Noah

A Man Who Didn’t Fit In

READ Genesis 6:9–22

Psychologists have studied the ways humans are prone to peer pressure. We want to fit in with the group. In one psychological experiment, subjects were presented with a line and then shown three more lines to compare to the first line. One of the three comparison lines was the same length as the original line, while the other two were either much longer or much shorter. Researchers then asked, “Which of these three lines is most similar to the first line?” The experiment was designed in such a way that the correct answer was obvious. The alarming result was that when there were actors in the room with the subject, posing as additional subjects themselves, and those actors all picked the wrong answer, most of the study’s subjects picked the wrong answer as well—in fact, 75 percent chose an obviously wrong answer at least once in order to conform to the crowd! For most people, fitting in was more important than giving the answer they knew to be true.^*

Sometimes it feels as though the world is falling apart, that this present moment is worse than any the world has ever experienced. While concern about the state of the world is valid, Genesis 6 depicts a world far worse than ours today. According to the Bible, the world at this point in creation had become so corrupt that “every inclination of the thoughts of the human heart was only evil all the time” (v. 5). Violence and sin soaked the fabric of society. Humanity spiraled into such pervasive evil that God regretted he had made humans and considered wiping them out (v. 7).

There was one man, however, who was different: Noah. His name means “comfort” (Genesis 5:29). In stark contrast to the evil around him, Noah is described as a man who was righteous and blameless, and his story is a ray of hope in a world of moral corruption (6:9).

The Bible says Noah “walked faithfully with God” (v. 9). That language reveals relationship. Noah lived a life conscious of God’s presence with him. He was close to God. Imagine the moral and spiritual strength it took for Noah to live faithfully in a world so full of corruption. This is a strength that depends on God’s grace working within a person; yet believers also have a responsibility to walk in step with God’s will and guidance. Noah faithfully walked in step, even when every single person around him rejected God.

Noah’s faithfulness wasn’t only on display in how he resisted participating in the evil around him, though. He also showed faithful obedience to God by doing what God told him to do, even when it sounded absurd. God told Noah to build an enormous ark for himself, his family, and a multitude of animals (6:14). Noah’s faithful obedience demonstrated his absolute trust in God. Even when God’s instructions seemed to make no sense and would make Noah look odd in the eyes of those around him, Noah obeyed.

His two qualities of faithfulness—nonconformity to the world and obedience to God’s instructions—rise from the pages of Scripture as a challenge to God’s children today.

It’s all too easy to compromise what’s right for the sake of fitting in. In the face of this danger, we need to remember Noah and remain righteous, no matter what the people around us do or think. Even when God’s instructions sound odd, or when obedience to God makes us stand out in uncomfortable ways, we can know that faithfulness to God is what matters most.

Paul’s words in Romans 12 challenge us to be like Noah, resisting the sinful and harmful patterns we see around us and instead living a Christlike and God-glorifying life. Paul wrote, “Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will” (v. 2). Living in and obeying that will, even when we’re the only ones doing so, is the path to the faithful and fulfilling life to which God calls us in Christ Jesus.