Many people around the world were able to witness the tragedy of the destruction of the space shuttle Columbia. It brought back memories of a previous tragedy of the shuttle Challenger. The space shuttle Challenger exploded because of leaky seals on the main rocket and Columbia burned on entry because an incident on takeoff was written off as minor. Errors in human judgment were behind both incidents. A safety expert I met told me the crew of Columbia might have been rescued, but the decision to keep the crew on board in order to land the shuttle outweighed the safety of the crew. Money was involved. Similar considerations affected the design of the Challenger. Human judgment is involved in much of what we do on earth. Cutbacks and concern for profit, pride, vanity and growing carelessness cannot be ruled out as contributing factors to decisions that in these cases have proven fatal.

Scientists have taken great pains to develop safety features in the space program. But financial and political forces factors can become players in events. The decision was made from the ground that there could be no damage from the piece of foam insulation that was seen to break off and strike the left wing at takeoff. Recent reports and simulated force have proven that indeed the tiles could have been torn off and the wing punctured. This is the stated cause of the disaster for Columbia.

We met a safety expert named Igor. He was deeply involved in matters of air safety and fully aware of procedures and possibilities in the space shuttle program. He commented that budget restraints are always a consideration when a “risk” is taken. He explained that, for example in the case of the Columbia, a visual check could have been made. A second space shuttle might have rescued the crew if damage was detected and the shuttle Columbia could have been allowed to harmlessly tumble to earth with no loss of life. He also said the little protection tiles that make up the heat shield of Columbia cost millions of dollars. Financial consideration pushed the decision that the shuttle could safely land and not be destroyed. Similarly, for the Challenger the “O” rings were known to be a problem, but changing the design was costly.

Hard lessons

There are great lessons to be learned from these disasters. We humans often know what to do—but allow other factors to interfere with our decisions. Scientists follow physical laws carefully and know that working within the laws produces success while working outside them results in death. Paul expresses concern about some in the faith suffering shipwreck: “Having faith and a good conscience, which some having rejected concerning the faith have suffered shipwreck” (1 Timothy 1:19). It is far too easy for us to shut out eyes to facts when we have inner forces that push us away from doing what ought to be done. Just as great care ought to be taken in space endeavors, so too, great care ought to be taken in our observance of the spiritual laws of God. Scientists have learned hard lessons and we too will have to learn hard lessons if we stray from exerting care as we obey God.

Scientists have taken great pains to develop safety features in the space program.

In 2 Corinthians 7:9-11 Paul observes that the Corinthians grew to be very careful and were diligent and zealous after errors were made: “Now I rejoice, not that you were made sorry, but that your sorrow led to repentance. For you were made sorry in a godly manner, that you might suffer loss from us in nothing. For godly sorrow produces repentance leading to salvation, not to be regretted; but the sorrow of the world produces death. For observe this very thing, that you sorrowed in a godly manner: What diligence it produced in you, what clearing of yourselves, what indignation, what fear, what vehement desire, what zeal, what vindication! In all things you have proved yourselves to be clear in this matter.”

Humanly, we run into the problem that with a little time, our concern and zeal can slip and we once again become careless. Titus 3:8 also shows Paul reminding God’s people to be careful to maintain good works: “This is a faithful saying, and these things I want you to affirm constantly, that those who have believed in God should be careful to maintain good works. These things are good and profitable to men.”

We can allow our prayer and study to dwindle without realizing that we are forgetting some vital truths.

We start off “like a house on fire” and all too often end up with a cold ember. Isaiah 47:7-11 describes Israel as one who did not take things to heart—one who lived carelessly and in time was blinded to her own error and sin: “And you said, ‘I shall be a lady forever,’ so that you did not take these things to heart, nor remember the latter end of them. Therefore hear this now, you who are given to pleasures, who dwell securely, who say in your heart, ‘I am, and there is no one else besides me; I shall not sit as a widow, nor shall I know the loss of children’; but these two things shall come to you in a moment, in one day: the loss of children, and widowhood. They shall come upon you in their fullness because of the multitude of your sorceries, for the great abundance of your enchantments. For you have trusted in your wickedness; you have said, ‘No one sees me’; your wisdom and your knowledge have warped you; and you have said in your heart, ‘I am, and there is no one else besides me.’ Therefore evil shall come upon you; you shall not know from where it arises. And trouble shall fall upon you; you will not be able to put it off. And desolation shall come upon you suddenly, which you shall not know.”

