Taking the Controls

During the flight from Brussels to Newark, no one outside the capable crew knew that 60-year old Continental Airlines Captain Craig Lenell had died at the controls of the huge airliner. At first, fellow crew members thought he was asleep since he’d had recent physicals and was believed to be in perfect physical condition.

With seamless transition, the two co-pilots took control, and no passengers were even aware of fruitless defibrillation efforts in the cabin by an on-board physician passenger. The flight crew went about their business without spreading the unrest that word of an in-flight death might cause.

Without missing a step, the crew flew on to a safe landing and the attendants cheerfully served the passengers. Passengers heard of the captain’s fate only after landing.

This astounding saga carries some profound spiritual lessons.

Death may strike anywhere, any time and anyone. As children of Adam, our mortality is a settled fact with uncertain timing. As Romans 5:12 promises, "Therefore, just as through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned." Every human was riding with Adam when he sinned away his natural fellowship with God. Death was selective in Captain Lenell’s case but comprehensive in Adam’s descendants.

Death is a surprise to many unsuspecting souls who think they are immune from its ravages. James 1:11 likens us to shriveling vegetation. "For no sooner has the sun risen with a burning heat than it withers the grass; its flower falls, and its beautiful appearance perishes. So the rich man also will fade away in his pursuits." Death was likened to a marching soldier without the order to halt in Ecclesiastes 8:8. "No one has power over the spirit to retain the spirit, And no one has power in the day of death. There is no release from that war …"

Someone once said, "When it comes time to die, make sure the only thing left to do is die." It can be said of the good captain that he died at his post doing his life’s work, which his wife reports was his abiding passion. The tombstone of a well-known mountaineer bears his finest commendation: "He died climbing."

Another encouraging lesson from the cross-Atlantic passing is the immediate action of the well-trained crew. Recalling the well-trained and capable crewmembers is a happy afterthought for the unaware passengers. They reacted superbly and will be remembered for grace under
duress.

It is a lesson for believers everywhere. None of us is indispensable, and we may be called Homeward at any moment. If our churches and families are trained for transition, life will continue as understudies take our place on a moment’s notice.

Joshua trained under Moses, fighting the enemy at his command (Exodus 17:9), going to Mt. Sinai with the great lawgiver (Ex. 24:13), and staying by Moses in troubled times (Ex. 33:11). Finally, the mantle was passed, and, as God prepared to take Moses, he was instructed to pass the baton of leadership to Joshua.

One of the greatest political, moral and military rites of passage in all history is found in Deuteronomy 31:6-8:

"Be strong and of good courage, do not fear nor be afraid of them; for the LORD your God, He is the one who goes with you. He will not leave you nor forsake you." Then Moses called Joshua and said to him in the sight of all Israel, "Be strong and of good courage, for you must go with this people to the land which the LORD has sworn to their fathers to give them, and you shall cause them to inherit it. And the LORD, He is the one who goes before you. He will be with you, He will not leave you nor forsake you; do not fear nor be dismayed."

Moses had flown the national plane of Israel to the border of the Promised Land. Joshua took the controls and landed his people safely in Canaan.

Perhaps true leadership is knowing when to transfer authority to God’s appointed successors. In the heights over the Atlantic, that transition came quickly and without warning. Those waiting in the wings nobly took center stage, and the flight went on to a safe landing.

Good lessons for all of us.

Dave Virkler