Anchor in the storm

 

 

I don’t really know much about boating. I’ve been on them, I love touring old warships. But when it comes to practical sailing knowledge, that’s not really my area of expertise. But one thing I do know is that anchors hold the boat where it is. We all have that image of a ship cutting through the water, and then it drops it’s anchor and as the anchor and the chain begin dragging across the bottom the ship comes to a stop (I’m particularly thinking of that epic scene from the 2012 movie Battleship!).

As apart of this conversation I also want to mention Paul’s words in Ephesians 4:14, “Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of people in their deceitful scheming” (NIV). A lot of imagery in this passage that relates to a ship, really in need of an anchor. When a boat is anchored, even in a terrible storm it can be held, and while it might get battered a bit, it can remain where it needs to. We live in a day and age with a lot of teachings that seem to go all over the place. A lot of “theology” that is done in our post-modern era is sometimes problematic at best, or as the text suggests sometimes deceitful.

How are we to tell!? How could we possible know what is sound doctrine and what is not. It can be really hard because most of the time everyone is using the same Bible, and yet people come to vastly different interpretations and understandings.

The answer is we have to make sure we are anchored. The anchor that we have in Christianity is that of the classical Christian consensus of the Church found in the creeds and in the writing of the early church fathers (a.k.a the patristics). When we hold commonly what the early church believed (summed in the creeds and presented in the patristic writings) we find an anchor that a follower of Jesus in any age is able to go to, yank on it a bit and see if they are still attached to it.

Gnosticism was an early church heresy (that even Paul deals with), where they believed they had special revelation and knowledge of salvation, securing them no matter what they did. This obviously led to many problems. When we then turn to the creeds and early church fathers we find out how these issues were dealt with, and we can assess from there is we are attached to the anchor or not.

My encouragement for us all is to make sure that we are anchored. In the last year I have memorized the Apostle’s Creed, and it has been so live giving. I can recite the core historic beliefs of the Christian faith, and it is a constant reminder that I am anchored to the faith once delivered to the saints, which has been proclaimed since the day of Pentecost.

Go learn the creed (The Apostle’s Creed, Nicaean Creed & the Athanasian Creed are the core ones) and read some of the early church fathers (Athanasius, John Chrysostom, Justin Martyr, Clement of Rome, Polycarp, Clement of Alexandria, Origen just to name a few). You will find that the thoughts and questions of our modern age really aren't that new, and you will likewise be amazed at the depth of thought that the Church has for us today.

Be anchored.