Have you built your ark?

When God passed judgment on the earth he found one righteous man, Noah. Have you ever thought about this? In all the earth, there was only one man and his family that God was willing to spare. The intention of everyone else’s heart was only evil (Gen 6:5). The next time you look at the world and can’t believe the evil and violence just imagine if you were the only one that still had faith in God. Fortunately we have millions of other believers that we can pray with, lean on, love and help us reach the rest of the world.

We don’t know what Noah’s neighbors thought about him before he started building a giant boat on dry land. Since he did not partake with them in their evil indulgences they probably already thought he was a bit odd. Once he actually started working on this boat they really must have thought he’d lost it. However this did not seem to bother Noah. In a society devoted completely to evil he remained faithful to God. When God asked him to build a 450 foot boat on dry land, he did all that God commanded him (Gen 6:22).

I don’t know about you but I want people to like me. I’m generally leveled headed and even tempered. I can be a bit quiet but I get along with almost everybody. I like being accepted by fellow Christians but also by co-workers that don’t believe. This has its good and bad points. On the good side, it theoretically opens up plenty of opportunity for me to share my faith. On the other hand, sharing my faith might make me stand out and be unaccepted. It might make me stand out as that church guy.

Noah stood out like a sore thumb. As Christians in an evil world, shouldn’t we stand out? Do your co-workers or fellow students know that you are a Christ follower by your decisions and your actions? Or do you generally manage to fit in and not cause any waves? What if God asked you to build an ark in your back yard? Would you do it?

If you’re invited to a football game on Sunday, assuming this is your normal day of worship, do you accept the invitation or do you turn it down and use it as an opportunity to share your faith and explain why you worship on Sunday?

If office mates are gossiping, or telling off-color jokes, do you snicker along or sit quietly or do you let them know that you do not approve and explain that it is your faith that prevents it?

Do you pray in public before a meal if no other Christians are sitting with you?

Shouldn’t we as Christians take our stand for our faith and build our arks rather than worrying more about how we fit in with the rest of the world (Jas 4:4)? When Noah took his stand it was too late for his neighbors. Judgment had already been passed. It’s not too late for our neighbors. Maybe if we obey God, regardless of what he asks us to do, our ark will be the act of faith that opens their hearts to Jesus before their judgment is passed.