What Does Your Online Profile Say About Your Spirituality?

This past Sunday afternoon after our worship services, my family and I were in the process of returning home when we passed a local denomination.  In the parking lot of their building, a group of younger people were standing around and talking.  My wife and I both noticed it at the same time; they were all dressed in clothing that was unbefitting of Christians (1 Timothy 2:9-10), especially when you consider that they had just left their own worship service! The girls were in tight and extremely short shorts, and the guys were wearing shorts and tank tops! Now, was my first reaction was not to think about how spiritual those young people were, but rather about how worldly they were, and I was disappointed in both their dress and their behavior! Consider: did their dress and behavior show any distinction between themselves and any worldly person driving down the road? Did it denote any change in their spiritual lives? (Note - there would obviously be other doctrinal differences between us and I am NOT equating this denomination with the true kingdom of God). 

Many Christians will argue for the right to dress immodestly based on the idea that the Bible does not define specific lengths, but the question I want to pose is this: when you see a woman dressed in a bikini or a man dressed in a tank top (or no shirt), is your first thought about how godly and spiritual they are? Are you immediately impressed with their service to God? Please, take a moment and honestly ask yourself what your first thought is that goes through your mind.

This specific experience caused me to begin to think again about our influence in this world and how even some of what we deem to be the "little things" that we do can either make or break our spiritual influence with our friends in the world.  With the obvious rise in the use of social media in the modern world, we need to be particularly careful about our online persona! While we may find some things to be amusing, we need to consider what our "likes" say about us and our spirituality.  Most especially, we need to think about what our personal photos say about us!

There have been many instances in which I have seen faithful Christians "share" or "like" an image, saying, or joke on Facebook (or some other social media platform) that was connected to a website or Facebook page whose name contains a swear word or sexual innuendo.  While my first thought is to be lenient towards that Christian and to believe that they have not noticed that, does a non-Christian use such leniency? Are non-Christians seeing us as being careful and not participating in such things, or are they seeing us "liking" or "sharing" such things and assuming that it must be ok to do so? Or are they perhaps seeing no difference between our activities and their activities, and wondering why there is no difference? 

Unfortunately, there are also many photographs of Christians floating around the social media world in which they are dressed immodestly, are in spiritually compromising locations (such as bars), or are in compromising physical positions that are intended to be "funny."  Consider 1 Thessalonians 5:21-23 where Paul writes, "Prove all things; hold fast that which is good.  Abstain from all appearance of evil.  And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ" (KJV) and ask yourself if these types of photographs and actions are doing that? What do your photographs say about your spirituality? 

Recently, I read an article that made an excellent point concerning what picture we paint of our children online; we often post pictures of our children in just their diapers (or nothing at all!), in the bath, or in clothing that disrespects them.  We often forget that once something is posted online, it is there forever (even if deleted, it can still be found somewhere).  Consider Ephesians 6:1-4 and Proverbs 22:6; if we post these types of things about our children, are we truly respecting them?

Let us take that principle a step further; many Christians will even run down their spouse by posting inappropriate stories, inappropriate pictures of their spouse, and even inappropriate pictures of themselves.  Does this depict the attitude in Ephesians 5:22-33 that a couple is to have concerning one another? It is "funny" or does it just harm the relationship between you, as well as the influence you have on the world? 

It is probably fair to say that every single one of us needs to be more careful in this area.  Remember that we do not always know who may be watching us and seeing how we act before they consider becoming a Christian! It takes a lifetime to build a good reputation, but only a moment or a post to ruin it (Ecclesiastes 7:1; 10:1-3; Proverbs 22:1).  

Judge Not - What Do the Scriptures Say About Judging?

In the world today (although this is nothing new), Christians are commonly faced with the argument “you shouldn’t judge!” It seems that no matter what the sin, whether it is gossip, lying, murder, or the current hot-button issue of homosexuality, the Christian is judged to have the wrong attitude by “judging” the person committing the sin.  If a Christian tries to explain to a person that they are doing something contrary to the Gospel of Christ, the almost instantaneous retort is “judge not that ye be not judged!”  This retort is generally followed up by an attempt to show some perceived or even real hypocrisy in the life of the Christian, which is thought to negate the sin in their own life. 

