Spectacular Sins Book Study Chapter Five
Hello ladies!
I loved this week’s reading. Number one reason: it was not last week’s reading. Number two reason: I have just never thought so much about the Tower of Babel, have you? I mean, it is one little paragraph in my bible. I certainly didn’t consider it one of The Spectacular Sins. I won’t read that little paragraph in the same way ever again.
Okay, here goes. And I must give credit to my sweet husband for helping me write these because, well, it’s been a week.
1) What were the primary motivations of the people who endeavored to build the Tower of Babel?
2) Why did God consider is a sin to live in a city?
3) Of the five ways that Christ’s glory is magnified by the spectacular sin of the Tower of Babel (pp 69-72) which one resonates with you the most, and why?
4) Can you provide an example of the way that the Gospel of Christ takes root in literally thousands of different cultures, despite language barriers, social mores, existing religious practices, etc.? What does this say about the “uniqueness” of Christianity?
5) How are you also guilty of sin in the ways the Tower of Babel builders were? Where do you seek comfort apart from the Lord?
6) My husband often says that at the root of every sin is pride (and I have yet to be able to prove him wrong). Was this true in the case of these people? How can you confront and rebuke your own pride?
You gals have been rockin these questions. Rock on!!
Love, Missy
I almost missed this post (for some reason it didn’t show up in my reader?)!
Great stuff here; thanks again for the challenge–I’m loving it!
1) Gen. 11:4, “…make a name for ourselves, lest we be dispersed…” Piper describes these as the “love of praise (so you crave to make a name for yourself) and the love of security (so you build a city and don’t take the risks of filling the earth). (p. 67)
2) Settling together, refusing to disperse, was in disobedience to the Lord’s command to “fill the earth” in Gen. 9:1.
3) The “danger of human uniformity” is one I had not considered. Piper asserts that a “global, monolithic anti-Christian state would have the power to wipe out all Christians” and that Christians are thereby guarded by the diversity and languages and cultures, humans being “far too evil to be allowed to unite in one language or one government.” (p. 70) Also, this diversity will serve to magnify Christ’s power and glory to make disciples in every language. “His power is all the more glorious because it breaks into so many different languages and peoples and brings salvation.” (p. 72) Glory to His name!
4) I have friends planting a church in New England, others seeking to carry the gospel and train national believers in Puerto Rico, and just yesterday I attended a training session to learn to share the gospel as I counsel women in a crisis pregnancy situation. In each circumstance, the gospel is relevant and powerful because it speaks to the universal human condition: our depravity and desperation before a holy God. The gospel is unique because it alone offers life and hope, forgiveness and redemption. It is the power of Christ!
5) Sadly, yes. I love praise and I love security. Sometimes I seek security in the praise and approval of others, looking for comfort by being in control. I too refuse to disperse, preferring the safety and security of the familiar.
6) Pride is ultimately self-serving self-preoccupation that rebels against the authority of the Lord. The Lord is near to the humble, but the proud He knows from afar! Combating pride begins with acknowledging my desperation, agreeing with God about the wickedness of my pride. It is easy to attempt to justify, rationalize, blame or minimize the sin of my pride. However, the Bible is clear: the Lord hates pride and sets Himself against the proud. The Bible also says that those who humble themselves before Him, He will exalt. I must humble myself before Him, realizing who He is and who I am in comparison. Nothing overwhelms me with the knowledge of my sin and arrogance like a fresh vision of God’s holiness and glory. As I allow my self will to be shattered and surrender to the authority of the Lord, I can rejoice in the love and mercy He pours out on the contrite.
1) They desired to build a city, build a tower in the city that would reach to heaven, make a name for themselves and to not become dispersed.
2) God had commanded His creation (Adam and Eve and then Noah and his descendants) to be fruitful and multiply the earth. Building a city was not inhabiting the earth but of congregating in one place.
3) I appreciate that this was foreshadowing pride being destroyed since I see so many of the sins in my life come back to pride and worrying about what others think. But the point that resonated the most with me was the fourth point: the Gospel glorified. Mr. Piper states, “A great part of the glory of the gospel is that it is not provincial. It is not a tribal religion. It breaks into every language and every people.” As a person who lives outside their passport country and travels as much as possible, it is a joy for me to see how God is served and worshiped in other languages and cultures. I always walk away from a service in another country humbled that I have the opportunity to share with believers in other places. The glory of God is amazing when cultures come together to worship. It makes me ready for heaven where that will be the norm, not the exceptional opportunity!
