Assimilation vs. Differentiation – a Biblical Perspective

Transcript

what I want to do tonight is talk about assimilation versus differentiation

as we get into this I I have found this fascinating this entire study this entire subject and I I know you you probably find this hard to believe but I don't have all the answers

your break you're breaking up whoever's saying something

okay I don't know what that was um but you know so so this subject like I said is is fascinating to me but I was a little worried on Sunday when Steve said that this was discussed a bit at a Bible class A while back I must have missed that Bible class and I hope that this isn't a repeat for for some of you but and I wish I could go back and figure this out a few years ago I started listening to an audiobook I've got a half hour commute every day into work and back so I'll I'll listen to audiobooks periodically and I was listening to an audiobook and this phrase came up

and I noted it and then the book just it got really dry I wasn't engaging I deleted it and then and now I can't go back and figure out which one it was I don't know where it came from this this phrase uh assimilation versus different differentiation now I can't say it but I wrote it down I've pondered it over the last two years and I finally said you know I need to do a class on this and

the what I want to do in class is is present to you some thoughts some ideas at the end of the class if we have time we can have more of a discussion too and bring I want you to think about your own list of Bible characters who either assimilated those who were different you know just think about that list I've got a list at the end and we won't spend a lot of time on that but

as we as we go through this class and think about it the one thing I want to say is I truly believe that we are in the last days

as we think about this subject to me the poster child for this subject is Noah

and we know that it says as in the days of Noah and that's the days I think very very much like today so we we will if we have time to talk about Noah specifically at the end because again I think he's a poster child for for this this entire subject

but as we first think about it and look at ourselves I want to say well who are we hold on a minute let me get this out of the

who are we you know or better yet who should we be you know it talks about being holy or set apart and Sanctified all meaning similar things little different nuances here and there but but basically this is this is what we're talking about

and as we think about that there's a couple verses that come to mind came to my mind anyway in Deuteronomy 7 it says for you're a for you are a people holy to the Lord your God the Lord your God has chosen you to be a people for his treasure possession out of all the peoples who are on the face of the Earth in Deuteronomy and then there's another verse in First Peter says but as he who called you is Holy you also be holy in all your conduct since it is written you shall be holy for I am Holy

the things I'm sharing with you tonight aren't

going to be new to you these are things that you we all know we've all heard I'm just trying to to package it all together into one class tonight

and it's not just us

I think we know that it's not just us who understand that there are people today in this world and especially in this Christian world who do understand this subject

and I was thinking of some things on my own I went out and Googled a few things but there's a guy named Matt lore and he does a marriage seminar he's written a marriage book but it's called dare to be different and I think that's an idea and again I'm not going to get into each one of these different subjects but just the his his overall premise about marriage is dare to be different you know don't don't be like the the hordes of people in the world and treat their marriages anything less than holy there's another one and I did this for for Jim boyko it's in the it's in the the show The Chosen and the phrases get used to different it's a simple conversation between Jesus and Simon before he was his name was changed to Peter and Simon said this is different and Jesus is Jesus's reply was get used to different and I just I I love that phrase I think about that frequently thanks

and another one that I think I mentioned somewhere along the way in one of my classes that I did but just years ago when my boys were teenagers they're in their in their 30s now but we took them to a conference and it was called do hard things there's a book written by these two two I think they're twin brothers I can't remember now do hard things a teenage rebellion against low expectations but it was about being different as teenagers you know as Christian teenagers it's about being different and the one that is is one of my favorite books that I've read over the years is a book called radical taking back your faith from the American dream by David Platt and I I read this again a number of years ago but it always just sort of bubbles up in my mind and I've written down a few quotes that I wanted to share with you from this book and I think it fits into us as Christians as Christian dolphins in terms of who we should be and or who we are but he says in his book radical obedience to Christ is not easy it's not Comfort not Health not wealth and not prosperity in this world radical obedience to Christ risks losing all these things but in the end such risk Finds Its reward in Christ and he is more than enough for us

he goes on to say in another chapter of the book we desperately need to explore how much of our understanding of the Gospel is American and how much is biblical

so think about that for a minute

another chapter later in the book he says I cannot help but think that somewhere along the way we had missed what was Radical about our faith and replaced it with what is comfortable

so assimilation differentiation I think it all fits into some of these some of these comments that that other Christians will bring up and talk about as well or have written about when I think about the term assimilation

