Babble On

In a previous job, I spent quite a bit of time traveling. My first time out of North America, I went on a four week run through Europe, visiting installations in Great Britain, Scotland, Norway, Belgium, and the North Sea coast of Germany. When the business trip was finished, I stayed another couple of weeks to visit the rest of Germany, France and Switzerland with family. Not having been in this situation before, the fact that some people couldn’t understand me was a rude awakening, especially when I found out that they spoke “English.” One of them finally told me that they were studying English dialects, but they hadn’t gotten to the course on Texan yet.

And the LORD came down to see the city and the tower, which the children of man had built. And the LORD said, "Behold, they are one people, and they have all one language, and this is only the beginning of what they will do. And nothing that they propose to do will now be impossible for them. Come, let us go down and there confuse their language, so that they may not understand one another’s speech." So the LORD dispersed them from there over the face of all the earth, and they left off building the city. Therefore its name was called Babel, because there the LORD confused the language of all the earth. And from there the LORD dispersed them over the face of all the earth. 

Genesis 11:5-9

The Bible tells us in the first verses of this chapter that, at the time of this incident, all the people in the world spoke the same language. In a world where “communication” problems are blamed for many of the ills that beset us, this sounds like the way to world peace. However, as the story goes on, we find out that speaking the same language began to create problems in the hearts of man. As people will do, they used their common language to enhance their common sin – pride. They decided to build a tower as a monument to their greatness. They twisted a gift from the Father into a tool for the Devil.

In this passage, we see that God was not at all pleased with what was happening. In fact, He came down and “confused” the people in a way that has continued to be seen as a source of chaos to this day – He caused them to speak different languages. Can you imagine the impact of this on their “monument” to their greatness? The Bible tells us that they abandoned their project and scattered all over the earth. It brings to mind the story of the blind men trying to describe an elephant.

I believe that there is a “language barrier” within Christian churches today. I think it was George Bernard Shaw that first used the phrase “a people separated by a common language,” and that description can be applied to many congregations today. We are joined by our commitment to the Good News of Jesus Christ, but split by our personal preferences. We see the results of this separation almost every day in the closing of churches. People get focused on their personal preferences and lose sight of their common mission.

The Bible tells us that a “house divided cannot stand.” For God’s church to make a difference in the world today, we must stand united. When personal preferences regarding methods begin to overshadow personal commitment to the Message, we become a people separated by a common language and the result is confusion in the body. Our God is not a God of confusion.

We serve an awesome God!!!!!

So you will walk in the way of the good
   and keep to the paths of the righteous.
Proverbs 2:20