What if Noah never left the ark?
I know, I know… it’s a dumb question. But humor me for a moment.
What if the earth still dried, the waters still receded, and the first rainbow still painted the sky, but instead of returning to the land when he let the animals and his sons off the ark, Noah himself refused to leave.
You never know, he might have some pretty good reasons:
...The ark DID save his family, after all.
...If the ark was trustworthy in the storm, then surely it would be trustworthy now that the storm was gone.
...The ark was instituted by God. God himself said to build it.
...Noah and his fam grew closer to God in the ark, so why shouldn’t others?
...It took so long to build, and it worked so well, it would be a shame to toss it aside.
...The ark could still provide shelter from possible future storms.
...If they left the ark, then things could get bad like they were before. It's easier to control things in the ark.
...The ark DID save his family, after all.
...If the ark was trustworthy in the storm, then surely it would be trustworthy now that the storm was gone.
...The ark was instituted by God. God himself said to build it.
...Noah and his fam grew closer to God in the ark, so why shouldn’t others?
...It took so long to build, and it worked so well, it would be a shame to toss it aside.
...The ark could still provide shelter from possible future storms.
...If they left the ark, then things could get bad like they were before. It's easier to control things in the ark.
No matter what reasons he gave, no matter what truth might be in those reasons, at the end of his explanation, I’d bet most of us would agree that’d still be pretty silly.
But if you fast-forward fifty years, it switches from silly to sad. It saddens me to think of Noah stuck on the ark, stranded on a mountain (which is very out of place for a boat), completely shut off from the world around him. Locked in a wooden time capsule while creation marched on. What if he chose to maintain his landlocked boat and ignore the new world around him rather than to partner with what God was doing in the new generations? That would be very sad indeed.
The question I have, then: if we think it absurd that Noah might have wanted to stay on the ark, then as Christians, why is it okay for US to do that?
Because when I look around, I see boarded-up arks petrifying all over the place, inhabited by God’s people.
RECYCLED AIR
It’s an infectious process that always starts off great.
It begins with people connecting with God in a specific church setting, or with certain songs, or through certain Bible curricula and translations, or by certain outreach programs, or via certain evangelism brochures, TV shows, media, preachers, and crusades.
Whatever IT was that God used to save them… it was their boat.
Regardless of what their ark looked like, the Holy Spirit moved, and God changed their life. The ark rescued them and floated them to a new life, and/or a deeper connection with God. That is stinkin’ awesome! Praise God!
But when the waters receded and the rain stopped, instead of stepping out and experiencing God was going to do next, they stayed on their barricaded boats, stranded on remote mountains. With many of the same reasons 'fake Noah' gave earlier.
Over time, their ark became their idol, their savior. And they didn't even know it (hopefully). It’s as if time stopped, and everything that was happening at the moment of their salvation was dipped in some sort of spiritual bronze and instantly became the only correct way to live.
The only exact way to believe.
The only worthy way to worship.
It pains me to see that, because from then on, it’s a countdown to extinction for many of them as their priorities shift from listening to the Spirit to protecting their preferences - which they can sometimes confuse with their faith. Before long, their airtight ark makes them forget what’s important, and they start fighting over music styles, carpet, colors, and dress codes. They judge and even demonize fellow believers who disagree with their exact faith framework. Disengaged from and forgotten by the world around them, and without many new believers to disciple (especially if their message rarely finds the hearts of unbelievers), they eventually grow old and wither away. Which is terribly sad, because thousands of great stories and generations of experience will simply die with them because they never fell on new ears.
GETTING STUCK ON A GOOD THING
I can’t say I can blame them, though. Because I get stuck on arks all the time! And if you’re honest, you do, too. You probably don’t even realize it (hopefully...because that would be odd if you realized it and decided to stay anyway).
Which is why I find comfort in the fact that even though Noah knew the land was dry (Gen 8:13), he still didn’t get off the ark. In fact, almost two months went by (v. 14) before God eventually TOLD Noah to leave the boat (Hebrew command: yatsa’ – meaning to purposely “go forth” to something). Just in case Noah had a temptation to stay, God made it clear He wanted him to leave it.
It’s part of who we are as humans, and our story as God’s people. From the Israelites who complained about missing Egypt, to the Pharisees that cared more about their specific theological beliefs than the people around them, to those of us in the global Church today, it’s an issue that always plagues us.