I related to conformity

and in terms of the the verse I think everybody I'm not I think I know everybody knows this and do not be conformed to this world but be transformed by the renewing of your mind so that you may prove what the will of God is that which is good and acceptable and perfect

so this word and I'll I'll butcher this word the Greek word is susque matizo

that's the best I'm gonna do but it's it means to conform to the same pattern or fashion yourself according to it's only used one other time in First Peter 1 where it says as obedient children do not be conformed to the former lusts which were yours and your ignorance

I found an interesting quote too from a gentleman named Earl Nightingale Earl Nightingale was an American radio speaker and author in the 1950s and he said the opposite of courage in our society is not cowardice it's conformity the opposite of courage in our society is not cowardice it's Conformity he said that in the 1950s so 70 plus years ago and again look into in today's culture today's environment in this world and I think we're spot on

definitions of a similar assimilation uh Webster dictionary says assimilate is to absorb into the body or to absorb and incorporate and in anthropology in sociology this process of assimilation is the process process whereby individuals or groups of differing ethnic Heritage are absorbed into the dominant culture of a society

so I think we see how you know I was trying to picture I don't know I don't know I was thinking about this as I drove home from work tonight just a a cell a molecule I'm not a scientist by any stretch but just being absorbed into the body around it you know I don't I don't know I was just thinking about that and and how then it just all becomes one so this is assimilation

in the 19th and 20th centuries there was a policy the United United States government said about assimilation

policy of assimilation was an attempt to destroy traditional Indian cultural identities many historians have argued that the U.S government believed that if American Indians did not adopt European American culture they would become extinct as a people

so the question is what's happening to the Christian culture are we becoming extinct and if so why and we're not going to further with that thought that's a that's a whole other thought but

as I was working on this I came across another word which I I hadn't heard before and I just again I found it fascinating the word acculturation

the culturation the definition of that is the change made by a person or group of people when they adapt to a foreign culture or adopt aspects of another culture

so assimilation acculturation I believe there's a lot of similarities but there is there is a subtle difference the assimilation can be the eventual outcome of acculturation and acculturation is usually a two-way process of cultural exchange versus assimilation is one way

so what I'm going to do for tonight for the time being is I'm going to speak of acculturation and assimilation as the same even though there are some subtle differences but I believe it's it's close enough that I think you you get the point that I'm trying to make

as I think about acculturation and whenever I have a discussion about voting with with anyone you know if I'm at work and somebody says they've got their little sticker that says I voted today and somebody says oh did you vote we have a discussion but I always talk about being an expatriate talking about being a foreigner talk about being a a citizen of a different country and

acculturation is really natural for an expat for next Patriot that's living in a in a different country for example you know an Englishman living in Spain is going to learn Spanish they're going to learn Spanish Customs they're going to adapt to the culture and really in any place acculturation can be healthy and a beneficial practice when

the best of other cultures is adopted as a way of honoring and appreciating what that culture has to offer

but if we allow any culture even our own to shape our own values or our own world views

we can be headed for trouble

and I'll say this and I I've got this highlighted and underlined in my notes culture should never be the loudest voice in our lives God's word must be the foundation for everything we think say or do

and if our culture magnifies or enhances that truth then that culture can be embraced

let's look for a minute and think for a moment about acculturation or assimilation with the world

as we as I think thought about that I said to myself okay the there are secular views that are out there and a lot of secular secularness whatever the right phrase is embraced by ungodly people and when that happens it causes trouble for God's people and this is partly where we're going to get a little into the Exiles which which Stephen mentioned but you know we we read different verses such as in John 15 it says if the world hates you you that it has hated me before it hated you if you were of the world the world would love you as its own but because you're not of the world but I chose you out of the world because of this the world hates you

in Romans 13 it says let us behave properly as in the day not in carousing and drunkenness not in sexual promiscuity and debauchery not in strife and jealousy

there's the world and then there's our lives as Believers and where do we fit in this a cultural acculturation assimilation with the world