Now, can a Christian be a hypocrite in their judging of others? Absolutely.  Does that hypocrisy negate the sin the Christian is addressing in the life of another? Absolutely not.  Can a Christian justly judge another human being as living in sin? Again, absolutely.  Let us take a few moments and look at the Scriptures, not to cement our already preconceived notions (whatever they may be), but to see what the Scriptures actually say about judging. 

Matthew 7:1 is possibly the most used and misused verse in the Bible (excluding, perhaps, John 3:16).  Here, Jesus says, “Judge not, that you be not judged” (NKJV).  It seems that many readers stop with this single verse as though it encompasses the entire meaning of the passage and there is nothing else to consider (not trying to be harsh or unfair in this assessment, only stating from experience that I have never seen anyone try to quote anything from Matthew 7 beyond verse 1).  A little less often used is Romans 2:1-4.  Again, it seems as though many leave off with verse 4 instead of keeping it in context.  Should a discussion make it past these two verses, another popular retort comes from John 8:7 where Jesus says, “He who is without sin among you, let him throw a stone at her first,” but once again context is generally neglected.  Now, to be fair, if these passages were the only ones that we had to go on (without even their immediate contexts), then coming to the conclusion that we as humans are not to judge one another would be a very logical and correct deduction.  But we need the rest of the story, so to speak, and that is found in the contexts of these passages, as well as in some additional ones found throughout the New Testament.

If we continue to read further in Matthew 7, Jesus goes on to tell us that the same measurement of judgment that we issue will be dealt back to us.  He absolutely DOES address the attitude of the judge and tells that person to remove the speck, or sin, from their own lives.  A Christian who obeys the Lord’s commands (Acts 2:38; John 14:15) has removed that speck, and thus can see clearly to remove the speck from another’s eye (Matthew 7:5).  Additionally, when a Christian uses the Scriptures as their measurement of judgment (again, attitude IS addressed in this passage), then of course we will be judged by the same measurement! In other words, Jesus addresses our attitude and essentially tells us not to take such a thing lightly.  Likewise, Romans 2:1-4 has a context.  At the end of Romans 1, Paul talks about those who are judging others as being in sin, but they themselves are doing the same things (so, for instance, an envious person is judging another person of envy, etc).  Further, Paul is discussing those that laid aside the will of God and embraced the evilness of this world (Romans 1:18-2:11).  In other words, the context of both of these passages does not indicate not judging at all, but only the right kind of judgment! The remainder of the context of John 8:1-7 is, actually, a perfect example to illustrate the discussion thus far.

While many people will read John 8:1-7, most will stop at verse 7, or at the very least they seem to ignore from there forward.  However, Jesus does address the attitude of the accusers, but He does not indicate that because the accusers had the wrong attitude that the woman’s sin was negated! What does Jesus actually do in this passage? The scribes and Pharisees had brought this woman to Jesus and accused her of adultery (since she was caught in the very act of it, have you ever wondered where the man was that was also involved?), but they were not accusing her to either save her soul or to even fulfill the law, as we are told in John 8:6.  Rather, they were brining her to Him in order to test Him! When Jesus tells them that the one without sin should cast the first stone, He is addressing their attitude, not whether or not the woman was guilty.  They are convicted by their own consciences (John 8:9).  Now, with the attitudes (which fully illustrates the wrong type of judgment discussed in both Matthew 7 and Romans 2) having been addressed, Jesus absolutely does show mercy to the woman.  He does NOT act as though she had not sinned, which is evidenced by the fact that He commands her to “go and sin no more” (John 8:11). 

Now, let’s take a step back for a moment.  Let’s assume for a moment that Matthew 7:1 and John 8:7 actually mean what they are generally misapplied to mean and that we are not to judge anyone.  Would that apply to the Apostle Paul? Surely we would tread carefully before judging an inspired man of God as not having the ability to judge someone in sin! Consider 1 Corinthians 5:3 where Paul writes, “For I indeed, as absent in body but present in spirit, have already judged (as though I were present) him who has so done this deed.”  Note that Paul not only judges the man who has his father’s wife (1 Corinthians 5:1), but that he addresses the attitude with which he did the judging (“…absent in body but present in spirit…”).  He also judges the congregation that had not dealt with this sin (1 Corinthians 5:2, 6)! Now, at this point, we may be tempted to make the argument that Paul was an inspired apostle and that we are not (please note 1 Corinthians 11:1 and 1 Corinthians 4:15-16 if this is your true stance).  Even if we again grant that argument, Paul did have the ability to judge and he has provided numerous lists of sins! There are at least four extensive lists of sins provided by God through Paul for us (1 Corinthians 6:8-10; 1 Timothy 1:9-11; Galatians 5:19-21; Ephesians 5:3-7).  Galatians 5 also includes “and the like” in the list, which indicates that there must be some sort of judgment made by man since it was written to man! All of these passages are in addition to Paul’s depiction of a Godless society in Romans 1! Thus, even if we grant that we cannot judge and that Paul, as an apostle, was allowed to judge where we are not, we have an entire list of sins that we cannot participate in.  In other words, Paul calls fornication a sin, so if a person commits fornication they are sinning…not by my word, but by the inspired writings of the apostle Paul!

