Written by Grace Pouch, a contemporary writer and teacher of spiritual renewal.
In the second and third century, Christians adopted a new metaphor for the Church—the Boat. Boats had long been associated with salvation in the minds of God’s people (think of Noah’s ark and Moses’s basket). In the Gospels, Jesus turns the boat into an intimate classroom where his disciples witness miracles, learn to obey him, and face his question: Why are you afraid? As a symbol, the Boat carries these Biblical stories of faith, doubt, desperation, and deliverance. It’s no wonder that early Christians—whose communities were rocked by persecution, political upheaval, and doctrinal disputes—identified with the sinking apostles who cried, “Teacher, don’t you care if we drown?” (Mark 4:38). The Boat image both validated their struggle and affirmed Christ’s presence with them in the storm and his power over it. We need this symbol more than ever. Every generation has to wrestle with the “not yet” of God’s final deliverance, but the storms right now feel especially fierce. Historically, there have been periodic groundswells of an anti-Christ spirit in the world. Coldhearted people, high on their own power, churn up tidal waves of cruelty. An unholy thirst for greatness drives people to fabricate false gospels of salvation. (I’m thinking of Marc Andreessen’s claim that “AI Will Save the World” and Bryan Johnson’s perverse initiative, Don’t Die). Every day brings a new wave of suffering—to us, or to others whom we feel powerless to help. I confess, what I want right now is for Jesus to calm the storm. And I pray for this. But I also pray that Jesus will show me—show all of us—how to stay together, pull together, and grow our “little faith” into a more mature dependence upon him. Calm but not complacent. Assured of his ultimate victory, but also engaged with God on earth here and now.
A furious squall came up, and the waves broke over the boat, so that it was nearly swamped. [Mark 4:37]
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