we're going to speak specifically to that later toward the end of the class

in First Peter 2 and we're going to look at this this is a verse that we're going to look at a little more closely later first Peter 2 it says beloved I urge you as foreigners and strangers to obtain from fleshly lust which wage war against the soul keep your behavior excellent among the Gentiles so the thing in which they slander you as evildoers they may because of your good deeds as they observe them glorified God on the day of visitation

you know and I meant to say this earlier but I think it's a good point to say this now but

as much as I get anxious and frantic about doing Bible class here twice a year now I've done it now for the last couple years

and sort of hate to say this but I really enjoy it and I enjoy it because it gives me opportunity to talk to others and today I had to to take a a another co-worker from one location to another at the the Boys and Girls Club where I work and we were just chatting on the way back over to our office and she said well you have big plans for the evening and I said well actually I'm leading a Bible class tonight and so I need to get home a little early and go through it again and it just opened it opened a conversation found out she she was born just south of Richmond Virginia where my son and daughter-in-law and granddaughters are her father is a preacher um so we're going to continue the conversation as we go but you know I I thought about this and it because of your good deeds I'm not saying that doing Bible class is a good deed that she's going to look at it that way but I think that it gives opportunity in our lives to show who we are you know and to be different as foreigners and strangers in this world good the last verse I have under this this acculturation assimilation of the world is in second Corinthians 6 17 it says therefore come out from their midst and be separate says the Lord and do not touch what is unclean and I will welcome you

so some overriding verses but then there's some other themes that I want to look at both bad and good themes of assimilation and Conformity and acculturation in Scripture

I'm going to start with the bad and Leviticus 20 and this is where we get into the the Exiles

um Leviticus 20 moreover you shall not follow the customs of the Nations which I will drive out before you for they did all these things and therefore I have abhorred them

in Deuteronomy 18 it says when you enter the land which the Lord your God gives you you shall not learn to imitate the detestable things of these nations

in Second Kings 17 they rejected his statutes and his Covenant which he made with their fathers and his warnings with which he warned them and they followed vanity and became Vain and went after the Nations which surrounded them concerning which the Lord had commanded them not to do not to do like them so these are messages from many many many years ago still because God's word doesn't change still applicable today you know today in this world you know Christians Christian Dolphins will say well it's a different culture that we live in now God's word doesn't change these principles are overriding throughout scripture from beginning to end the principles are there it says in Ezekiel thus you will know that I am the Lord for you have not walked in my statutes nor have you executed my ordinances but have acted according to the ordinances of the Nations around you

flipping over to the good side

and there's there's sort of good and bad mixed in both of this I just

picked picked the good side for some of these but it said this one actually this is a good one there are certain Jews whom you have appointed over the administration in Daniel 3. there are certain Jews whom you have appointed over the administration of the province of Babylon namely Shadrach Meshach and Abednego these men O King have disregarded you they do not serve your Gods nor or worship the golden image which you have set up

so they Shadrach Meshach Abednego Daniel did not assimilate into the culture that was around them in Colossians 3 it says and in them you also once walked when you were living in them but now you also put them all aside don't assimilate put them all aside anger wrath malice slander abuse of speech from your mouth

in John 13 actually the next two verses about imitation John 13 says for I gave you an example that you also should do as I did to you and then in First Corinthians Paul says the imitators of me just as I also am of Christ so you've got sort of two levels of invitation there directly from Christ and then to Christ through through Paul

these are good things to do as opposed to assimilating into the culture this is the good side

in Ephesians 5 it says therefore be imitators of God so another imitation verse as beloved children and walk in love just as Christ also loved you and gave himself up for us and offering and a sacrifice to God is a fragrant aroma

I think the last next to last verse I have in this section um Philippians 3 that I may know him and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of his suffering being conformed to his death good confirmation in order that I may attain to the resurrection from the dead

and then the last verse in Ephesians also is Ephesians 2 but God being rich in Mercy because of his great love with which he loved us even when we were dead in our transgressions made us alive together with Christ by Grace you have been saved they raised us up with him and seated us with him in the Heavenly places in Christ Jesus

where are we being assimilated where are we being acculturated

where or what are we conforming to the bad or the good or like the laodiceans somewhere in between

