Rebuilding the Tower of Babel

And they said, Go to, let us build us a city and tower whose top may reach unto heaven…

There came a time when the human race had drifted so far from the knowledge of God that they conspired to build a tower so tall it would reach to God’s dwelling place. Of course God destroyed their communication and scattered them across the face of the earth. They were attempting to reach God through the strength of man and his intellect, irrational and absurd, but they tried nonetheless.

Surely after so many centuries have passed and with the written canon of revelation completed along with the printing press spreading God’s Word throughout the world, we would know better by now. I mean with everything we now know about the material universe, medical science and the body, and all the wonders of creation, surely we know now how august and sovereign the Creator is and how feeble are our attempts to capture him with anything of our own making. Surely, right?

I would have liked to say that there is a movement underway, but I must more strongly contend that there is a movement already in place, entrenched in most evangelical churches, and spreading systematically throughout almost every corner of the Christian community. It has erected an invisible Tower of Babel that uses the intellect, communication, and the strength of fallen man. Words like “destiny” and “empowerment” and “success” as well as “self-image” and self-confidence” are the building blocks of this new Tower. Faith and confidence has now been placed upon man himself with only a tacit bow to God’s power in our lives. We have become humanists with a religious flavor, pitifully successful.

It isn’t just the heretical “health and wealth” movement which demonstrates that deception can so blind people’s eyes they will embrace anything regardless if it is obviously unbiblical. This humanistic Tower has infiltrated what used to be strong and conservative churches, Baptist, Presbyterian, Methodist, and a list of denominations that would have roundly rejected such teachings three decades ago. The difference between the self help and the religious sections in your average book store is negligible.

The people of God in Judah many years ago had turned from trusting the Lord and were trusting their own cunning and prosperity. God raises up the prophet Jeremiah and he warns them with these words:

Jer 9:23 - 24 - Thus saith the LORD, Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, neither let the mighty man glory in his might, let not the rich man glory in his riches: But let him that glorieth glory in this, that he understandeth and knoweth me, that I am the LORD which exercise lovingkindness, judgment, and righteousness, in the earth: for in these things I delight, saith the LORD.

Their hearts were not after the Lord, they were idolizing their own minds, and in so doing they would soon be carried off into captivity in Babylon. The church by and large has already been carried off and are now gleefully continuing to build upon themselves and not Christ. Lip service is not service but lies, and accommodating Christianity is not Christianity but hedonism. When the shepherds preach about the sheep and not the Great Shepherd you may know God’s Spirit has left. When the sheep have their eyes on themselves and not their Shepherd you can recognize they are lost. And when the sheep are interested in becoming fat not faithful then the Lord must use the rod of correction. When God called the captives back to rebuild Jerusalem and the Temple, the overwhelming majority could not and would not hear the Spirit’s call for they were comfortable, happy, and prosperous in Babylon. And they had made friendships with the heathen that now shaped their theology, certainly not God’s Word which would not even surface until God led Ezra to find it again.

Today many look at the world and its practices, and from that they take some Bible verses and show the listeners how to participate in those lifestyles while still maintaining their spirituality. And further it is promulgated that we as God’s people living in Babylon must dive into the culture and make it better which is the methodology used to bring in God’s kingdom. It came as quite a shock to me when I learned that more and more movements no longer believe in the rapture, no longer believe in the Second Coming of Jesus Christ with wrath, no longer believe in the supremacy of verbal preaching and witnessing, and in general no longer believe in the very lynchpins of the faith I had learned just three decades earlier. By the strength of our minds, the strength of our humanitarian efforts, the strength of our unity, and the strength of our hospitable lifestyles such a Kingdom Tower they say will eventually be built around the world.

And although some who discern the unbiblical nature of such movements are unkind and proud, when the leaders of these new movements are challenged you may well find that same venom spewing from the lips of those who claim to be more gentile and tolerant. I have found that the carnal flesh knows no theological boundaries, it is alive and well across doctrinal lines. And just as some orthodox groups have come dangerously close to making certain men idols, so it is with these new movements. Everyone has their favorite and many preachers have gained such notoriety that many followers will believe almost anything they say even if it uproots what they have known for years. Newness and excitement have replaced thoughtful discernment and Berean certainty.

Now this shift has not just happened silently, no, it is being promoted and taught as God’s will. Peter gets out of the boat at Jesus’ beckoning and for a moment he walks on water. But then he begins to sink and not because he takes his eyes off the Master, but they now say he took his eyes off himself and his capabilities that should allow him to do what Jesus does. Could there be any more obvious example of humanism in the church? Everything now revolves around man not God. Religious and secular methods, gimmicks, promises, sex, power, money, music, dancing, movies, lectures, are all now touted as the tools God uses to draw men to Christ because Christ Himself and His precious cross are no longer relevant to our sophisticated society, they are above all that. That plan was hatched in hell and carried out through a strong deception that has carried the church away to where she desired anyway, spiritual Babylon.

God no longer wants moderation for His people they say, He wants us rich and enjoying every inch of our disgusting culture with all the accoutrements. Being like the world is a good thing now and preachers strive to look like Madison Ave. advertisers and their wives like fashion plates, or looking like a teenager and his girlfriend, take your pick. Success is now judged by the eye and not the humility of the heart which is exhibited by the life. It is all proclaimed as well intentioned which means little to God. The good King Uzziah who did right in the sight of the Lord thought he would act out his good intentions before the Lord. So one day he went into the Temple to light up some incense before God as a show of praise, after all, he was the King. God not only did not receive his offering he struck him with leprosy until his death and he was cut off from the Lord’s house. It was in the year that Uzziah died that God gave Isaiah his holy vision. God does not desire good intentions, He desires and demands obedience.

So today we have legions of Uzziah’s who have entered the church and offered up incense of their own making and not that which pleases God. After all, we’re all children of God and believers in Christ, God will see our hearts and smile at our misguided efforts to present Him to the world and worship Him together. And off goes the church following their own intentions, sniffing the modern culture like a wild ass sniffing the air, and discounting the holiness of Almighty God and the honor that His glory deserves. The Bible and all that it teaches is discussed as if it must bow and conform to us and our ever changing cultures and not the reverse. The presence of God is manufactured with lights and music and events and conferences but surely not the result of many months of fasting and prayer.

We argue whether it is right to watch certain television programs yet we know it is right to abide in our prayer closets but we don’t argue about why our time is given to our desires and not His throne. The wrath of God approaches on time, headed for the inhabitants of this earth, and not only are there very little warnings, but the church has changed her theology to accommodate her conscience. Herod words of old ring true today, “What is truth?”. The Tower continues to grow as the walls of God’s Word continue to fall down. The creativity of men, our etymological prowess, our cultural modifications, the contextual adaptations, and our sophisticated understandings of contemporary Bible principles have revolutionized the entirety of Christianity itself.

The tower is well under way, and the bricks are being laid faster each and every day. Inspect the foundation and you will find the cornerstone missing, for this tower is being built on the whims of man and not Christ Jesus the Chief Cornerstone. One day it will fall and take all who have climbed inside it down. We cannot but remain faithful to Christ and His Word, humbly admitting our worthlessness and His supremacy. There is no tower, no bridge, and no way to God but by faith in Jesus the Christ and all other attempts are useless affronts to a Holy and Gracious God. Remove not the ancient landmarks, for in them we will find our eternal hope and everlasting rest.

In Christ alone is our strong tower.