As homosexuality is, as I said, the “hot-button” issue of the day, let us use that as an example.  Many people today call Christian’s “haters” if they oppose the sin of homosexuality and they tell Christians not to judge.  Paul, in 1 Corinthians 6:8-10, condemns homosexuality and sodomy as being sins.  If a person is participating in those worldly things, how is it that a Christian is truly judging them? Christians merely utilize the Scriptures to show another human the path to heaven! Can a Christian do this with the wrong attitude? Absolutely.  If, perchance, a Christian DOES “judge” with the wrong attitude, is the person participating in these sins no longer a sinner? Of course they are still a sinner! Remember, while Jesus did address the attitude of the scribes and Pharisees, He did not forget that the woman had sinned!

While many people don’t think about it in these terms, all people make judgments.  If we decide that a person living in sin is “ok,” then we have judged them to be so.  If we make that decision and nobody else shows that person the Scriptures, then we may have also judged their eternal soul and condemned them to eternal torment because we were unwilling to help them see the sin in their life.  Do we want that soul’s condemnation on our hands because we had the opportunity to teach them? Do we want that on our hands in the day of our own judgment by the Lord? While they may or may not listen to us when we show them the Scriptures, our job is to show them the path to heaven!

Finally, as we begin to conclude, consider this: too much time is spent by Christians trying to defend their reasons for “judging.”  Too often, we spend so much time concentrating on the messenger’s attitude and making sure that they are doing it right (which, coincidently, involves judgment…) that the sin of the “judged” is overlooked or excused.  Note Proverbs 17:15 where we read, “He who justifies the wicked, and he who condemns the just, both of them alike are an abomination to the Lord,” and Isaiah 5:20 where we read, “Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil; who put darkness for light, and light for darkness; who put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!”

How Do You React to God's Word?

There cannot be more of a difference in reactions to God’s word than what we find with Josiah and his son, Jehoiakim.  In Jeremiah 36, Jehoiakim is given God’s word and his reaction is much less than desirable.  Rather than accepting the word of God as it was, Jehoiakim has an adverse reaction and not only rejects it, but physically destroys the scroll that it was written on by Baruch.  When Jehudi “had read three or four columns,” the king cut the scroll up with the scribe’s knife as though that will alter what the message was!

          While many people today do not necessarily cut up the word of God with a knife, how often do they (we) cut it up metaphorically? In other words, we find a passage that we do not like for whatever reason, and instead of altering our attitude to fit the passage as it is, we attempt to alter the passage to fit our desires.  Thus, a passage condemning sin no longer condemns sin, but promotes it in some way, shape, or form!  How often have you seen this done (ref. 2 Peter 3:15-17)? Many misconstrue the Scriptures and develop elaborate doctrines (mental gymnastics) that alter “thou shalt not” into “go ahead and do what you want.”  Sometimes, people may not even do these things consciously; meaning, they are not sitting there thinking consciously that they are twisting the Scriptures! They often get caught up in something that they WANT to participate in, and therefore they seek a way to make that deed allowable by God.  Perhaps the biggest threat to Christianity is when we so often try to cover the sins of a loved one by trying to explain away what they are doing as being “ok.”  Does this actually alter the word of God?

          On the other hand, Jehoiakim’s father, Josiah, had a completely different reaction to the word of God! While we should avoid having the reaction that Jehoiakim had, we should strive to have a reaction like Josiah.  In 2 Kings 22, the word of God is discovered and read to King Josiah (note: 2 Kings 22:2 says that Josiah did what was right in the sight of the Lord).  Josiah is distraught that they had not been following the word of God (he is distraught to the point of tearing his clothing – 22:11).  Unlike Jehoiakim, Josiah allows the word of God to create change in his own life and in the life of those he ruled over.  Throughout 2 Kings 23, we are told of how many things Josiah did to rid Israel of idolatry, which included tearing down alters and idols! Josiah not only heard the word of God, but made it applicable to his own life!