I want to turn our attention now to the other half of the equation assimilation versus differentiation I want to look at differentiation for a moment

um I should put these two quotes on I've got it in my notes but I didn't put them on the screen um actually before I do that I want to read the verses to that are my Bedrock verses for the the subject of differentiation in Proverbs 1 it says my son do not walk in the way Windham hold back your foot from their paths

so in other words go your own way don't be assimilated don't be acculturated be differentiated Go Your Own Way

and then in Philippians 2 it says that you may be blameless and innocent children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation among whom you sh you shine as lights in the world that is differentiation

the last thing I ever want to do in

wife is Pat myself on the back but I said this in another class I think last time I mentioned this because I mentioned that I might do this do this subject but

sometime early on when a young lady came to work young lady she's older my son so but um she came to work at the boys and girls club and I don't know we worked together for I don't remember two months something like that and she's she one day said

I just have a sense that you and Dana are a little different and I know Steve's laughing right now because he's like oh yeah of course of course but it was a it was a good thing it was a right thing and I felt good about myself that I

that it was noticed again it's not it's not a proud thing at by any stretch of the imagination but there are people that we know that that you know that are different I mean that different in a good way in a right way and that's what I'm talking about here is differentiation being different in a good way and a right wing the two quotes that I have that I that I came across as I was researching this one is there's anonymous quote unknown it said don't be afraid of being different be afraid of being the same as everyone else

interesting thought

be afraid of being the same as everyone else then another quote I found by a gentleman I'll probably get his name butchered he's a Turkish playwright his name is Mehmet Moret ilden it's the best I can do but he said be different so that people can see you clearly amongst the crowds

be different so that people can see you clearly amongst the crowds I laugh when I just think about that for a minute because my boys and I were we were somewhere I don't remember where we're in a crowd and I don't remember if it's Nicholas or Simeon and we're all basically six foot three I think Seminoles say he's six foot four but one of them said why I'm so glad I'm tall and In This Crowd and I just said you're welcome but you know that's a physical difference this is a difference in our character Who We Are being in a crowd and do we stand out in a good way so that people do see us differently

as we looked at the assimilation acculturation Conformity theme I wanted to also look at the differentiation theme add some verses to to share with you about that this is one of my favorite verses um I think when when Dana was homeschooling the boys Once Upon a Time this was a memory verse that they they it was always right there but Psalm 1 1 blessed is the man who walks not into counsel of the wicked nor stands in the way of Sinners nor sits in the seat of scoffers

that is how we can be different we're not there with the wicked or with the Sinners or with the scoffers but we're different we're different people

in first John 2 it says do not love the world or the things of the world in the world if anyone loves the world the love of the father is not in him for all that is in the world the desires of the Flesh and the desires of the eyes and the pride of life is not from the father but it's from the world and the world is passing away along with its desires but whoever does the will of God abides forever

this is how we should be different from the world not loving the things of the world Matthew 7 says enter by the narrow gate for the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction and those who enter by it are many

it is a very narrow gate very narrow gate it calls us to be differentiated from all those who are entering the wide gate the wide path that leads to destruction in Colossians 3 1-25 this is not 1-25 that is a typo but in Colossians 3 it's as if then you have been raised with Christ State the things that are above where Christ is seated at the right hand of God set your mind on things that are above not on things that are on Earth for you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God when Christ who is your life appears then you also will appear with him in glory put to death therefore what is Earthly in you sexual immorality impurity passion evil desire and covetousness which is idolatry

so

that is where our minds are to be as we're differentiating ourself from the world and the culture around us I've got a continuation of this theme in Deuteronomy 12. and I'm not going to read all this this passage but I wanted to get it up there if you want to go back and look at first five verses of Deuteronomy 12. it's talking about again about the Exiles these are the statues and rules that you shall be careful to do in the land that the Lord your God the god of your fathers he's given you to possess toward the three three lines up it says you shall not worship uh looking for carb images of God you shall not Worship the Lord your God in that way but you shall seek the place that the Lord your God will choose out of all your tries to put his name and make his habitation there there you shall go so you're to go somewhere different set aside special holy

in Ephesians 4 says put off your old self to put off your old self which belongs to your formal manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds and to put on the new self created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and Holiness remember that verse we read earlier about being imitators of God Jesus says imitate me Paul says imitate him here's that lightness of God that we are to be like that is how we are to differentiate ourselves

and in Daniel we were gonna talk about Daniel as an example too we know Daniel was different but Daniel resolved Daniel verse chapter one but Daniel resolved that he would not defile himself with the King's food or with the wine that he drank therefore he asked the chief of the eunuchs to allow him not to defile himself

