The Tower of Babel Church

Genesis 11:4 – “And they said…let us build us a city and a tower, whose top may reach unto heaven; and let us make us a name, lest we be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth.”

Since the Beginning of time, God’s command to His people has been to, ‘Go and multiply…reproduce after your kind…fill the earth.’

He said it to Adam in the beginning. He said it again to Noah after the flood, and it was commanded to all of us in the Great Commission of Matthew 28:19-20. Jesus also said the same in the Book of Acts before He ascended back into heaven. In Acts 1:8 He said, “But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.”

Some pastors today falsely or ignorantly preach about numbers and growing their church so they can build bigger buildings and pay larger salaries. Many even fall into the trap of the enemy to try and use Scripture out of context to make their case ‘biblical’ sounding. They use verses from Acts 2:41 that tells how 3,000 were added to the church in one day. They will say in Acts 4:4 the Bible reports 5,000 more were saved. These will be errantly used to ‘justify’ that focusing on numbers is OK.

Well, they need to finish reading the Book of Acts. Doing so will reveal to them the oldest mistake in the Book, not heeding the full counsel of God’s Word.

So what happens after all of these people start coming into the church? Acts 6:1 tells us the first problem, “And in those days, when the number of the disciples was multiplied, there arose a murmuring…” People began to fight and argue over resources. Go to any large church budget meeting, you will see the same. The real problem is not money, the fact is that God is allowing division to come in because they have not obeyed His command to GO; instead...they are staying!

Next, Deacons are ordained. Seven men are called and commissioned. The end of Chapter seven and beginning of Chapter eight resolves the problem. Go allows persecution to come upon the church. Stephen becomes the first recorded Martyr for the Christian Faith. So why did God allow it? 

Acts 8:1,4 “1 And Saul was consenting unto his death. And at that time there was a great persecution against the church which was at Jerusalem; and they were all scattered abroad throughout the regions of Judaea and Samaria, except the apostles…4 Therefore they that were scattered abroad went everywhere preaching the word.”

Do you ever get the feeling that it is only our disobedience that keeps Satan busy? Maybe if we would simply obey God, things would be much simpler. Satan is on a leash that is in the hands of the Lord. He can only go as far as God lets him out.

The Church wants to have grand entrances and blinking lights to get people in the door, but the real job of the Corporate Church is to send equipped Saints out the door. The job of the saints is to minister and preach the Word. The Church is to equip the Saints and prepare them for every good work. The Church should be like a school sending out Graduates – Disciple Graduates. The Pattern should be Evangelism – Discipleship – Equipping – Division (I call it ED²). The division can come willingly as we ‘divide and conquer, or God can divide us. Consider Paul and Barnabas in Acts 15:2.

We can have all of the unity in the world and try to make a name for ourselves, just like at the Tower of Babel, but we will be scattered abroad just like the builders of the Tower. Dare we tempt God to send division, by not rightly dividing ourselves for the work of the Lord?

Focusing on souls for the Kingdom is biblical. Focusing on bringing people into fellowship with the Lord is commanded. Focusing on building our kingdom is to miss the mark.

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