          Let us strive to be more like Josiah than Jehoiakim when we hear the word of God.  When God’s word shows us sin in our lives, let us seek to remove that sin rather than excusing it! When the Bible calls something sin, we need to accept that deed as such and not try to explain it away! This is applicable for us as individuals, but it is also applicable for those that we love; just because someone we love is doing something does not make it right in the eyes of God, nor does any amount of our explaining it away change God’s mind! Work to be more like Josiah and rid our lives of sin!  

Less Than the Best

In what other area of our lives would we accept the "desire" to do what is right? In what other area would we equate "desire" with "fulfillment"? Sometimes Christians, in their desire to attribute good to all they meet, will confuse the dsire to obtain the reward (heaven) with the desire to obey God.  Those two things are not one and the same, unfortunately for some.

Consider it this way: if you had to have brain surgery, do you want the person who wants the wage of a brain surgeon (the reward), or do you want the person who disciplined their life in order to be able to perform brain surgery successfully? There are a great many requirements to becoming a brain surgeon (and with good reason!); undergraduate work, graduage work, medical school, residencies, lab classes, etc.  Those that want to be a brain surgeon MUST fulfill these requirements (you might say that the path to becoming a surgeon is narrow).  Do you want someone who does not fulfill these requirements to cut into your head?

When we get to our spiritual life, however, we treat God as if He is lucky that we offer anything to Him at all.  Like becoming a surgeon (and even being able to maintain an active surgeon status, they have requirements for continued education, etc), the Christian has requirements to fulfill in order to achieve the reward of heaven, not JUST the desire to reach heaven (obviously having a desire to reach heaven does play a part...otherwise, why would anyone bother?).

We obviously would not allow the person who only desires the wages of a surgeon, but has not fulfilled the requirements to do such work, to do brain surgery on us.  However, we consistently accept (or make excuses for) those that have the "desire" for the reward of heaven, but do not do the commandments of the Lord (John 14:15; John 15:14).

Perhaps we should also consider it this way: would our jobs or school accept us doing our duties for them the way we do our duties for the Lord? If we constantly told our school or work that we simply "couldn't make it" in because of this reason or for that reason? If we were consistently late for either of those things? Yet, we aruge that this is acceptable for God and that God will just have to understand.  Consider Malachi 1:7-9 in which people were offering things to God that they would not dare to serve their dignitaries.  We often frown at passages such as this and shake our heads, but do we not do the same thing today when we offer God less than our best?

Remember Matthew 6:33 where we are told to seek the kingdom of God first.  The context of this passage is that God will see to our earthly needs as He sees fit if our service is first to Him, not this world.  This doesn't mean that we will necessarily be "rich" with earthly things, but we will have our needs met as He sees fit! We cannot use the materialistic things of this life that we "need" as an excuse not to obey the commandments of the Lord.  Remember the words of Joshua, "...But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord" (Joshua 24:15).

Prayer: the Forgotten Blessing

I know of a brother who, when he prays, always thanks God for the “beautiful day” that we are having.  I have heard him say that in prayer on days that the rain was coming down in sheets, and the wind was howling so loud that it was difficult to hear.  Now, some may say that he is guilty of rogue repetition–he’s just saying what he always says.  However, I know differently, because he often elaborates on his thoughts.  He seems to always find good in whatever kind of day that we are having (weather wise) and expresses his thankfulness to God.  The snow is beautiful.  The rain makes things grow.  The sunshine warms us.  He thinks of these things, and expresses them to God.

I believe we often forget just how great of a blessing prayer is for us as the children of God.  We have the ability to go before His throne, without fear (Hebrews 4:16), and bring our petitions to Him.  Sometimes we don’t think about this blessing until we have gotten ourselves into some problem and can’t find the way out.  We think of Him only when we need something from Him.  How many people think they are strong enough to get through anything that life can throw at them, and therefore don’t need God, and don’t need to ask Him for anything?  As the children of God, we should see our open line of communication with our Father.  We can pray to Him, and He will hear us–and more importantly, He can answer us!

