A Boat Story – A Parable of the Modern Church System

Souls come to be on various ships in the great sea of humanity. On these ships they find a semblance of safety and security. They become attached to these ships, and these ships become like ‘home’ to them. Therefore they are generally loath to leave these ships and go to a new place. Most people are not willing to walk on the water. They do not have the radical sight and vision make such a risky step. They are not really independent-minded souls who would pioneer a new thing. Most souls simply prefer to follow the leadership of the ship they are on and rest under the officers’ authority.

These trusting souls generally have faith that the captain of the ship is an experienced man and that he knows where the ship is going. They believe that he and his officers will take good care of the passengers. “If he believes in this ship, shouldn’t we? Who are we to know more than him? We are just the passengers. Surely he has our best interests at heart; surely if something were wrong with this ship he would tell us and encourage us to leave it (!). We will just sit in the ship like good and obedient little passengers.”

Most people just sit then, unwilling and unable to move forward.

However, not all passengers are like this. There are some who do not have such trust in man and his organizations. Some people open their eyes and see the boat’s flaws. They begin to doubt the boat’s leadership. They may understand that it is highly unlikely that the captain and ship leaders would question their ship, for the leaders, of all people, must have supreme and fearless confidence in it. After all, it is their boat, and they’ve invested their lives and strength into its maintenance and upkeep. How could their boat be wrong? How could they be wrong? If the leaders doubted their boat, they would be doubting themselves, for their very identity is largely wrapped up in that boat. They are in the boat, and in a sense, the boat is in them. It has become a part of them.

Therefore, boat-defense for them becomes an act of self-preservation. They must preserve the appearance of the boat’s invincibility at all costs. It is the boat. It is unique, and better than all others. Thus they will sink to the depths of the sea with their boat rather than leave it. And in their blindness they would lead others to a similar destruction. This fatal trait of leadership will deceive most people.

But it won’t deceive everyone.

The Pioneers

Some of the passengers will come to understand that the boat has serious problems. Some of the lower officers even begin to have doubts. They are not quite as wrapped up in the boat as the captain and his men. These people have eyes, and they can see that the boat is slowly leaking in water and is generally not very strong. As they look closer they see more and more flaws. They begin to wonder, “Will this boat really be able to take us to our Destination?”

These questioning souls peer out over the deck, and having sharper eyes than most they glimpse something of the way ahead. What they see unsettles them. The sky is dark and menacing. The winds ahead are strong, the waves are high, the storms are fierce. The way will become be rougher and not easier. They look down at their leaky little boat and tremble.

A few passengers begin to understand that their boat will not be able to carry them through such fierce storms. And without making it through such storms, they will not be able to reach their Destination. They are faced with a choice – either the boat or the Destination. Which do they love more?

Some passengers come to the radical conclusion that they are willing to sacrifice the boat for the sake of reaching their Destination. They contemplate abandoning that little boat. They must get to their Destination. Reaching that Destination, that Promised Land, that is an all-consuming passion for them.

Suddenly then, often without warning, some of these pioneers actually begin to leave the boat. They step out. First a few, then others. Of course the ship’s leadership is shouting at them, Don’t leave, it’s dangerous! Come back! But they are possessed by a higher power, and they cannot turn back to that boat. They leave it, they are moving on! To the amazement and consternation of many who remain on the boat, some of these people actually walk on the water! Oh, this is just a fluke, some say. Just a flash in the pan. Surely it can’t last. Others in this pioneering class apparently aren’t as brave, and they appear to catch another boat as it passes by. Still others appear to sink, but no one knows for sure.

Left Behind

Those remaining on the boat generally lose contact with the pioneers, so they don’t really know what has happened to them. They mostly try to think that such people would have been better off in the boat, and they comfort themselves with such thoughts. They encourage each other with mutual suspicions about the real motives of those who left. And they refocus on their boat. They think anew that their boat is special and wonder why anyone would want to leave such a nice boat. “After all, our boat has gotten us this far, surely it will also bring us to the Destination.”

But not all of the remaining passengers are so confident. Some of them have a nagging doubt: “What if those brave souls were right?”

