The Ark of the Church

One of the classic images or metaphors for the Church is a large boat. We naturally associate the Church with a boat because of St Peter. The three most prominent Apostles, Peter, James, and John, were all fishermen. These three were also partnered with Peter’s brother Andrew. But what sets Peter the fisherman apart from the others is that Peter owns his own boat. The boat used by James and John is owned by their father. Another reason why we associate the Church with the image of a boat lies in how St Peter describes baptism in his first epistle. He says that Jesus “went and preached to the spirits in prison, who formerly did not obey, when God’s patience waited in the days of Noah, during the building of the ark, in which a few, that is, eight persons, were saved through water. Baptism, which corresponds to this, now saves you, not as a removal of dirt from the body but as an appeal to God for a clear conscience, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, who has gone into heaven and is at the right hand of God, with angels, authorities, and powers subject to him” (1Pet 3:19-22).

What Peter is teaching is that baptism brings us into the Church, it brings us into the Ark that does not save just eight people from the destructive forces of a flood but saves many, many more from the destructive forces of sin and death. Just as Noah’s Ark was big enough to accommodate one pair of unclean and seven pairs of clean bird and animal species, the Ark of the Church can accommodate the entire human race, past, present, and future. We need not worry about whether or not there is still room left in the boat: The Ark of the Church will not sink or capsize because it is too full.

One difference between Noah’s Ark and the Ark of the Church is that every passenger that entered Noah’s Ark is saved from the flood but not everyone who enters the of the Ark of the Church will be saved. In Noah’s Ark, it was simply a matter of physically riding out the flood. In the Ark of the Church, however, we must ride out the storm of sin and death and remain in the Ark both physically and spiritually until death. If we were to look at the Church as an Ark and consider the behavior of its passengers, we would not see everyone riding safely in the confines of the boat. Some would be in the boat and safe from all spiritual peril. Others, however, would be testing the waters by sticking their toes in the water while others would be dangling their feet over the side of the boat. Still others would be almost entirely in the water holding on to the side of the boat. The more reckless would simply dive head first into the water presuming that they will easily climb back in at some later date. Some would simply abandon ship finding the water more pleasant than remaining on the boat.

The toe-dippers, the feet-danglers, the ones hitching a ride along side the Ark of the Church can fool themselves into thinking that they are safe as if they were fully inside. They can tell themselves that the water is fine, that it does not seem menacing or dangerous. But where will these people who are not entirely inside the boat be when a sudden storm strikes? Will the water seem so benign when a hungry shark attacks? Those not entirely in the boat might convince themselves that they are merely exercising “the glorious liberty of the children of God” (Rom 8:21). They might think that no harm will come from dabbling and playing in the water. They might sincerely believe that they are experiencing the best of both worlds: the allure and excitement of the water as well as the safety and salvation offered by the Ark of the Church.

Just as a man cannot serve two masters, we cannot reside in two worlds at the same time. We are either in the Ark of the Church or we are not. If we are choosing to dabble in sin, sticking our toes or feet into the abyss, can we be certain that we won’t find ourselves almost totally immersed? Can we be certain that we won’t dive in once we test the waters or that we might be pulled into the water? The only guaranteed way of arriving at our desired destination is to remain in the safety of the boat. We need to pull our toes, feet, and bodies, with the help of God’s grace, back into the boat. Just as St Peter did not deserve to be in Jesus’ presence (Lk 5:8), we do not deserve to be in the Ark of the Church. But this is where God has called us to be, and if we choose to play in the abyss, we may find ourselves at an unexpected and unpleasant destination.

—Fr Booth