But, the ability to make requests of God is only a portion of what we should use this line of communication for.  How long would we keep friends in this world if we only called upon them when we needed something from them?  There is much more that can be done in prayer than just asking God for the things that we need (though that is certainly a valuable blessing!).  If we don’t use prayer for all that it is intended, we are missing out on this great blessing handed to us by our God.

What other blessings are a part of prayer?  Consider just a few…

Praise. We can use our time in prayer to praise God for who He is, and for what He has done.  This is not something that is needed by God, for He does not change whether or not I praise Him.  However, it is a great blessing for us!  Even a casual reading of the Psalms reveals need for us to praise God.  Many of the Psalms are prayers that are converted into songs for the purpose of the people praising God.  When we spend time in praise, how can we possibly forget the majesty of God?  How can we forget what He has done for us, caring for us and providing spiritual salvation for us?  We can praise Him for His creation, and for providing every spiritual blessing through His Son.  We could spend much time praising God in our prayer!

Thanksgiving. Sometimes we are quick to ask God to help us, but not so quick to remember to thank Him when He answers our prayers.  We often make requests for physical blessings, or health and then fail to thank God for answering us in abundance.  How often might we ask for the healing of one of our loved ones, and then forget to thank God when that loved one regains his health?  It is easy to become consumed by our concerns, but we never should take our answered prayers for granted.  We can also use prayer to express our general thankfulness to God for His overflowing blessings.  He provides so much to us, we should remember to be thankful for His blessing (James 1:16-18).

Sharing concerns, trials. God does not need us to tell Him what troubles us, but it is a great blessing for us to be able to share it with Him.  Sharing our troubles with God through prayer helps us to identify exactly what is going on in our lives, and will help us to turn to Him and His word for solutions.  Sometimes we may become very self centered, and think that we can find our own solutions.  However, if we are casting our burden upon Him, we will be turning to Him for answers.  That may mean asking for His help in some way, but it may simply be a way of pinpointing our own issues, and committing ourselves to solutions based upon His desires for us (as expressed in His own word).

It may be challenging, but try to offer a prayer to God without asking Him for anything.  How much have we come to look upon prayer as only a time to make requests (sometimes even selfish requests) rather than a time of talking with our Father?  Sometimes we need to just stop and consider our relationship with Him.  Have we expressed our gratitude to Him for His loving kindness?  Have we expressed thankfulness for the beauty of His creation, and His provision for our every need through it?  Have we praised Him for being our God, and the all powerful creator of our world?    Just once today, try going to God in prayer expressing only gratitude and praise.  It is good to ask God for what we need, but let’s not become consumed with only making requests.  If we do, we are definitely forgetting one of the greatest blessings that God has given to us!

~Kris Brewer, April 2010

The Greatest is "Unconditional" Love

In 1 Corinthians 13, Paul talks in detail about how unconditional Godly love is and how we ought to love with the same love.  In 1 Corinthians 13:13, Paul says that we are to abide in “faith, hope, love, these three,” but the greatest is unconditional love.

Wait, that might not be what he said.  No, that isn’t what Paul taught, but that seems to be how many people today read the passage.  Love is defined (even by those claiming to be religious) as unconditional, non-judgmental, and without stipulation or consequence.  By this definition, we cannot convince or rebuke (2 Timothy 4:2; Titus 2:15) because we would be judging another person to have sinned, and those that advocate this definition of “love” are adamant about not judging (a very misapplied Matthew 7:1).  If we truly love someone, then we accept them the way that they are!

Let us examine some of these concepts and see if the previously defined version of “love” is the Biblical definition of “love.”  In 1 Corinthians 13:1-3, Paul says that even if he does great deeds (speaking in tongues, prophesying, great understanding of mysteries, feeding the poor, and even being burned) but doesn’t have love, it profits him nothing.  Paul then defines the characteristics of love for us: it is longsuffering and kind, it does not envy, it does not parade itself, it is not puffed up, it does not behave rudely, it does not seek its own, it is not provoked, it thinks no evil, it does not rejoice in iniquity, but it does rejoice in truth, it bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things, and it never fails.  How many of these characteristics fit into the definition of love found above? Many people that advocate this definition will say to someone they perceive to be judging them, “You need to love more!” What does this typically mean? The insinuation is that they have perfected love and that you need to love as they love.  Question: is this not “puffed up” and parading? Does a refusal to accept chastening fit with rejoicing in truth, or does it fit more with rejoicing in iniquity?

