Owner of A Lonely Heart

I once had a like-minded theological friend show me a quote from theologian D.A. Carson a long time ago. It basically implied that the path of a theological man or man of God is often alone and the path he walks is one of solitude.

“Effectiveness in teaching the Bible is purchased at the price of much study, some of it lonely, all of it tiring.” D. A. Carson

Carson’s quote emphasized the personal, disciplined nature of theological work, which can imply solitude in the sense of requiring individual reflection and prayerful study and often being isolated. I have experienced this to a tremendous extent since being shown this quote about 20 years ago. I knew this would be true. When I was younger I didn't understand how deeply isolated and forelorn some of the paths would go that I would walk on. What I didn’t understand until now was the breadth, depth and intensity of the solitude either imposed by others or self-imposed to shield myself from a corrupt world to continue to allow myself to think clearly. This is especially true in a world abounding with cell phones and constant electronic distractions. A world of divisive political brainwashing. A world that calls bad good and good bad.

Time with God and His word is not always easy. Studying is not just intellectual; it’s also spiritual and disciplined. Time and study or understanding with God often happens in isolation, away from the distractions of social life, to allow for deep reflection. We could look to Moses for this example too. I must admit it isn’t all roses and rainbows. It is exhausting in the sense that it demands sustained focus, patience, and humility. What I find at the bottom of these theological wells that I dig are hard truths. They are often they about my own shortcomings and failures. The things I write about aren’t just directed to the people outside of me but are deep personal reflections about failures in myself that are also common to others too. As most know the passage…

Matthew 7:1-3 -” Judge not lest ye be judged by the same measure. Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye?”

The example I will cite in Scripture about the solitude I experience intensely in my life will be from Genesis though (Noah), not Exodus (Moses). In Genesis 6:1-8 we see the extent of man’s horrible nature and God’s desire to erase them from the Earth. Even in this surplus of stupidity and fallenness God extends grace to humanity and finds a solitary man that found favor in God’s eyes. We see the solitary figure of Noah and invariably his family who will join him on the Ark during the flood. It is the same grace that God would later extend to Abraham concerning Sodom and Gomorrah if he would find just 10 righteous men in Sodom.

Genesis 6:5-8 The Lord saw how great the wickedness of the human race had become on the earth and that every inclination of the thoughts of the human heart was only evil all the time. The Lord regretted that he had made human beings on the earth, and his heart was deeply troubled. So, the Lord said, “I will wipe from the face of the earth the human race I have created—and with them the animals, the birds and the creatures that move along the ground—for I regret that I have made them.” But Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord.”

In God’s deference to Noah, we see something that will become a theme in a believer’s life. Frequent solitude or ostracizing. Odd man out in an ungodly world. The Christian man is sometimes solitary in his interactions with people and so it was with Noah also. The world was crowded with aged and renowned men, and not in a good way. Noah was a nobody, but it was him that received God’s attention and His favor. A nobody in a world of somebodies by the world’s measure. He could not find camaraderie in the violent brutal men of the age in which he lived. His presence alone appears to have been the only great moral place of the times as judged by God. There were none who joined him in his life-giving mission except the family for which he was responsible. Here we see another feature to a believer’s treatment by the world. The visible or outspoken believer’s family is often treated the same as he is. The darkness was all around him ridiculing him for his actions. To the world he was the odd one. The one that didn’t fit in. The one that need ‘mental’ help and supposedly by his actions drove others away when in fact it was them shunning him for not following their repugnant and irrational behaviors.

Noah’s loneliness was not the result of an exclusivist divisive spirit that believers are accused of today. He did not set out with the intention of standing aloof from the social life of the world. He did not look down upon ordinary life with contempt. Neither Noah’s nor my behavior is to separate ourselves in an attempt to act better than someone. It is an attempt to remain near but not in the fray of chaos that is of the world (so we can spread the Gospel). We both try/tried to engage the world but if the criterion for engaging the world is to become the world…that is a step too far because the world is asking me to change something I know is Godly and correct for something that is clearly flawed. It’s not arrogance, it is spiritual survival. I am not above the world. In truth I am being crowded in by the world and trying not to be change. I don’t want to lose myself in the chaos which is so easy to do.

