No, that’s not the most common sales pitch heard at the local marina. It’s a line from one of my favorite movies, Jaws.
In the movie, Chief Brody, Matt Hooper, and Quint embark upon the fishing trip from sheol. They set out to find the shark that has been terrorizing picturesque Amity, eating tourists and commercial profits alike. Quint, a salty old dog from a by-gone era, sings tawdry songs and tells lurid tales. The Chief, a landlubber from the city, can’t decide if he should be fascinated or frightened by Quint. He quickly finds out, however, that the post-card blue seas hide a far greater horror … Bruce (that’s the name of the mechanical shark used in production).
In the climactic scenes, our three shark hunters are at sea on Quint’s Orca, a dated, worn-out fishing vessel that appears that it may never have had better days. There, as they troll along on calm seas, they do what fishermen do. Quint prepares the tackle. Hooper “drives the boat,” and the Chief chums the waters, throwing sundry fish parts and blood overboard in hopes of attracting the shark.
Attract the shark they do. As Chief Brody laments his lot in life, Bruce arrives on camera in all his grisly glory for the first time. He rears his massive, maniacal (and mechanical) head for the first time, virtually eating from the Chief’s hand. Stunned by the size of the shark and shaken by his brush with death, the Chief staggers back into the wheelhouse. There he informs Quint of their predicament. In one of movie history’s greatest lines and one of life’s greatest understatements, the Chief casts out these words: “You’re going to need a bigger boat.”
Many of us go through life in the same way. We identify with one of the three characters. Some of us approach life with the scientific objectivity of Matt Hooper, the ichthyologist. Others are like Quint, hardened by life and afraid of nothing. The rest are like Chief Brody. They’re comfortable in their own environment and lost when out of it.
Like our intrepid fishermen, most of us think that we’re ready for whatever situation we meet. We’ve read all the self-help books. We’ve prayed the mantra. We’ve claimed the promises. We’ve thought through every potential scenario. We’ve told our friends what we would do in “that” situation. We’re ready. We think. Until we face the monsters in our life face-to-face. Then, and only then, do we realize that we don’t need a bigger boat. We need a bigger God.
