Genesis 11:3
“And they said one to another, Go to, let us make brick, and burn them throughly. And they had brick for stone, and slime had they for morter.”
The story of the tower of Babel is a story that teaches a very valuable lesson about unity. The whole earth was of one language, and they determined to build a tower to Heaven so that they could build a name for themselves. When God saw what these people were doing, He stepped in and confused the languages which stopped the work. God knew that the good of unity had become bad, and He had to be the One to stop it.
When we talk of unity, it is normally talked about as a good thing. As with anything, Satan took what was good and perverted it. This is what we always have to be careful of. We must be careful that we don’t take good and get it out of God’s order, which is what these people did. Unity is a good thing as long as unity is found in God’s order, but when you take unity out of God’s order it becomes bad. There are three lessons this story teaches us about keeping unity in its proper place.
First, unity becomes bad when it is the sole focus. We should not unify at any cost. These people were unifying over the sake of unity. Many Christians have focused so much on unity that they laid truth aside. Unity is not to be our goal. Unity is a result of doing right. Our focus should be on truth. When you get busy obeying truth, then you will find yourself unified with the people beside you which are doing the same thing. Notice, you didn’t strive for unity, but you discovered unity while doing right. That is God’s order.
Second, unity becomes bad when it causes us to take our focus off God. When you read this story, you will see these people talked about themselves over and over again. Unity had nothing to do with God, it had everything to do with them. There is nothing wrong with unity as long as you unify over the personality of Jesus Christ. It must never be about getting along with others, but it must be about obedience to God. Many Christians have longed more for unity of the brethren when they should have longed for obedience to Christ which is what brings true unity. When the focus is about obedience to God, it’s then you will discover unity.
Third, unity becomes bad when it is all about a name. The people said, “…let us make us a name…” We must be careful about trying to unify to keep a name alive. Many Christians want the name of their movement or a respected man of God to continue, and that is what they strive for more than upholding truth. The only name we should rally around is the name of Jesus Christ. He is Who we serve! He is our cause! Unifying over any name other that the name of Jesus Christ is a wrong.
My friend, unity is a pleasant thing. It is certainly good to get along with others, but if you must take your focus off Christ and lay aside truth to unify that is when unity becomes bad. The simple lesson of this devotional is simply to stop worrying about unity and just do right. When you forget about your name, your cause and your legacy, then God will take care of the rest. Keep your eyes on truth and Christ and unity will take care of itself.