4) When we were in Romania last Autumn, we were in congregations where the older people spoke no English (some of the teens had a rudimentary understanding). We spoke no Romanian beyond “hello,” “thank you,” and “peace.” But we worshiped together. We sang the songs in English as they sang in Romanian. I followed along in my Bible as the Scripture was read in Romanian. Afterwards the pastor would say “what I was telling the congregation was” and we would often be able to tell him the essence even though we did not understand the words. The Holy Spirit is the same Spirit across all of the barriers and we are able to recognize the Spirit living in believers even when we cannot understand the words.
5) Where do you seek comfort apart from the Lord? Pride of wanting to make a name for myself, or worrying about what name I am making is a constant struggle. It is something I confess to the Lord over and over. In that regard, I often seek comfort in friends’ words or ideas rather than seeking God’s approval only.
6) I believe that there is much truth in this. We seek to be comfortable (our own way) and to be known. I confront it with Scripture:
When pride comes, then comes disgrace, but with humility comes wisdom. Proverbs 11:2
Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall. Proverbs 16:18
The eyes of the arrogant man will be humbled and the pride of men brought low; the LORD alone will be exalted in that day. Isaiah 2:11
“Where were you when I laid the earth’s foundation? Tell me, if you understand. Who marked off its dimensions? Surely you know! Who stretched a measuring line across it? Job 38:4-5
Thanks for leading this. This chapter was so relevant to me at this moment in time!
(Ditto the answers above for questions 1 and 2.)
3) Of the 5 ways, I most resonated with the last one: Jesus is glorified even more by receiving praise in every tribe and tongue. Yet praise is a universal language—we all know when someone is being applauded and cheered on. It’s great when it’s our Lord!
4) It’s awesome to me to read in “The Voice of the Martyrs” of how strong Christians are in countries where they are persecuted. It also puts me to shame. How would I react in similar circumstances? I shudder to think about how cowardly I might be.
On the other hand, it is the Spirit of God within them giving them courage through their faith, so he would do the same for me if I allowed him to.
5) I’m guilty of both sins John Piper mentioned: the love of praise and the love of security. I’m trying to “outgrow” them both, but it’s a lifelong process. It’s so easy to put our security in things that we can see and touch—like our husbands!—but it is only the Lord who is our true Rock and Refuge.
6) I have to confront my pride every day because it is my #1 sin. As a stay-at-home mom, my frustrations are most likely to surface with my daughter—I don’t want to be interrupted or don’t want to have to answer more questions or don’t want to address attitude issues, etc. But that’s because my PRIDE says I shouldn’t have to do that; I should be doing things for ME. It’s a battle that I can only win with God’s help. I know the victory is already complete, but I have many skirmishes yet to go…
My summary of chapter 5 is here: “Tower of Babel—How does that glorify Christ?”.
1) As stated in verse 4, they wanted to "make a name for ourselves, lest we be scattered abroad over the face of the whole earth." As Piper explains however, these were "outward expressions of the inward sins," namely, love of praise and love of security (p. 67.
2) God had specifically told Noah and his sons when they left the ark to “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth." (Genesis 9:1) And apparently they started out in obedience. Genesis 11:2 says they traveled from the east and settled in a plain in the land of Shinar. But then they decided that they would take matters into their own hands to ensure that they stayed in that spot and were not scattered further across the earth. How quickly the lesson of the flood was forgotten as they turned their back on God and continued down their own path.
3)The five ways Piper believes the Tower of Babel & God's resulting judgment magnify God's glory are:
Christians Guarded
Pride Destroyed
Every Group Claimed
The Gospel Glorified
Jesus Praised
This is a tough question because I could pick any of the 5. But ultimately they all point to the last one, that Jesus is praised as "a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb. . .and crying out with a loud voice, 'Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!'" (Rev. 7:9-10)
What an incredible deomonstration of Christ's glory and grace: it was His judgment that dispersed them throughout the world and confused their languages, separating them into many peoples, and yet in His grace and mercy He provided salvation for all and brought them back together as one in praise and worship!
There are few things as frustrating as being unable to communicate with someone who speaks another language (such as in an airport or restaurant). Conversely, nothing is as beautiful as standing among believers of another language and singing a song of praise together, each in your own tongue.
4) Although I am certainly not an expert on world religions, I know that most of them remain primarily and overwhelmingly represented by the culture in which they began. For example, Buddhism is generally an Asian religion, Hinduism is found primarily among the peoples of India, Islam is a Middle Eastern religion. Christianity, however, is found in every culture and society. And there are large numbers of Christian believers who have converted from these other religions. From the very beginning, the aim & charge of Christianity as been to "go and make disciples of all nations" and to be witnesses "to the ends of the earth." Just within the last 3 years or so, my own church has had 4 couples/families uproot and move into 6-month or full-time missions efforts in Asia, New Zealand, and North America. And last week a woman in my Sunday morning class led her Buddhist coworker to the Lord. The gospel is "the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes." Romans 1:16
5) Ouch. Missy would make this personal! That sin nature is alive and well in me as well. I, too, like to receive the praise of others. While I don't have visions of being known throughout the earth such as celebrities and others who are seen on TV and in the news, I like people to notice me when I do something well. I like approval from others. I like comments on my blog. LOL And pretty soon, when I get any of that, I decide it's because I am so wonderful and deserving, not because of God's matchless grace.