Daniel was different and using the phrase of the one book I talked about earlier that dare to be different Daniel dared to be different what was going to happen to him he didn't know but he knew what to do and what was right to do

in First Peter 2 um you are a chosen race this is right before the verses that we're going to look we looked at before and look at and look at a little bit later it says that you were a chosen race a royal priesthood a holy nation a people for his own possession uh different people

that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of Darkness into His Marvelous Light

so

ask yourselves look in the mirror I look in the mirror and then say am I a chosen race am I a royal priesthood am I a holy nation am I a people for his own possession am I different

or not

we're going to gears slightly for a second

and

I

thoroughly for whatever reason I thoroughly enjoy reading about

the Holocaust and about the Jews and about World War II not not the war itself but just that the whole genre I I enjoy reading it I just just fascinated by it all my sister and brother-in-law were just in Poland and went to Auschwitz and as much as I don't want to go and see it I would like to go and see it to better understand what's happening there

but when I think about assimilation

I think assimilation is anti-jewish

the Jews

were and are

separate people

they are a separate people and part of being Jewish was a separation from the culture around them and that's what made it so easy for the Germans to follow through with the Holocaust because it was so easy to identify in in many many cases

you know to be God's people for them for the Jews is something that they're born into for us the royal priesthood versus you know we're adopted we're adopted into that but they are born into this jewishness you know language like chosen people or God's elect these are terms that are bestowed upon them by birth and not by choice

and

again to be Jewish was really to avoid assimilation with culture and I want to hold that thought for for a little bit longer because I'm going to go back to that idea in a minute a few minutes

but to assimilate as a Jew was to embrace non-jewish ways you know whether Old Testament whether

1800s whether 1900s whether the 2000s

um you know to assimilate is really to embrace non-jewish ways and then it's made clear in the Jewish community that that if you marry outside the Jewish faith Calamity May Come if you what's the right word sold out and you ate unclean Foods you could bring disease when you worshiped alongside other faiths

God they bring destruction this is what the Jews thought process about assimilation

and then Along Comes Jesus and then Peter's vision in Acts 10 and 11. you know this this wasn't a loophole for for how to be Jewish like you know well for those living in in in in Israel

you know it was an invitation in this day Jesus's day to anyone and everyone who believed that Jesus was a messiah for them to become God's elect for them to become God's chosen people

it didn't matter

who you were born to it mattered if you were born again and baptized

there and it was a choice fundamentally different is that in Christ you can choose to become one of the elect

and then the question about tonight's class is and then what what do you do because all of this is relevant for today so

are we like the Jews are we set apart from culture

are we different differentiated or are we assimilated or acculturated

what I want to look at now is I'm going to go back to that verse in First Peter in a moment

and ask the question that I have up here on the screen is do we assimilate or do we integrate

because as Peter was writing

in his letters he was writing to Christians that were scattered throughout turkey and Greece that general area

some of those were converted Jews many of them were Gentiles who were new to

let's call it jewishness new to Christianity new to Walking With Jesus new to to the Messiah that whole thought process some of them it was a it was almost a double double culture shock because they if they came out of the world and now here's this Christianity and here's this jewishness and they're it's all Incorporated together and they're trying to say what is going on you know do I need to assimilate myself in all this or what

but in First Peter we're going to go back to this verse now I'm going to read it again it says once you are not a people but now you are the people of God once you have not received Mercy but now you have received Mercy dear friends I urge you as foreigners and Exiles to abstain from sinful desires which wage war against your soul live such good lives among

the pagans that though they accuse you of doing wrong they may see your good deeds and glorify God

that among I think is critical in the difference between assimilation and integration

