grave is unparalleled, and quite frankly, shameful. It not only speaks to the fact that we are “memeing” ourselves to death, but there is no longer any pretense over how our world conceives of another human being’s dignity, even in what may be their final moments.
As the story broke, several made light of an altogether horrific situation, and this was not much of a shock in one sense because of how our world views the preciousness of life. What was signaled, ultimately, was that people have intrinsic value and dignity—so long as they are not the rich. You see, if you are particularly affluent, the gist of the message spread was that you deserve to die at the bottom of the ocean floor. Your value is an assigned value—not by God, not by having a soul, or even if you’re philanthropic with what wealth you have—but merely by the whims of a disenfranchised, covetous people.
Many were quick to make statements of what they would do with their wealth instead—but almost every single meme to be found contained the same sentiment: these five passengers deserved to die simply because they were elite aristocrats with too much money and time on their hands. “The ocean is eating the rich for us,” has been the cold statement of many. One of the passengers was a teenaged boy, but this didn’t stop the hate from oozing out of every orifice of the internet lynch mob.
It would be easy to say this is a grand display of total depravity—the complete, moral bankruptcy of mankind. It would also be easy to capitalize on the sense of adventure that many conservative pundits did—in saying that the adventurous are the ones who have paved the way for everything we have. There are two things certain in life: death and taxes. If this is the case, you might as well make the most of it and take the risks involved. However, while the root of the problem is indeed a totally depraved mind and heart, and while it is certainly true that innovation has come through risk, neither of these things strike the issue with much precision.
In speaking with some friends, I believe the particular issue is born out of a love for money, which is the root of all kinds of evil. In this case, the “have-nots” saw what the “haves” had, and the kind of evil manifested out of a love of money and their covetousness, was a particularly nasty form of revilement. What it leads me to believe is that the hordes of comments, likes, etc., from those who applauded the memes are only held back from their murderous intent towards the rich because they lack opportunity. It reminds me much of a quote I heard a while back, where a speaker infamously said to a group of men, “The only reason why many of you haven’t committed an adulterous affair is because you’re ugly.”
And while it could be said that the five passengers all understood and took the risk, only to pay the ultimate price, an equally true reality is at play. Millions and millions of people looked upon them with glee, and subsequently, are found guilty of murder in their hearts. No murderer has eternal life within them. But the true perniciousness of this is that idol of covetousness. That insidious desire to have more and more, and never find one’s self content with what they’ve been given. A world full of people gloating over the death of five people in a tiny sub at the bottom of the ocean, all because of money. Sure, the token words of “my condolences” were given by many in hearing the fate of those onboard, but only after the fact.
The hypocrisy is evident, as everyone mocked and grumbled for days from their smart phones on the internet, while being found in the top 2% of the world’s wealthiest people in all of time. However, even this isn’t the real issue at hand. The issue is one of servitude. You cannot love both Mammon (money) and God, and yet despite the laughter and vile speech, every single one of them is clamoring for their own piece of the pie. Picture it much like Judas, who complained over the expensive perfume poured over Christ’s feet and said, “This money could be given to the poor instead!” At the end of the day, as my good friend Blake remarked, the “…seething jealousy over the cost of the trip rings hollow behind a façade of care for the poor.”
Many would not be so bold as to take the risk these five did, but it matters very little if their hearts are set on building up their storehouses with their wealth, kicking back, and saying, “You have plenty laid up for many years. Eat, drink, and be merry.” All it betrays when you see the comments on how they’d spend the $250,000 charter fee is that they place an inordinate trust in their ability to navigate their own mortality. Like the man who is too ugly to commit an adulterous affair, many are simply not rich enough to do such a thing as board a vessel that takes them to the bottom of the ocean.
But this changes very little in the end. They are doing something far more stupid, believing that their own mortality is in their hands and denying that one day, God’s righteous wrath will be revealed against all mankind from heaven. Little by little, all those who do not trust in Christ—rich or poor, black or white, smart or dumb—are storing wrath against themselves for when this day comes. All the while, they are “memeing” themselves straight to hell.
What they fail to consider is that they too will reach the very same end as these men, and all men before them. Much like when the Tower of Siloam fell, occasions such as these ring a clarion bell to the watching world: the clock is ticking. It may or may not be a decision you make that brings you to your own demise, but nonetheless, that hound of hell is chasing all of us down, like the inscrutable enemy death truly is. This is the end of every man, but the wise will take it to heart.
Day after day, this same message has been proclaimed for millennia at this point—yet much like the fool of Proverbs 1, the masses laugh and scoff at the wisdom of trusting in Christ. The point should not be missed though. The world will move on and find its next occasion to laugh. It will ridicule the preciousness and frailty of life, always and ever believing they have more time. Yet just as lady wisdom hides herself from the fool on the day of their calamity because the mockers mocked, they shall find it too late to cry for help when death knocks at the door.
No one has the day of their death written on their calendar. Instead, you will find the mundane, ordinary plans of men charted out. They will have a dentist appointment for next Tuesday, a meeting the following week, and perhaps a vacation scheduled for the end of the month. But there is no guarantee that calamity won’t strike today for you. The only safe refuge from death is to cast yourself before Jesus Christ, who holds both life and death in His hands.