6) The people of Babel definitely had a problem with pride. They wanted everyone to look at how wonderful they were. The best way to confront and rebuke pride is 1) old-fashiond confession and repentance, and 2) fixing my eyes on Jesus. Some folks think putting themselves down all the time shows their lack of pride, but ANY extreme focus on ourselves is pride. I like the definition that humility is not thinking of others more than yourself, but not thinking of yourself at all. In the Bible, anyone who got even a glimpse of the Lord immediately fell prostrate and recognized their own sin. No justification of why they did what they did, just complete repentance and falling upon the mercy of God. One of the saddest verses in the Bible is Psalm 10:4: "In his pride the wicked does not seek him; in all his thoughts there is no room for God." If I'm filled with me, there won't be room for Him. If I'm filled with Him, I won't care about room for me. Oh, that there would always be room for God in my thoughts, in my heart, in my life!
Darn it! Now I’m at work, and I can’t answer these without my book and my bible. I’l be back later to post…
Xandra
1. The love of praise and the love of security, which I think all sort of stem from the sin of pride.
2. Because they were trying to exalt themselves to the place of God, instead of dispersing and filling the earth with his glory. They were being disobedient to the command God gave Noah after the flood to “be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth by “clustering” together in a city. I have to believe that we are not so different today…how often do we follow the “mob mentality” instead of doing what we know is absolutely right? We need acceptance and friendship, and will sometimes go to great lengths to be part of the in crowd despite the still small voice telling us otherwise.
3. Christians guarded; I never thought of the story of the Tower of Babel in quite this way. Piper says, “God’s division of the world into different languages hinders the rise of a global, monolithic anti-Christian state that would have the power to simply wipe out all Christians. We humans are far too evil to be allowed to unite in one language or one government.” I guess it resonated with because it was such an utterly new thought for me.
4. I have friends from high school who are now living in Germany, and in their last update were talking about attending church in a place where the language is not well know to them. In spite of the barrier, they were still able to worship and praise God alongside a congregation of German speaking people.
5. I have the spiritual gift of service, and I like to think that I always seek to serve others from a sincere heart and a love of Christ, but the truth is that I enjoy the praise that comes from serving others. I crave approval and validation for my work, and sometimes I let the lack of recognition simmer in my heart as the sin of pride. Sometimes it’s easier to overcome than other times, but the bottom line is that I should resist those feelings altogether. The only approval I need is from God, and any recognition or praise from man should be secondary to knowing that I glorified Him and that He is pleased with my efforts. If anything, I should try to serve others in such a way that they only see Him and not me.
When I try to seek comfort apart from the Lord, all I am doing is wallowing in my own sin. Complaining to my husband and friends is just as sinful as loving praise, and I just compound my guilt.
6. I think being aware of it is the first step. That sounds so trite, but it’s very true. If you are blinded as to why you behave in a certain way, then you’ll never be able to overcome it. I think that if we were all willing to stop for a moment and humble ourselves before God and man, we would get a lot more accomplished as the body of Christ. If we stopped criticizing others to make ourselves look better, if we stopped thinking that certain jobs are “beneath” us and just jumped in with both feet to whatever task God has prepared for us, if we stopped….well, the list could go on and on. I really believe that pride hinders our ability to spread the gospel effectively and renders us impotent to fully glorify Him in all that we do.
Xandra
HI Ladies,
Sorry for the late post; it’s been one of those weeks! Missy, thanks for the good questions again!
1) To avoid dispersement and to make a name for themselves
2)It prevented the people from dispersing throughout the world. Secondly, He does not desire us to be satisfied in our “safe” communities, but to rely on Him for our security.
3)Wow! I don’t know they all mean so much! I get a lot of comfort in the notion that Christians are guarded because there is no one powerful group that can arise and wipe out Christianity. Pride is a sin I personally struggle with, so the fact that pride is destroyed just as the Tower of Babel was destroyed, gives me hope. I also find my heart soaring to the notion that the Gospel is glorified because it is not just for one tribe or people, but claims them all. Lastly, who can help but be moved by the idea that the praise of Jesus is more beautiful because of its diversity. How’s that for a non-answer!
