Stand firm in the one Spirit, striving together as one for the faith of the gospel.

Philippians 1:27

As I was having my devotional time this morning, I came across the following allegory that compares the church to a ship.

We are brothers and sisters in this vessel whose Captain is Jesus Christ. He is guiding His faithful church safely over the ocean of life toward Heaven’s harbor. But someone else has other plans. Lo! Off to starboard lies a threatening vessel shrouded in mists of deception — it’s the enemy’s warship! Dark and ugly, it plows through the rising waves as it races to intercept us. Quickly we prepare for battle. We all know the power of Satan’s fiery darts. Were it not for the shields of faith surrounding our ship, we would have no chance.

But as our foe approaches, the way is no longer clear. The chilly wind has brought a heavy bank of fog, and our faith wavers. We forget that our Pilot can see through the mist. As we debate which is the best direction to travel, opinions fly and tempers flare. Soon shields are turning inward, raised defensively against one another. Suddenly a brother sounds an alarm — the ship has been hit! Water trickles in, and a sinister flame licks along the rail. Christ surveys the commotion and raises the hands pierced so long ago. Convicted, we turn with words of reconciliation and reposition our shields to protect each other. Humbly we patch the hole in our understanding. The mist clears, and we pull away from our foe rejoicing.

The author of this devotional closes by saying: “Are we unified with our spiritual family, the church? As we work together, let’s always remember: We have an enemy, but it is not each other. We are defeated if we are divided. But victory is certain if we heed Paul’s exhortation in Ephesians 4:3, ‘Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace.’”