At one time the whole world spoke a single language and used the same words. As the people migrated eastward, they found a plain in the land of Babylonia and settled there. They began to talk about construction projects. “Come,” they said, “let’s make great piles of burnt brick and collect natural asphalt to use as mortar. Let’s build a great city with a tower that reaches to the skies–a monument to our greatness! This will bring us together and keep us from scattering all over the world.” But the LORD came down to see the city and the tower the people were building. “Look!” he said. “If they can accomplish this when they have just begun to take advantage of their common language and political unity, just think of what they will do later. Nothing will be impossible for them! Come, let’s go down and give them different languages. Then they won’t be able to understand each other.” In that way, the LORD scattered them all over the earth; and that ended the building of the city. Genesis 11.1-8 (new living translation)
The infamous Tower of Babel!!! People got together in unity, and of one mind, to build something in honor of their greatness. They wanted to build a tower into the heavens, they were so proud of themselves that they could accomplish something so great….who cares, who really gives a rats backside that a bunch of people thousands of years ago got together to build a building…Well it seems to me that God cared. God even said “If they can accomplish this when they have just begun to take advantage of their common language and political unity, just think of what they will do later. Nothing will be impossible for them!”
Wow! A bunch of heathen tower builders got together to build a tower, and it caught God’s attention. But why is it that we as Christians can’t seem to work together long enough to vacuum the church together? We have become so small minded that the littlest things seem to offend us, or throw us out of wack. How can we become so united that we can accomplish something big like that? Well I so happen to have the key to that locked question..let me open it up for you…the secret to unity is…GET OVER YOURSELVES. Even the Godless heathen thousands of years ago understood this concept. If we want to accomplish something, we need to first realize that this something is bigger than we are.
The one huge road block to acquiring unity in the church is offense. We so often are offended by what people say to us our about us, or how they say something…Really? Come on people, we have way more potential then that. But we still seem to be set back by each other. The tower of Babel grew in size because the builders could physically see that this was a bigger then they were. We as the church fail to see that. I have worked secular jobs before, and more often than not, people won’t get offended with you, and a business can be built because they realize that it is bigger than themselves.
Another reason that the tower of Babel was such a success was that everybody involved knew the final goal, and were trying to achieve it together. In today’s church we can’t seem to get a grip on that . We understand that our goal is to win souls, but we can not seem to work together , because quite honestly pride gets in the way. ” I want to be recognized for what I did”, ” I want people to know how much work I put into this project” Wow, pride is so rampant, that sometimes we are blind to it. It does not say that the Babalonians each required attention and applause for what they did. they just did it. We need to be like Nike and “Just Do It”.
Along with pride comes the need for a title. I know how ridiculous it sounds, but having a title in the Church is such a big deal to Christians. ” I am head of the bathroom cleaners” and that person will walk around chest out, almost needing a badge of honor. Get real, titles other than biblical ones are only to appease the people that have them, and this really does cause dis-unity, only because it causes a false sense of hierarchy. for example: “I am the official door opener of the church, therefore Thou shall listen to me(I love when people like that feel more powerful using the Kings language)” . NO you are a greeter, and you are a servant in the house of God, you are a nobody, and that should be OK with you. The builders were nobodies, there are no names mentioned, there are no titles mentioned, and they still seemed to make a pretty huge tower.
Ok, so what did we learn today church? #1 Get over yourselves. #2 It’s not about you #3 Be humble, unity is bigger than you are.
2 Comments
March 31, 2009 at 10:43 pm
This blog’s great!! Thanks
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April 1, 2009 at 3:32 am
Great job. Love the thought about how no names are mentioned. Great point about the importance of see how great the work before us is.