There is the analogy of the church being like a boat. The sea of water on which the boat floats is the fallen, sinful world influenced by Satan, and given in to their own selfish desires as they turn their backs on faith and God. The purpose of the boat is to float ON the water. By staying on the surface of the water, where the boat is designed to be, it will fulfill its intended purpose; to rescue those people sinking in the water of the world. What a great analogy.
Digging deeper into that analogy, we can draw more truth and a greater comparison of the boat to the Christian church. As long as the passengers in the boat are alert, know their responsibilities and are prepared to act on them, the boat can fulfill its purpose, leaks in the boat will be found immediately and repaired and even when a strong wind comes against her, she can still be maintained and remain functional and effective; if the sea rises up in a tumult against her, the passengers can bail water out of the boat, and it will continue to float, fulfilling its designed purpose. Ultimately, the boat is supposed to be in the water: water should not be in the boat.
Ladies and gentlemen, I submit to you that the water is not only in the boat, but that many of the passengers are sleeping as the boat takes on water.
With the boat representing the Christian church floating on a sea of an ungodly world, of those passengers/Christians who are awake, few have noticed the leaks in the boat that are allowing the water of the world to seep into the boat of Christianity. Many passengers in the boat who have noticed that their feet are getting wet, do not think it a big enough problem that they should begin to bail.
In general, the passengers in the boat are not alert, they do not know their responsibilities and are not prepared to act on them if they do. It’s simply easier to stay put and get a little wet. Most passengers feel it is better to allow some water in the boat rather than rock the boat and risk things getting worse, or offending those outside the boat. With this being the case, the weight of the water inside the boat becomes so heavy it begins to act more like an anchor, and the influence of the world on the boat becomes greater than the influence of the boat on the world.
Bottom line; the boat is in serious danger of sinking and few passengers in the boat seem to care. But perhaps more importantly, the boat has lost the effectiveness of its purpose.
Pennsylvania native A. W. Tozer once wrote, “Religion today is not transforming people; rather it is being transformed by the people. It is not raising the moral level of society; it is descending to society’s own level, and congratulating itself that it has scored a victory because society is smilingly accepting its surrender.” Forty-seven years after his death, his words ring more true than ever.
Even in Tozer’s day, the people were not bailing. The boat is still taking on water. The church looks more like the world every day, and the common Christian is now indistinguishable from the rest of the world. If the church is going to survive as an effective tool for Christ, we must get to work bailing. We must begin to again become the effective influence on the world that Christ has intended us to be, and we need to start by getting some of this water out of the boat.
To do this, we must know what the water looks like, smells like, feels like, and yes, most of us know what it tastes like because we have been there ourselves, sinking in the water of the sins of the world. We have to be able to identify what needs to be removed from the boat and get rid of it! Again, the evils of the world have no home in the church. You do not have to be an author to recognize a book when you see it. You do not have to be a steel worker to know what a piece of steel looks like. In the same light, one does not have to be of the world, to know what sin looks like.
We must go to scripture, and scripture alone to determine our standard. Where scripture is silent, we too must be silent. Where scripture leaves room for interpretation, we too must leave room for interpretation. But where scripture is clear, we must be prepared not only to stand firm in that truth (2 Thessalonians 2:15), but point a loving, caring finger at those areas of the ‘church’ that are ignoring or turning their backs on God’s word. 2 Timothy 3:16 states that, “All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness…” All too often we forget this verse, and in the name of grace allow ourselves to become enablers of sin because speaking out against the world seeping into the church is judgmental or politically correct, or not loving enough. Reproof is biblical, it is Godly, and reproof is always out of love, with reconciliation always being its purpose.
We have all heard of the old adage telling us how to cook a frog. You put it in a pot of water, and then turn up the temperature a little bit at a time, the frog will not notice the water getting hotter, and the next thing you know, he’s cooked! Do you honestly think that Satan has never heard of that story? Of course he has, and he is using it to his advantage.
Our human nature is such that we are driven to be liked and successful. We want to fit in; we want our churches to be relevant and attractive. We don’t want our churches doctrine to offend anyone, so our doctrine becomes more friendly, and less biblical. By letting too much water in the boat, we are allowing our human nature to lead the church, rather than Christ. Human nature is fueled by ego and pride and worldly things, but our Spirit is fueled by God’s righteousness that scripture tell us wars against the flesh.
We must take all thoughts captive, to the obedience of Christ (2 Corinthians 10:5), and test all spirits against scripture (I John 4:1). It is time to do it now. Not just those things we here on TV or read on the internet. We must test ALL spirits, TV evangelists, your church, your pastors and teachers, and yes, even all those people and teachings that you have heard all your life and assumed to be biblical. Test all things against the standard of God’s word, the Bible, person, authority, tradition or denomination must yield to scripture. Scripture must always rule the day.
We must question if a freedom taught is not really water leaking into the boat. We must test a denominational doctrine against scripture and see if it belongs in the boat, or if we need to toss it overboard. We need to look at even the simplest things that feel so right to us, and see if they still feel right after we compare them to God’s word and character.
Make no mistake; the world is in the church. We have practicing homosexuals ordained as bishops. We have denominations that support ‘a woman’s right to choose’, which scripture clearly says is murder. We have churches that call themselves Christian, and yet deny the dogmatic biblical doctrine of the Trinity and others that teach that Jesus’ death on the cross only provides limited atonement and that their priesthood must handle the rest. We have other Christian denominations that call themselves open and confirming and support and practice same sex marriages in their churches in the name of God – something that scripture calls an abomination. I ache at the very thought, and at the same time have to wonder why no one seems to be bailing?
I did not live through the McCarthy era. I cringe at some of the things that went on in that time as a congressional witch hunt ruined the lives of so many innocent people. But at the same time, there was more truth to the communist presence in America at that time than even McCarthy would have guessed. I am not promoting a Christian McCarthyism where we run out on rails anyone who doesn’t think like we do. What I am proposing though is something every bit as radical.
I propose that we do not seek to change anyone else. I propose that we seek to change ourselves! This is how we begin to bail. Look into a spiritual mirror (James 1:23ff) and test the spirituality you see against scripture. Look around you and see if perhaps there is a leak in your own boat. Perhaps your boat is leaking, and you do not even know it because you are asleep. Maybe there is a leak in the boat you are sailing in, and your socks are getting wet. YOU start bailing. Don’t say a word, just pick up the bucket and quietly start bailing… see if others start to join in.
If we as Christians do not challenge everything we believe against the truth and foundations of scripture, we are not only failing ourselves, we are failing all those who seek a relationship with God by passing on tradition as truth.
If we are going to change the church and conform it to Christ and away from the world, it needs to start in ourselves first. Then, take it to our families and homes, our churches, the nation, and then the world. This is how revivals start; by God working through one person at a time. Ephesians 6:13 encourages us, “Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand”. Let us each pray that it is us that stand firm.
