"Are We There Yet?": Life in the Religious Ark

By David Ryser & Martha Paterik

If we’re called to walk on the water, then why do we need an ark?  (Mark Squires)

These things always seem to begin innocently enough…just before they spin hopelessly out of control.  My friend Martha had run across the term “sacred desk” referring to the pulpit.  She’d never heard this term before and was somewhat bewildered that anyone would call a piece of furniture sacred.

And I was reminded of my grandfather.

My grandfather was a dairy farmer.  At the time of the evening milking, the cows would be herded into the barn and locked into stalls to be milked.  Behind the cows, a trough was cut into the floor.  The trough was needed because the cows were not barn-broken.  As the evening wore on, the trough filled with cow waste.

As useful as this trough was, I never heard my grandfather refer to it as the “sacred trough.”

Referring to the pulpit as the “sacred desk” makes about as much sense as calling my grandfather’s muck-trough the “sacred trough.”  After all, both are pretty much full of the same thing.

I explained to Martha that the pulpit is the Protestant version of the Catholic altar.  It can…and has…become just another fixture of religious idolatry.  Pick your poison.  Martha noted that religious people have done much the same thing even with biblical objects.

She mentioned the term “ark.”  And I experienced a religious flashback.

Years ago, I was sitting in the Sunday service at a church whose pastor strongly preached commitment to the Kingdom of God.  By “Kingdom of God” he meant his church, which was growing increasingly unhealthy.  On this particular morning, the speaker was proclaiming that this local church was the modern day version of Noah’s ark.  This “ark” was the only place of safety in a world that was becoming increasingly unsafe.  We needed to get into the ark.

And stay in.

I can’t decide if this preacher’s declaration is more arrogant or stupid.  It’s a big dose of both.  For one thing, it is absurd to assert that any local church is the only place…or even the best place…where a person can be safe in Christ.  What about the almost 8 billion people on the planet who don’t even know this particular church exists?  And are there no other Christian fellowships where Jesus is Lord?

For another thing, is any ark intended to be a permanent dwelling place?  What if Noah…and the people and animals with him…had stayed in the ark and never left it?  Would they have been safe, secure, and blessed?  Or would they have died of hunger, buried in their own waste?  And what about the world they were supposed to populate and subdue?

The ark-church is no different.  If we are ever going to make a difference in the world…advance God’s kingdom in the earth…we must leave the ark.  This is something that should be encouraged by church leaders…not discouraged.  

So what about the people who leave the ark-church?

I eventually left it.  So did Martha.  So did several other people over the years.  Some before us.  Any exodus from that local church was treated as a departure from the Christian faith.  They had “left the ark” and were at risk.  We were sternly charged not to follow their example.

So just when did the word ark come to be a synonym for the word prison anyhow?

Others have continued to jump ship, so to speak.  Those of us who left before them have made the effort to get in contact with some of these people and encourage them that there is life outside the ark.  I’ve remarked that the question is not so much whether there is life outside of this ark-church as whether there is life inside of it.

Martha’s response is instructive.

“I guess the real question is which ark?  The ark of Noah’s day carried all that represented life in it.  They were fed and kept safe until it was time to be sent out into the world and carry that life to it.  No one [ever] mentions a regular trek back to the boat.  It had served its purpose, now it was time to go out.”

Wow.

And then she went on to reference another ark…the Ark of the Covenant. Unlike the pulpit, if any piece of furniture could be called “sacred” it would be the Ark of the Covenant.  She noted:  “It had a thing that represented life (manna), the miracle staff of Aaron, and the stone tablets.  The glory of God even rested on or above this ark.  But He doesn’t anymore.  God has left the box, so to speak.  He wants us to take His Glory into the world, to be His Glory.”

You see, both of these arks had been constructed at God’s direction.  And both of them had a purpose…for a season.  When their purpose was fulfilled, both were emptied.  And the world was benefited because what had once been in the arks was now released into the world, engaged with it, and bringing life to it.

And in the end, Martha accurately sums up the fate of both of these biblical arks:  “[B]oth arks were mighty tools of God in the time they were needed; but at the risk of killing sacred cows, neither would be too effective today.”

I don’t know about you, but I think sacred cows make great steaks.

Responses to this article are welcomed.  You may contact the author at drdave1545@yahoo.com