I want to ask you a rhetorical question I wanted you to think about this for a second have you ever been an alien

you don't have to answer that I just just rhetorical have you ever been an alien

let's change that have you ever been a refugee

have you ever been an immigrant

these all fit together and when we think about today especially in the Christian delphian World these days lots of refugees in the last 20 years let's call it

lots of refugees arriving in new communities in North America

they're aliens to our country

they're relocated here from places of conflict places of Devastation around the world they don't speak the language the transportation system is scary some haven't had electricity some haven't shopped at a grocery store or ever been to a bank they are not westerners as westerners would be defined

and a lot of times I I would propose that these our new neighbors our new Brethren sometimes fear assimilation

you know assimilation can appear

as maybe the only option

but to give up your

congoleseness or your iranian-ness or whatever it is where you're coming from it may seem like the only option and I was thinking back to this you know a century ago

maybe a little bit more I'm not good at that part of History but assimilation was the answer for a lot of people immigrants who went through Ellis Island they often gave up their names for English names and as soon as they could they gave up their language and they gave up their their Heritage living the American dream

they assimilated completely into the culture

but is that what Peter is talking about is he's talking as as us as aliens is he saying give up your identity and assimilate

or is he saying live among though the world around you to make a difference actually I'm going to back for a second here

because

that living amongst

why

they may see your good deeds and glorify God so keep that in mind

what about Christians what about Christians today

I think and I'll put forward the thought that some groups of Christians today

want to assimilate with a larger culture altogether

and they tend to give up their using the same terminology their christianness

in order to blend in

I pray that I'm not one of those I don't want to be one of those but for a lot of so-called Christians

it's a social network it's a whole social thing it's not about a devotion it's not about living the lives as royal royal priesthood about it as aliens it's different and so I think what Peter is telling us is he's saying that he's calling us to integrate ourselves in society

you know don't just rail against the culture don't just rail against the society

we need to be among the culture among the society because we can't change our society

by not assimilating at all or standing outside of it

we can't change our culture by by fully assimilating and becoming so much a part of it that no one could even pick us out as different

I think what Peter's talking about here is saying you need to be different when you're integrated into society into the culture around you you need to be different you need to get dirty you need to learn to an extent the language of the culture but it's still about standing apart humbly

while standing amongst

the culture and the society it's not about standing outside and pointing fingers it's not about Pride it's not about I told you so it's not about giving up our identity it's not about sacrificing our distinctiveness or pretending the Bible isn't vital or denying that we believe for fear of a spending somebody

it's about being in the midst of the world but not of the world

and that's a definition that I think each of us have to make ourselves

but I remember years ago a young brother saying well I'm going to go out to a bar every night because I want to be there amongst the Sinners and the tax collectors and I want to be there to to help them and he later in that conversation said

I want to live on the edge I don't want to live hugging the mountain I want to live on the edge and I thought oh my goodness you know you can't live that close to the world and not be affected by the world so there's that balance and there's a different line for everyone some people have to draw boundaries differently than others but I believe there have to be debt boundaries when we integrate ourselves in the world because ultimately we want to be conformed in the image of Jesus our assimilation our Conformity is not being assimilated or conformed with the world not being as close as we can get to the world and hope that it's all going to be okay

we don't want to conform to our the world and the fleshly desires God calls us to be holy

he says in Romans 8 we know that it says that Paul says in Romans 8 and we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God to those who are called according to his purpose for Those whom he foreknew he also predestined to become conformed to the image of his son so that he would be the first born among many Brethren conformed to the image of his son that's where I want to live closer to the mountain closer to Jesus closer to the only way to Jesus our only way to God is through his son I want to be like that I want to to to to focus

on Jesus I want to set my face toward Jerusalem I want to be different I don't want to assimilate if I'm going to the culture eight I've got to look at the culture around me and say

is there any part of this that is magnifying God and if so great if not I put it aside

so now's an opportunity to talk about some specific examples

only going to talk about Noah but I've got a bit of a laundry list and I think there's probably a case to be made for practically any character of The Bible but I've got some that I've highlighted

and as I do that

I I sort of thought through I started out with a small list it kept growing and I started coming up with different things about each one but what I really want to do tonight is we get toward the end of class is I want to focus this is my last Slide by the way so so get your thinking caps on and and you can add to anything on this list add your thoughts after I talked about Noah or you can add those of your own