In this way a Christian man is sometimes solitary in his character. The world was universally wicked. Noah was the only man who found grace in the eyes of the Lord. He was lonely in his moral goodness yet even Noah was horribly flawed. What needn’t be lost in this passage is that it wasn’t Noah himself that earned God’s attention through piety or righteousness. The passage tells us it was God’s grace, not Noah’s actions.

Noah was compelled by different motives, inspired by nobler ambitions, and engaged in grander pursuits than those by whom he was surrounded by. God set him aside for another purpose. He was calm and pure amidst the passion and distractions of the age he lived in. His crown was his holy life. Heaven acknowledged him to be such. These type of spirits and souls are generally lonely in this world. They will not be so in the next. There they will have companionships of like minds.

The Christian man is often solitary in his work. Noah was lonely in his work. He had to build an ark. He was a lonely Christian. He was in the future to be a lonely hero. God gives to Christian men works to perform, the doing of which may render them lonely, but loneliness does not always mean solitude, as God is always with the spirit of the lonely.

A Good Man Living In Degenerate Times

We know that good men living in degenerate times are not overlooked by God. The degenerate and wicked condition of society is always under God’s watchful eye. He saw then universal moral apostasy of Noah’s age. God did not overlook him in the multitude. God saw Noah and his efforts to be good albeit those of a flawed sinful man.

An all-encompassing darkness renders a solitary light the more apparent. The other wicked had no excuse. The prevalence of evil makes the purity of moral goodness more remarkable. It stands out more from its surroundings. The gardener may overlook the one flower in the midst of the weeds, and may pluck all up together; but not God. He infallibly separates the good from the bad, so that the former is never destroyed through the uprooting of the latter. He separates the wheat from the chaff. A good man in the world is conspicuous to the vision of God. In the most wicked ages of the world's history there has generally been one good man left as a representative of the church, and as a rebuke to the morons of the times. In most cases that person or persons have generally been divinely shielded or hedged in from the evils of his situation, and their testimony is witness to that fact.

Noah was not merely a good man trying to maintain a reputation of external morality in barbarous times, as many good Christians are today. His light of righteousness did not flicker before the crude storm of sin around it. The grace of God kept it bright and constant. This grace was sought by Noah. We should look for it too. Without it he could not have retained his moral rectitude in such fallen circumstances. If we look at the annals of history since we will find that the darkest ages have been illuminated by similar but solitary lives of other saints. The evil around them was itself new impetus for more ardent devotion and separation to preserve one’s sanity. We could learn a lesson from this today unplugging from the 24/7 divisive news cycle.

We should never forget that Noah had a family in immoral and evil times. The sons here mentioned were not the offspring of wicked ideology. God extended his grace not just to Noah but also to his family. A pure home life is a refuge from the sin of the world at large. It is the strong tower every man can run to and be safe. It is where I study and preserve my sanctity. It is a place I can commune with God. Noah would

shield his family from the dark sins of the age. This is a parental duty, but it is often utterly neglected, and not unfrequently frustrated by sorry indiscretions of parents. I have done my best to be a righteous sanctuary for my sons also. A father who would keep a son from the world's vice must be wise and kind in the application. It takes a strong and righteous man to raise a child in evil times.

So, in the end the lessons about solitude and a good man that need to be taken from this post are actually quite simple to state, much hard to apply. The good man is worth the mention and commendation of God. True Godliness can survive dark ages and live through the grueling trials. Good men know most of the mind of God in reference to the world's future. Good men will not be included in the destructions which overtake the wicked.

Stay faithful even when the entire world turns against you and doubts you.