What about other passages that help us define love? Hebrews 12:5-8 tells us that those whom the Lord loves He chastens (in other words, He judges their activities/lifestyle/choices to be a transgression).  Do we dare tell the Lord that He doesn’t know how to love because He has chastened us?

How is love defined in 1 John? With the flighty, wishy-washy definition that we utilized at the beginning of this study, or is it defined as something of substance, something worth having? In 1 John 4, he writes that we are to love one another because love is of God (4:7-8).  How was God’s love for us made manifest? Through the sacrifice of His Son for our sins (4:9-10).  This is God’s definition of love! How are we to love one another? In the same manner that He loved us (4:11)!

There are many other passages, even in 1 John, that we could look at to further substantiate the true definition of love, but we will consider only a few more.  In John 13:34-35, Jesus says, “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another.  By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another (which is the commandment spoken about in 1 John 1:7-8).  Did Christ come to the world to tell us that we are all fine in our current spiritual state? Did He come and die so that sin wouldn’t be judged as sin? No, Christ loved us and came to earth and died for our sins that we can have hope in eternal life.  There is substance to this love, not simply a phrase.  True love is all the things found in 1 Corinthians, plus the willingness to tell someone something they don’t want to hear in order that they can be saved.  If you are unwilling convince, rebuke, and exhort for the saving of their souls, then YOU DO NOT LOVE THEM.

In John 14:15, Jesus says, “If you love Me, keep my commandments.”  What can we inescapably conclude from this passage? If we do not keep His commandments, then we do not love Him! We cannot claim to love God, but keep the ways of the world.  We cannot claim to love God, but walk in darkness (reference 1 John 1; Galatians 5:16-26; and Ephesians 5:1-21)!

Love God, obey His commandments!

Noah and the Ark

Genesis 6 (almost)
 

Now it came to pass, when men began to multiply on the face of the earth, and daughters were born to them, that the sons of God saw the daughters of men, that they were beautiful; and they took wives for themselves of all whom they chose. 

And the Lord said, “My Spirit shall not strive with man forever, for he is indeed flesh; yet his days shall be one hundred and twenty years.  I will ask man his opinion before making this decision though.”  There were giants on the earth in those days, and also afterward, when the sons of God came in to the daughters of men and they bore children to them.  Those were the might men who were of old, men of renown. 

Then the Lord saw that man did some things that could be considered wicked, but God didn’t want to judge their deeds.  And the Lord was sort of sorry that He had set in motion the events that evolved into the race of mankind. 

So the Lord said, “The earth may be destroyed by a flood that I cannot control, so I had better warn someone so that all things that evolved on the earth won’t perish.”  The Lord looked and saw that Noah was a self-defined moral man and that pleased the Lord.

And God said to Noah, “The end of all flesh may come about soon due to a flood.  This isn’t because of wickedness, for I don’t judge the deeds of men.  You maybe ought to build a ark out of gopherwood with some rooms inside of it.  Its length ought to be three hundred cubits, its width fifty cubits, and its height thirty cubits.  You should also make a window for the ark and it should be a cubit from above and there should be a door in the side of the ark.  You should make it with lower, second, and third decks. 

And so Noah, thinking that God might be right about a flood, decided to grace God by obeying His will.  And so Noah began to build the ark after a period of two or three years.  He went out and began to cut down large maple trees and pine trees, all of which he thought would be good for floatation.  Then Noah’s sons came and said, “Father, God said to use gopherwood, but you are using maple and pine!”  And Noah replied, “Sons, judge not that ye be not judged.  I believe that these woods are better than what God told me to use.  Besides, my personal walk with God is none of your business! You cannot judge me as not obeying the will of God!”  And so Noah’s sons were silenced and they realized how much wiser Noah was than God.

And so, Noah and his family were saved when the flood came about that God was lucky enough to guess was coming.  And God rejoiced that Noah had used his own knowledge of wood and that he had used more buoyant wood than gopherwood, because gopherwood would have sunk.   

 

Is this what Genesis 6 actually says? Absolutely not! Genesis 6:22 - "Thus Noah did; according to all that God commanded him, so he did."  God did not ask approval from mankind before destroying the world - God saw the wickedness of mankind.  Noah did not alter the plans for the ark!