If You Want to Cause a Problem
They wanted to be great. They wanted to make a name for themselves. They wanted to see what they could accomplish. So they decided to stick together. They started building.
But then everything stopped. There in the plain of Shinar there was a disruption. Even better, let’s call it confusion. After all, that’s what “Babel” means. God interrupted the construction of their project. He crafted the easiest and most reliable way to cause a problem. He made it impossible for them to communicate.
Before God brought confusion it says the whole earth was of one language and one speech (Gen. 11:1). It is interesting that Moses distinguishes here between language and speech. There can be different meanings to words of the same language, and people can speak the same language and sound nothing alike (just travel around America a little). So it seems that before God came down and halted the builders that everybody pretty much sounded the same way and said the same thing. No wonder why they were having success!
Here’s the point: Communication is the foundation of all relationships. Having marriage problems? There has probably been a breakdown in communication. Are there struggles at work? I would venture to say it has something to do what is being said versus what is being heard. Is the church about to split? People get their feelings hurt over the smallest of misunderstandings. What we say and how we say it and whether or not it is understood the way we meant it has everything to do with how we are going to get along with each other. Poor communication makes it impossible for us to build anything with anyone.
You want to know a sure way to start a fire? Send an open-ended text message or an email that can be taken in several different ways. When there is no voice inflection or nonverbal clues we can create absolute chaos sometimes even when we are trying to be understood. And we haven’t even ventured into the discussion of how people manipulate relationships through confusing language on purpose! Do you have someone in your life who is praising you one moment and criticizing you the next? Beware of being intimately involved with anyone who both flatters and batters!
It has often been said that in the problem lies the solution. Usually, this means to do the opposite of what is creating the disturbance! Is someone being mean? Be nice. Is someone shouting? Speak softly and clearly. Is someone taking advantage? Serve their needs. Is someone confusing you with their language? Learn their speech or get an interpreter. But don’t give up! Weak people get off the scaffolding and walk away.
I can’t help but wonder what would have happened if the people who became known as babblers had thought enough of each other to stick around and learn all the new dialects. Even if the tower had to stop being built…maybe they could have still all at least have been friends. Maybe I am totally wrong. Maybe this was just one of those things God did and there was no way to stop it.
But I do know this. There are a lot of people in this world and they are very different. They don’t all speak the same thing in the same way. And yet God all wants us to be a part of his building. He even wants all of us to work on the project. Maybe it is not so much about human language as it is the language of the heart. Perhaps the problem is not what we are saying. Perhaps it is all about what we have chosen to build.
“Is it time for you yourselves to dwell in your paneled houses, and this temple to lie in ruins?” – Haggai 1:4
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AUTHOR: Jeremiah Tatum
