It is true that we live in a world dominated by wickedness and sinful lusts. It is true that those seeking the Lord’s way are few. It is true that we are dominated by governments and bureaucracies that seem to allow fewer freedoms each passing year. It is true that (for the most part) we are powerless to fight Big Brother, Big Sister, or even City Hall. “Investigative” reporting no longer characterizes the news media; fairness and truth are “relative” terms for them.
BUT one person can still do a considerable amount of good even in times like these. There was another time period which was even worse than ours. It was a time of great immorality; it was a time of much violence; it was a time in which 99.99+% of the people had 0% interest in God and spiritual concerns. God became so angry that He decided to destroy the world.
“BUT Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord” (Gen. 6:8). Nothing in the above paragraph has been exaggerated. The “wickedness of man was great in the earth”; “every intent” of the thoughts of people’s hearts was “only evil continually” (Gen. 6:5). “The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence” (Gen. 6:11). Noah is called a “preacher of righteousness” (2 Peter 2:5), which means that all who heard the message, which would have saved their lives, rejected it.
Today’s “church growth” experts would certainly rank Noah as a failure, but there are some important lessons to glean from this unusual period of history. Consider some positive concepts from his situation.
First of all, Noah affected the outcome of the history of the world. If he had become like the people all around him, the world could have ended. We may say to ourselves, “Why should I bother to resist peer pressure? Since I’m in Rome, why don’t I just live as the Romans do?” How often do we say to ourselves, “What good are my feeble efforts going to be in a world gone crazy?” How productive can one good tree be? Can it bear enough fruit to overcome all of the evil? No, it cannot. It does not need to. When people come into the orchard and see only a few good fruit-bearing trees amidst a majority of unhealthy ones with rotten fruit, which will the discerning eye wish to have? Quality can be more effective than quantity.
One righteous soul (and his family) prompted God to let the earth continue. How do we know that faithful Christians do not serve that function, also? How do we know how many times God may have thought, “This would be a good time to end human history”? BUT some one (or some ones) caused Him to postpone the day of judgment.
Noah might be considered as a type of Christ in the way he withstood sin. Of course, he did not abstain from sin entirely, as Jesus did, but (in his refusal to be dominated by it) Noah (in a sense) saved the world. Jesus overcame all temptations and was qualified as the only human being to stand in our place and receive the punishment that was due us. He saved His family, too–God’s family. We could not save ourselves, but Jesus saved us through His blood (Rev. 1:5), and we stand in the safety of the spiritual ark, the church.
Second, one person can save his family. We may suppose that one person cannot do very much, but just think of the improvements that would exist in this world if all of us would save our children. No one is here pointing an accusing finger at parents whose children (despite their best efforts) are unfaithful to the Lord. All of us are free moral agents. Even loving our children and setting the proper example before them does not guarantee they will become or remain Christians. Cain certainly turned against what he had been taught, and it appears that Ham and Canaan were a little (if not a lot) on the profane side.
But the fact is that sometimes Christian parents are not setting, the best example that they can. They may choose to be absent from the times of worship in which we are scheduled to meet. They may not see to it that their children are involved in the activities that have been planned for young people. Over the years most preachers have seen what happens to the families which did not make the church their first priority.
It would serve no useful purpose to name names or locations, but one family comes to mind, in which the church always took second place. If a sporting event or school activity conflicted with worship, Bible study, or activities, there was no contest. Likewise, when they became teens, old enough to get jobs, they always came first, too (and isn’t it strange that they were always asked to work on Sundays and Wednesdays?).
Is there anyone who has not figured out that none of the children are faithful Christians today? Oh, but the children are well-rounded academically, socially, and physically. Somehow spirituality did not survive. If only the parents had, like Noah, determined that their family’s spiritual condition was going to receive top priority! One uncompromising parent can make a difference; one devoted family can make a difference.
Third, Noah and his family were rewarded for their faithfulness. They were given a new earth, a cleansed earth. It was theirs to develop; imagine the possibilities–to make of the world what you will. Adam and Eve were the only other ones blessed with this privilege. Cain ruined their chances for success, and Noah did not fare any better. Within a few years men were departing from God and rebelling against His will (the tower of Babel, for instance).
As long as men have the freedom to sin, some will, and they will be able to get others to follow them. But for a few years the earth was in good spiritual shape. Christians shall be rewarded for their righteousness, also. We shall (metaphorically) inherit a new earth. “Nevertheless we, according to His promise, look for new heavens and a new earth in which dwells righteousness” (2 Peter 3:13). This new home will not become corrupted as were Eden and the earth after the flood. It will retain its purity and holiness.
The Way of True Success
One person can wield great influence for good. We should not ever underrate or devalue ourselves and the things we might accomplish for God. But there is a reason for Noah’s success–his faithfulness.
Some people portray the Bible as a difficult book, hard to interpret, complicated. But Noah was a man who operated by a simple plan–if God commands it, do it. Genesis 6 records a number of commands that God gives Noah–a list of specifications for the ark he is to build. Consider some things that Noah did not say.
“Lord, why can’t all the animals and I just go to the top of a hill and wait?” [Answer: Then all the wicked people could also flee there.]
“Does the ark really need to be this long? To build something this huge might take 100 years.”
Instead of complaining, grumbling, making up excuses, or suggesting innovations, Noah took the unconventional approach of just doing what God said.
Thus Noah did; according to all that God commanded him, so he did (Gen. 6:22).
And Noah did according to all that the Lord commanded him (Gen. 7:5).
We often sing the song, “Trust and Obey.” Noah never heard the song, but he practiced the sentiment. If all of God’s people would do likewise, just imagine the impact we would make on this world. But anyone who thinks (like Elijah), “I am the only faithful one left,” should take comfort in the fact that one is still a good number.
Goliath wasn’t slain by a committee; it took only one lad with faith. A Bible-reading, knee-bending, faithful child of God possesses more power than he may realize–more than the president, more than the congress. Who held more influence with God: Ahab or Elijah? Which queen was more powerful–the one who ruled through power and fear (Jezebel), or the one who through humility saved her people from extinction (Esther)?
One person can be spiritually strong; one individual can be steadfast and unmovable (1 Cor. 15:58). It only takes one person with deep trust and commitment to make a difference in this world. One’s first priority must be to save oneself; the next one is to save one’s family. The third is to influence positively the entire world–not through force, which is the only means some understand, but through the power of godly speech, godly behavior, and godly living.
What more fitting epitaph to a faithful life could there be than: “As God commanded, so he (or she) did.”
*Send comments or questions concerning this article to Gary Summers. Please refer to this article as: “THE POWER OF ONE INDIVIDUAL (8/24/97).”