We can allow our prayer and study to dwindle without realizing that we are forgetting some vital truths. We can lose sight of the terrible price Jesus Christ paid for our sin—and then overlook the seriousness of sin. We can allow a piece of foam to strike our wings and not bother to look and see if we are in danger. That kind of action is human. Self-pity, opinions of others, fear, discomfort or uncontrolled emotions can all affect our decision making about spiritual matters. But the stakes are too high for us to allow ourselves to grow careless.

Regular checkups

God does not just suggest that we worship Him with all our heart, mind and soul, He says, “You shall.”

Paul strongly encouraged converted people to examine themselves and judge themselves at the Passover season: “But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of the bread and drink of the cup... For if we would judge ourselves, we would not be judged” (1 Corinthians 11:28, 31). This is not intended to make life tedious or odious at all. It is like a routine check of the space shuttle to discover any flaw or potential flaw for the safety and well being of the spaceship, crew and program. Habitual continuance in well doing is the key. A habitual continuance in the care of an automobile, spaceship or one’s personal life is the best defense against disasters and crises that often leave us wishing we would have and knowing we could have.

Hebrews 12:12-17 tells the story of Esau who grew careless with the promises he had been given: “Therefore strengthen the hands which hang down, and the feeble knees, and make straight paths for your feet, so that what is lame may not be dislocated, but rather be healed. Pursue peace with all people, and holiness, without which no one will see the Lord: looking carefully lest anyone fall short of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up cause trouble, and by this many become defiled; lest there be any fornicator, or profane person like Esau, who for one morsel of food sold his birthright. For you know that afterward, when he wanted to inherit the blessing, he was rejected, for he found no place for repentance, though he sought it diligently with tears.”

He sold his future for a pot of soup and lost sight of the value of what God promised. Later, Esau tried with all his might to regain that which he had lost—but to no avail. It is like the story of Humpty Dumpty. You know the ending: “All the king’s horses and all the king’s men couldn’t put Humpty together again.” Don’t let it happen to you, and I won’t let it happen to me.

In our small coal-mining town of Luscar, seven men lost their lives in a mine explosion because a man who knew better was not thinking and lit a flame in an area in which gas was present. A moment of carelessness was all it took. Every year we hear of parents who run over their own children when they are backing the car out of the garage. An old man plowed into a marketplace in California killing a number of people because his foot went to the gas pedal instead of the brake pedal. Others often pay for our carelessness—but we cannot escape a penalty.

The desire of God is that every man should be saved. “[God] will have all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth” (1 Timothy 2:4). In Paul’s writings to Timothy, he also frequently encouraged Timothy to exhibit care in his spiritual life. In 1 Timothy 1:3 Paul was urging Timothy to do certain things: “As I urged you when I went into Macedonia, remain in Ephesus—that you may charge some that they teach no other doctrine.” In 1 Timothy 4:6 Paul states that Timothy would be a good minister if he taught the doctrine that he had carefully followed: “If you instruct the brethren in these things, you will be a good minister of Jesus Christ, nourished in the words of faith and of the good doctrine, which you have carefully followed.”

In verses 14-16 Paul plainly tells him not to neglect the gift he was given and to take heed of himself: “Do not neglect the gift that is in you, which was given to you by prophecy with the laying on of the hands of the eldership. Meditate on these things; give yourself entirely to them, that your progress may be evident to all. Take heed to yourself and to the doctrine. Continue in them, for in doing this you will both save yourself and those who hear you.”

There are many, many more scriptures with the same sort of message. Take care in walking in the footsteps of Jesus Christ. God does not just suggest that we worship Him with all our heart, mind and soul, He says, “You shall.” The word shall is a command. His offer is too great and costly to be taken lightly. The penalty for being careless is too great for us to turn aside for any reason. Our minds sometimes try and tell us something else, just as the minds of the people in the space program were pressured by concerns that allowed them to make poor decisions. But our stakes are even higher. Our space program is far superior. With a little care, ongoing and steady, we will not crash and burn.