These doubting, hesitant passengers see many of the same fatal problems with the boat that the departed pioneers saw. And truth be told, they almost want to go with them, walking on the water with them into the realms of faith. But something holds them back. For some it may be lack of faith, fear of the unknown. But for others it is something else: when they feel the urge to move on, they find themselves bound to the boat. This bond – created over years of companionship with familiar faces, shared struggles, and just the general way of boat-life – proves to be a powerful if not overwhelming force preventing them from leaving. An invisible rope seems to tether them to the deck of their beloved ship. It’s as though they are bound together and to the ship with cords which cannot be broken. They begin to wonder if such a powerful bond is as positive as they formerly thought…

These ‘unbreakable’ cords, carelessly invoked and willingly entered into, suddenly appear to be the potential means of their destruction.

As they struggle with the realization of this invisible cord about them, they are yet troubled by the lingering thought that THE BOAT IS GOING TO SINK. This troubling and sometimes even terrible thought they may try to push out of their minds. They embrace distractions like singing merrily with their fellow-passengers, listening to reassurances from the leadership, and engaging in common boat-tasks. But in spite of these distractions, the frightening thought of impending doom will often return to them, always leaving them somewhat unsettled and ill-at-ease, as they ply the waves bound to their boat. At some point in the lives of a few, this truth may become too much for them. The glorious Destination, unreachable in the boat-as-it-is, pulls at their hearts. They are seized with a sight of that eternal Place. Something they know, must change. Destruction is coming. We are simply not going to be able to make it like this.

Bound to the boat, they cannot simply leave. What to do?

Some of these struggling souls come up with a clever idea. They conclude that the boat can be fixed. Yes, it can be repaired! Perhaps they themselves can fix the boat. Or, maybe someone will come along and repair it. Surely it will, in the future, be more seaworthy and able to withstand the storms that are ahead. We can all make it to our destination in a reformed boat!

Such people believe that boat-transformation is possible.

With this hope comforting them, and perhaps a new agenda of repair before them, they therefore remain content, bound to their unworthy vessel. “How nice it will be to go with my familiar passengers who I’ve sailed with for so many years into the Promised Land. We’ve had so many good times together. How nice it will be to pull up on the shore in our familiar old boat! It has been a good boat, and we can make it work.”

However, can the boat really be changed? Can something OLD be reformed into something NEW? Learn from the lessons of church history. Despite earnest desire and gallant attempts, it has never been done. And look at this current boat. Why should we think it to be anything different than the old boats of the past? Something special? Is it special? Are we special?

Clear eyes can already see that it is an old boat, and it is beginning to rot. The wood is rotting, and even the fresh planks recently added are picking up the rot from the old ones. The iron is beginning to rust. Holes are there. Stop one leak, it seems like another comes. The boat is in pretty bad shape. Of course some people are energetically trying to repair the boat, and they run about trying to fix it whenever a problem appears. But these attempts are generally ineffective and even begin to appear a little foolish.

Some of the passengers begin to understand that the boat has a fundamental problem: its basic structure is faulty. These structural flaws impede any real repair work. The boat simply cannot be molded or shaped into something new. It cannot make such a complete change. One cannot transform a submarine into a sailboat. He cannot change a canoe into an aircraft carrier. Preservation of the existing structure precludes radical transformation. And reformation or repair implies merely fixing the existing structure. But this is not enough. Something NEW is needed.

The fact becomes clear: there’s not much to distinguish this boat from all other failed boats. It simply doesn’t match the plumbline of God. Of course some of its leaders bravely call it the true BOAT OF GOD. But their assertions hide the reality – in truth it’s just another little boat of man. Because of this, even in its best and ideal state, the boat will be unable to survive the coming storm.

A few of the remaining passengers suddenly recognize this. Their eyes are opened. They see the command to “Come Out of Her My People” in a new light. This powerful Word which they formerly just applied to others, suddenly applies to themselves! The Word of God breaks the blinding yoke of man upon them. They too are set free.

If you remain in that boat in hopes that it may be transformed someday into the glorious Bride of Christ you will be sorely disappointed. The old creations of man will not make it. They cannot. A New Corporate Vessel is needed. That divine structure only will be able to reach the goal, and all other boats – fat or slim, large or small – with all of their dedicated passengers and devoted leadership, shall be broken to pieces amidst the relentless waves of the END TIMES.

There is a Builder of the required vessel. He is enthroned in heaven. He said that He would build it, and that the gates of hell would not prevail against it. He has given forth a Word or pattern for its construction. His servants on earth must obey Him, and that divine structure will automatically be manifested upon the earth. That vessel of God alone shall reach the shore.

“And every shipmaster, and all the company in ships, and sailors, and as many as trade by sea, stood afar off, and cried” Rev. 18:17b