um but when I look at Noah and who Noah is I said earlier he is the poster child for non-assimilation he is a poster child for being different Noah was a true non-conformist

you know there's there's there's

sometimes being a non-conformist has bad connotations you know it's like well I'm going to be my own person I'm going to do what my what I'm not going to conform well I'm looking at being a non-conformist is a good thing in terms of Noah and I think too for us in a way I don't know if any of you have probably heard about it and I don't know if anybody's ever been to it over in is it Indiana Ohio somewhere near Cincinnati

um there is a replica of Noah's Ark and it is astounding we've been there twice and it's it's astounding the size the magnitude of it all but and it's been goodness six seven eight years I think since we were there last but the one thing that keeps coming up when Dana and I talk about it is this video that they show and they show in this video you know totally conjecture about what was happening but I believe you know as in the days of Noah and there's evil congenally throughout the Earth in this video they show people mocking Noah and patronizing Nova and attacking Noah and just you know just saying

mocking Noah scoffing at Noah

and

we always think as in the days of Noah we are in the last days as people scoff at us because of our belief in the Bible sometimes because of our beliefs that Jesus is going to return you know and when I look at Noah specifically in the in terms of this subject I think to myself you know Noah didn't seek the approval or acceptance of others you know a lot of people just like to fit in with a crown you know and Noah wasn't like most people he was unlike every other person in the world at that moment in history we don't know much specifically about his family other than they were saved with him but for side I'm gonna for a moment I'm gonna set them aside but every other person in the world at that moment in history Noah was different he sought his approval and his acceptance from God

and he rejected utterly rejected the actions of those around him and again that's where I go back to this video that we saw saw over this this Arc um over in Ohio or Kentucky or Indiana somewhere um

you know no it didn't fit in or the culture around him in fact he was in direct opposition as a preacher of righteousness second Peter 2 tells us that Noah was a preacher of righteousness this was how he was differentiating himself

you know he

when no one responded to Noah's preaching and so God said okay gonna bring a flood gonna cover the entire Earth and gonna start over with Noah with you and your family

and

when Noah was commissioned to build this Ark he only had God to direct him nobody else was there guiding him he didn't have family he didn't have mentors to look up to he didn't have anybody else at that moment to be a role model for him to to help imitate for him to imitate and he

pun intended he had to swim against the current you know he had to swim against the current and it was difficult 100 Years of swimming against the current you know and during that time Humanity just became so sinful

that again in Genesis they the the people's intentions were only evil continually this is who Noah was surrounded by these are the people who rejected the truth that he was sharing with them

but he was a non-conformist for righteousness

he was very uncomfortable it was dangerous for him

you know it says in Genesis 6 that the world at that time was violent

this is where Noah lived

and you know when you when you speak about that violence that mocking that scoffing and again I think back to that video we watched years ago um at the ark

I think when people notice

when people know they're doing wrong they resent those who are doing good

and then become hostile towards them

and that's where you suffer for the sake of righteousness I think that's what Noah did you know I think he suffered threats I think he suffered threats on his own life and maybe his family's life maybe physical beings you know just like later Paul happened to Paul

Noah had to deal with his unpopularity this uncomfortableness

but that was what God called him to do

so because of that I again look at Noah as my hero of not assimilation and of differentiation

and I think that

when when I think about this subject he's the first one that always comes to mind

and then I think about all these others so

I want to open it up at this point again this is the last slide but I want to open it up for any discussion about some of these others and I'll just go through it real quickly Abraham Isaac and Jacob I just Bunch them all together and again there's enough examples differentiation between the three of them that we could talk about that all night Joseph Moses Joshua and Caleb again Caleb is another one of my heroes um Rahab

being different in the midst of of Jericho Samson interesting Ruth Elijah Elijah David Solomon

Jeremiah you know what a what a good example of being different Daniel we talked about Daniel already Anna and Simeon in the temple setting themselves apart waiting for the Messiah

all the disciples all the disciples in one way or the other had to be different had to be different Paul I mean through all Paul's letters you see that and then ultimately the main difference main example is Jesus so I'm going to stop there with what five minutes left and see what comments or any questions anybody might have and again I don't have all the answers but that's why Jim Sullivan's here so Jim prepare yourself