The curse of Babel

Come, let’s go down and confuse the people with different languages.
Genesis 11: 7 (NLT)

At first glance the curse of Babel is obvious. God confuses the people with different langauges. The people scatter and form different tribes and nations.

In our modern world, much is being done to reverse this curse. The number of spoken languages is in decline as more people move into cities and minority languages drop out of use. State-sponsored education promotes common languages even in countries with many different people groups. The media and the internet promote content in majority languages. Automated translation tools, for all their flaws are becoming more accurate and prevalent.

Despite this, communication remains a complex subject. Even people who speak the same language use words differently. Our upbringing, our community and our gender shape our understanding. Even when we think people understand they often don't.

As I have explored the subject of discipleship I have come to realise that the curse of Babel is all-pervasive. People with different giftings cannot understand why everyone doesn't see the problem in the same way. Denominations and churches become obsessed or even split over differences in theological interpretation.

Differences, however, do not have to be devisive. In 1 Corinthians Paul says that we are one body, made of many different parts. As reflected in my previous entry, scattering is part of God's plan, in order that the church may bless the whole earth. As we learn to celebrate our different viewpoints and talents we can reach everyone, and not just people who think and speak the same way that we do

The God who scatters

They said, “Come, let’s build a great city for ourselves with a tower that reaches into the sky. This will make us famous and keep us from being scattered all over the world.”
Genesis 11: 4 (NLT)

In the opening chapters of Genesis, God lays out his plan for humanity. In the opening chapter we find this instruction for Adam and Eve to "Be fruitful and multiply. Fill the earth and govern it." Sadly Genesis goes on to recount man's departure from this plan. By chapter 11 mankind is in full-scale rebellion to the way of God.

I have always been taught that the sin of Babel was to try and build towards Heaven. That the tower itself was threat to God - as if some construction of human hands could somehow assail the very dwelling place of God. Recently, however, I have come across a different view. It is not the building project which God opposes. It is the coming together. Verse five tells us that God said "Look. The people are united...". Their fear is his intention. That they should be scattered. The outcome, God's intervention, is to find another way to fulful his intention. If the people won't spread out of their own accord, then he will scatter them.

The same is true for the church. In Acts 1 Jesus tells his disciples they will be his witnesses in Judea, Samaria and to the ends of the Earth. When they stay in Jerusalem, persecution bubbles up to scatter them. It is as they scatter that the gospel is spread and the church grows.

The temptation remains today. We love our festival gatherings, and large churches. But the call of God is the same. Go into all the world and make disciples. It is not until we scatter that we will see the fulness of his blessing.