The World and the Church

The further the world spirals downward into darkness and godlessness the brighter and more remarkable the church should appear. Picture a large ship sailing across the horizon from the left to the right. The people aboard this ship are having a large and loud party including much violence and immorality. This is the world. There is a rope stretched from the boat’s aft (rear) and attached to a small dingy with a few people. This represents the church and the distance from the world that the church maintains. As the large ship continues going further toward hell and wickedness, the church follows while maintaining basically the same distance.

But as both vessels travel from left to right on the horizon, the dingy continues to occupy the same place in the world that the larger ship occupied just a few days before. And even though the church claims to be detached from the larger vessel they are following close in its wake and living in the world's historical path. So basically the church is the world as it was yesterday.

Even more tragic is that many who are partying on the large vessel claim to be passengers in the dingy. And those who are gathered in the aft (rear) part of the dingy so they can be farther away from the world feel self righteous about their seperation from both the world and the others on the dingy.

God is calling out humble seafarers who are humble and broken vessels of the Most High God and whose sails are filled only with Christ and the power of His grace. It is not that we are in the dingy that is our glory. It is that we are in Christ and that by grace alone.