An Inkling
Genesis 11 made the headlines
here in Virginia yet again today.
Remember the story? The proud and
able folks of Babel decided to build a tower all the way to heaven, and with
that tower also to build their fame. But
before they reached their imagined heights, the Lord judged them with confusion
– babble broke out in Babel, and their ambitions came to naught.
As it turns out, the Genesis
11 tower was only tower number one.
Humanity has been building them ever since, and it turns out the same
every time. Call it the Babel
Principle: no tower of human endeavor
can continue to rise for long without confusion breaking out. It’s how life works in a fallen world.
This week’s headlined case in
point: the University of Virginia’s
brouhaha over its Board’s decision to fire its President. As best as I can tell, all of the players are
very able and gifted people, and they all have ambitions to build yet higher
the lofty tower of learning that Mr. Jefferson envisioned. But now confusion has broken out.
It’s no one’s fault in
particular, and everyone’s fault in part.
And if the confusion had not come in this way, at some point it would
have come another. It’s how life works
in a fallen world. Partially built
towers stand as testimony in every direction, surrounded by confused and angry
people.
It’s why we need a Savior –
and not just a Savior who can instruct us in how to build better towers. We need a Savior who can break the power of
our inevitable confusions, and of our hearts’ capacity for making our worst
spring forth even from our best.
We have such a Savior, whose
towering ambition was to be laid low for us.
Thereby he really has risen to the heights of heaven. And now he sends his Spirit to abide in his
people in ways that break the power of confusion. Acts 2 displays the ground floor of his
towering plan. As those earliest
Christians were filled with the Savior’s Spirit, confusion fled, so much so
that those who spoke different languages could understand each other – babble (Babel)
reversed. And he’s only begun to
build! And we get to work for him – all
the way to the top!
No higher calling,
Keith
