In Genesis 11 verse 5 the bible says, "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 an other's speech."
I find this story that we have all read or heard told in Sunday school extremely interesting. The words that I find most compelling is what God says about these people that nothing will be impossible for them.
Excuse me, but did He say NOTHING? ..... Let me check, yep that's right, nothing will now be impossible for them.
The next thing he did was cause them to no longer understand one another. I think I could wonder for a while what actually happened here, but we certainly know people no longer understood each other. I find it funny that my wife and I speak the same language, and there are certainly times in our marriage where we have not understood each other. I wonder if that first language was lost, destroyed by God at the tower of Babel. In any organization, how easy is it for this to happen? People from one division, to not understand people from another division.
But I am rambling from what I would like to be my main point. God says that when people have the same vision, to first build a tower, and the same language that nothing will be impossible for them. That is a pretty staggering statement. Nothing is the word God chose to use. I think it is also interesting that he didn't pick out a leader to confuse. He was worried about the people. I think this is also telling. It wasn't a mighty man who gathered followers, it was a community of people who set their minds to do something together.
So what conclusions should we gather from this small section of Bible that is oft simply passed off as a story. I think we should be struck by the amazing potential a group of people could have, if they spoke the same language and purposed to do the same thing. That is why I am writing this book. To try and identify the things a leader can do which cause a group of people to come together with a common purpose and do incredible things.
I believe that I have begun to have this work in the company I belong to. People working together, people giving grace to one another for weakness, and by doing so coming closer together. People getting close enough that they begin to rub off on each other. I think it begins when we lead with humility. Leading with humility begins by being honest about our own short comings. Leading like a sinner to me means that we recognize our failings, we are open about them, we seek feedback to be able to get better, we hold onto our ideas with passion, but weakly so that we are open to the possibility of being wrong.
1 comment:
Your comments on Gen 11:5 caught my eye. Like you, I find the account “extremely interesting”.
1. Amen to your comment, “So what conclusions should we gather from this small section of Bible that is oft simply passed off as a story. I think we should be struck by the amazing potential a group of people could have, if they spoke the same language and purposed to do the same thing.”
I am struck by the fact that God created Adam (Man) to have such “amazing potential” and did not take it from us when we fell from our originally created place as His representatives after the Fall.
At Babel we see Man’s stubborn attempt to repeat the rebellious atmosphere of the antediluvian world Noah and his son’s graciously escaped.
Biblical narratives (some call stories) are given to help us know and love our Creator God who promised to reconcile us back to himself (Gen 3:15). To study it biblically we look at the historic context and relational implications God reveals about His intentions for us as His people. Systematically we learn about topics and doctrinal imparities. In this case, the important results of unity as God intended it for Man was that when we are united in heart and purpose we can do anything. Wow. What a calling. Anything good or anything bad??? At Babel God graciously slowed man’s ability to recreate their rebellious world view by a miracle of confusion. At Pentecost, with the miracle of tongues, that was reversed and we saw the potential for unity despite different languages as we become One as Christ’s Body: One spirit, heart, purpose and life in Christ.
A biblical and systematic study of unity is well worth the effort as you pursue the goal of creating a workplace that will mirror God’s Kingdom Principles. If only God’s people understood this powerful lesson of the importance of unity we might not be so quickly entrapped to fight against one another, thus dividing the body of Christ and keeping His body, the church, less effective as a united force that illustrates the heart and goal of our king.
Marriage and the family was His first line of defense and we see how that is fought over in our culture. My hat goes off to you to try to build a work place that humbly reflects a gracious atmosphere that points to the love our of Heavenly Father.
Be blessed,
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