The Danger of Building Projects

In Genesis 11:1-9, all of mankind are joined together by a single language and a common speech and as the moved eastward, they found a plain and settled there. It's apparently not too many generations after Noah, and the world is back in full swing...it's own swing.

"They said to each other, "Come, let's make bricks and bake them thoroughly." They used brick instead of stone, and tar for mortar. Then they said, "Come, let us build ourselves a city, with a tower that reaches to the heavens, so that we may make a name for ourselves and not be scattered over the face of the whole earth."

But the LORD came down to see the city and the tower that the men were building. The LORD said, "If as one people speaking the same language they have begun to do this, then nothing they plan to do will be impossible for them. 7 Come, let us go down and confuse their language so they will not understand each other."

So the LORD scattered them from there over all the earth, and they stopped building the city. That is why it was called Babel--because there the LORD confused the language of the whole world. From there the LORD scattered them over the face of the whole earth.

So, what's the big deal? Why did God scatter them and confuse their language and stop their working together on a great project? From our culture's point of view, you really couldn't ask for much more, could you? People working together in harmony. Economic cooperation. Technological advancements (bricks were a HUGE improvement over rocks!). Ease of communication. It's almost like John Lennon's song "Imagine". What's God's problem?

A couple of big things: First, God had commanded all of mankind to keep moving. Go and mulitply, be fruitful, repopulate the world - spread out a bit. And their response? To stay together and not 'fill the earth'.

Second, they were determined to make a name for themselves. God had just wiped everyone off the earth earlier so he could start over with people who would honor him and follow the way they were made to live. And their response? It's all about us. God who?

So God's response is to confuse their language. Make them unable to communicate with the ease they had. No communication, no ability to agree about what to do next. It was time to move on and fulfill what God wanted them to do. They scattered and obeyed God, even if they didn't know why.

So are building project's dangerous? Not in and of themselves. But anytime we as God's people decide to do something that goes against what he commands us to do, it's dangerous. Anytime we do something to make a name for ourselves, it's dangerous.

So, as we step fully into a building project at Central, what is our purpose in doing it? Do our actions reflect a commitment to honor and obey the one we call Lord? Or is it all about us?

And more important than physical buildings, do our actions, the way we organize ourselves and the way we interact with each other - all the things that make up the body of Christ -reflect His call to love Him and each other AND to make disciples who will make disciples who will make disicples, etc?

As always, pray that God lead our hearts and minds to want to honor him and not to get sidetracked into wanting to honor ourselves, our own cultural heritage, or anything that reflects us and not God.

And may the Lord bless you in that...