Today was our last workday in Mexico. We finished up with a great lunch (including tamales!) and the Christians from Mexico singing for us. During the singing, something occurred to me. If we are pursuing God dream for the world or, stated differently, his original intent for where the project is supposed to go, then we must get back to the other side of the tower of Babel. Babel, it seems to me, is where barriers came up between people...where languages barriers and borders came up. Perhaps one of the things we need to be about as followers of Jesus, is the removal and erasure of those borders and barriers that unnecessarily separate people. For too long we have made Christianity an individual enterprise. Perhaps we need to make a point in our churches to facilitate ways for people to do exactly that.
AE
P.S. Longer post next week.
4 comments:
It's interesting to me that one of the first and most powerful ways the Spirit worked at Pentecost was to nullify the effects of Babel for the sake of the gospel.
I don't think the HS really nullified the language barrier, He just gave the apostles the ability to get past it by miraculously allowing them to speak the languages of the people there. The language of people is interwoven with their culture and has been for a long time. We can remove barriers by making sure we appreciate and embrace the culture and even the language of people not of our nationality. Fortunately, we have learned people today who can help get past the language barrier and help us to understand where they're coming from. The stats seem to support that, in the U.S. specifically, we are moving toward a bilingual and perhaps even a multilingual culture. Maybe our children of theirs wll speak and understand several languages! This could definitely be a way of getting past the barriers.
Hey Adam,
This is Brian McCumsey, I worked with you guys at Work Camp. Well I just wanted to say hi and such. You inspired me to start my own BLOG, its not nearly as profound as yours but you can check it out over at www.brianmccumsey.blogspot.com
Make sure to read the entry "Beauty in the Unknown" it's a poem that I wrote.
BMcC Out
Adam,
Hope your recovering from Mexico...
Just wanted to let you know I picked up Rob Bell's new book today. I'm going to start it after Following Jesus...then onto some more N.T. Wright. Also, I had a conversation with my rents about emergent last night and they are now wanting to participate in the "conversation". Somewhat exciting huh?!?! Talk with you later....
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