Tower of Babel

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; otherwise we will be scattered over the face of the whole earth.”
Genesis 11:3-4

Are you building the Tower of Babel? Are you trying to protect yourself by building a tower? The people committed two grave sins which caused God to scatter them all across the earth: they became human-centered, and they eliminated God from the picture. We are doing the same things today, and we need to stop building the Tower of Babel. We must recognize all efforts and plans excluding God are fruitless. All success and glory comes from uniting with God and making Him the essential part of our lives.

Countries, societies, families, and individuals build the Tower of Babel if they act human-centered. Human-centered means the driving force in life is anything but God. It could be money, success, prestige, honor… If the driving force in your life isn’t God, you’re building the tower! If you are working hard to succeed without God in your life, you’re building the tower! We must be God-centered. He must be the focal point and the center of our lives.

If we come together (as the people of Israel did) and there is teamwork, cooperation, and strength in unity, it’s easy to work together for a common goal that has nothing to do with God. We work for a better job, glory, or social status. This kind of harmony and cooperation are blessings from God, but we alter and use it for personal gain. Instead, we should come together to serve God! We should unite in praising God! Coming together for any other reason except God leads to our ultimate destruction. God must be at the center of our goals, decision-making, and effort.

The other sin they committed was excluding God. They came together without God as the center; they cut Him out of the picture. We do this all the time. When things are going well, we forget about God. He no longer becomes a part of our lives or plans. We focus on constructing our businesses, families, and careers. We build these towers forgetting God is our captain, and we are His soldiers. When we continue to live without God, He scatters us, breaks up harmony and peace.

We are supposed to use cooperation, good faith, and unity for the sole purpose of serving Him, but somewhere along the line, we left out God. Is there discord in your life? Has God taken away cooperation, harmony, and unity from your life? Are things falling apart because of chaos and dissension? Look no further than the absence of God being the root of all your problems! Chaos and conflict exist because God is no longer present. You have taken all of God’s blessings (the harmony, unity, and goodwill) and used it to build your own towers! So chaos, failure, and dissension are natural outcomes. Never exclude God from any part of your life!

When things are going well in life, wise people will think, “What is the driving force here? What is the goal? Am I moving and working together with or without God?” The wise ones will always reflect regardless of what stage of the process they are in, and the wisest ones will not start something unless it’s God-centered.

Living in peace and harmony and thriving are all blessings from God. We must not corrupt these blessings and use them to build towers that have nothing to do with God. Always reflect and ponder: check to see where God is positioned in your life. Everything we do to improve our lives and make a name for ourselves ends in discord, chaos, and dissension unless God is at the center of it and the driving force.

God is our captain, and we are His soldiers!
We fail if we cut God out of the picture!
Don’t make a move unless God is the focal point!

Summary