For good reason.
Anytime something great happens in our life –whether it be salvation, an answered prayer, freedom from an addiction or hurtful person, a realized hope, a bright day, a joyful event – it’s a little bit like Noah’s ark. It’s a vessel God uses to keep us afloat in tough times, or to bring us to new life in Him, or to deeper faith, or to bless us.
When it happens, it’s wonderful! Praise God!
But we have a tendency to try to hold onto that moment.
To attempt to recreate it constantly.
To deem it the only acceptable way of belief/life/worship.
It’s understandable, because Genesis 1 teaches us that since the very beginning, whenever God moves, says, or does something, it is always good! And it is always worthy of a Heaven-shaking celebration.
But whatever He does, however He moves, whatever vessel He uses, IT is never the point. GOD and His LOVE for us is the point. Always.
We get stuck on our ark when we look to IT, and not to HIM.
Every semester we hold a Tough Questions week in our kids program at church, and each time, without fail, one of the kids ask where Noah’s ark is. Even though we have some pretty cool guesses as to its location, we still don’t truly know.
Why can’t we find Noah’s ark? Because Noah left it.
If the flood happened today in Lake Orion, you bet your sweet bippy that Noah would have that thing shellacked, merchandized, commemorated with a national holiday. It’d have its very own cheesy little section in Family Christian stores, and the boat title would remain in his family for generations to come.
But it didn’t happen that way. When the waters receded, he left it behind.
The ark brought Noah to safety, and connected him to God in a way like never before. The ark was great, but IT wasn’t the point.
You see, at the end of the day, no matter how good and important it was, the ark wasn’t the savior. God was.
God used the ark, and it was good.
But the ark had served its purpose, and God had new things for Noah, and for humanity.
The ark stopped, but God was still moving.
It’s part of who He is.
It’s part of who He is.
GOD OF THE "NEW THING"
Read the Bible and see how many ways He helps, communicates, saves, serves, disciplines, and loves people. You’ll be hard pressed to find a repeat in His song. It maintains the same theme, but it is freely composed.
God never reaches down and loves/leads/teaches/interacts with his creation the same way twice:
Pillar of fire/smoke
Burning bush
Talking donkey
Mt. Sinai and the 10 Commandments
A tabernacle
The Kingdom of Israel
An earthquake and a storm
A quiet whisper
A prostitute’s husband
Jesus
The Church
Why? Because people change. Cultures change. Worldviews change.
Arks always stop. But creation never does.
And if Jesus TRULY is the perfect picture of who God is, then that means our unchanging God is always moving right along with humanity, stepping in to meet them where they’re at again and again, working through His people to reach the world around them as He seeks to make everything “on earth as it is in Heaven.”
GETTING UNSTUCK
So how do we avoid getting stuck on the ark? Or if we're stuck, how do we bust down the door and step into fresh air?
The challenge, then, for all of us is this:
1) Be open and sensitive to God’s movement, with a good attitude. This is the most important one. God doesn’t always move the same with every generation. Arks have a tendency to confuse us into thinking we don’t daily need to rely on the Spirit. Never forget that your ark was once a new wineskin to someone else. 2) Use discernment instead of blindly following our preferences, peers, pastors, pope, or presidents. Blanket condemnation is easy. Discernment takes time.
3) Have the courage to examine and admit which of our beliefs are actually just preferences. Yes, courage. Because it’s difficult thinking we might be wrong about something. Leaving any aspect of our Ark can be scary.
4) Let humility guide our conversations with others. Don’t demonize people who don’t share our same convictions and preferences (Paul's calling to the weaker brother/stronger brother in Romans 14 is key to being able to do this). Always give the same amount of mercy, grace, respect, truth, and love that we would like.
5) Allow grace to invade every part of us. Just because a certain denomination, event, worship style, or evangelism method brought you and I to Christ and/or helps you and I grow, it doesn’t mean that it’s the ONLY one that God is going to use for others, for all time.
_______________________________
It’s IMPERATIVE that we step up and accept these challenges.
Because the advancement of the Kingdom, and the effectiveness of the Church as a whole depends on it. It’s hard for a body to move when one of its limbs refuses to budge.
Jesus has commissioned us to bring His light and love to the world around us where they’re at.
But we can’t do it if we’re still stuck on the ark.