4)The living Word of God makes itself manifest to all people by its power to be relevant to them. Eastern cultures relate to the spiritual, mystical, and wisdom aspects because of their culture. The concept of a spiritual realm and all that it holds is easy for them to comprehend, as is life eternal. Western cultures are able to relate to the balance of things, the legalistic side, and the power of forgiveness against a background of judgment. The amazing thing I find is that the Word of God speaks to current situations today just as powerfully as it spoke to current situations over 3000 years ago. Reading the Word, I can see just how little human nature has changed. With the Gospel proclaiming the saving grace of the Son made man, there is no other religion that makes the Deity that personal or that loving or that sacrificial. It further goes to show that God really does claim all nations for His own.
5)Wow again! Yes, I do. Pride is a biggy with me. I am not a overt, but I do look for praise for my accomplishments, and do not as readily give praise to God for His accomplishments. I also seek to congregate in safe places and struggle with fear over the mandate to boldly witness. I am currently struggling with God on that one.
6)Daily humble myself to the Lord. I am reading the Chronological Bible this year and there have been several stories already about people who died because of their pride. God demands respect from His people. And He loves us. He made the ultimate sacrifice and every time I think on that I cry. Every time I don’t think on that, I sin. Who am I that I am better than Jesus and can judge my colleague, family member, or friend for a trespass against me? He nailed their debt to the cross too! Who am I that I am better than Jesus and can rise to the pinnacle of my profession through my own works? Who is man that any of us have clearer vision than God; we can’t even keep two submarines in the whole Atlantic ocean from crashing into each other, or two satellites in space from doing the same thing!
Now I can go back and read what you all wrote! :)
Karen
1. Their primary motivations were their love of praise and security. “…Let us make a name for ourselves (praise) lest we be dispersed over the face of the whole earth(security).” (Gen. 11:4)
2. God considered it a sin because it was an act of disobedience. They were doing what they wanted, what they were most comfortable with, what they thought was best instead of what God had commanded. (“…multiply and fill the earth.” Gen. 9:1)
3. As always, it is hard to make a choice because each has a point that speaks to me. I love the shadows and types of the Old Testament so in this case, I choose “pride destroyed”. I think this is because of the foreshadowing of the ultimate victory of Christ.
4. One of the most beautiful examples of this to me is the singing of the same hymn or praise at the same time in many different languages. Glorious! Christianity is unique because of the essence of the Gospel and that we have the Holy Spirit to help us understand in spite of our differences.
5. The love of praise and the love of security…….
I am not big on change. I like knowing what is going to happen and when and how. I do not like surprises nearly as much as I seek (like) the comfort (security) of consistency. So my lack of confidence hinders me when doing something that the Holy Spirit seems to be leading me to do while knowing that others are less than supportive. My husband and certain female friends including my daughter are often the ones I go to for comfort. My desire for praise is a form of comfort that is sometimes good, but not when I respond to that more than the direction of the Holy Spirit.
6.Pride is alway self-oriented…self-loving, self-serving, self-indulgent, self-protecting. So, I do think that pride was at the root of their sins. They wanted to become famous (“…let us make a name for ourselves…” Gen. 11:4) and they wanted to live where they chose(“…lest we be dispersed…” Gen. 11:4) Defeating pride is an on-going battle. So, we must be deligent in praying against pride in our decisions, choices, and actions. Like Missy’s husband, I think we would be hard pressed to find a sin that does not have pride at the base of it.
1. The people were being disobedient to God’s command to spread and fill the earth. Gen.1:9
Instead the people were clustering together. The tower and the city were outward expressions of the inward sin.
2. The security of the city would keep them from trusting God. His will is not that we find our security in cities, but in God whom we should obey. He doesn’t want us to decide for ourselves what is best.
3. # 3 EVERY GROUP CLAIMED. I have a missinary son that is working with a group of people that do not have the scripture written in their own language. It blesses me to see that the authority and power of Christ is to make disciples in every language so their work will bear fruit among these people
Revelation 5:11, also confirms this “Worthy are You to take the book and to break its seals; for You were slain, and purchased for God with Your blood men from every tribe and tongue and people and nation.”
4. It is the truth of the gospel and the Holy Spirit that unites us inspite of language barriers.
My son is translating the scripture so that a group will have the Bible in their own language. I firmly believe that as God’s word goes out to the people in the power of the Holy Spirit,that the Bible with the truth of the gospel is what will change their lives.
Then they will willingly want to give up their “custom” that causes them to work stones, and practice other “evil” traditions.
5.The love of security and wanting to feel in control of my own life is where I am like the builders of the tower. I have done this for so long that it is a constant battle for me. This desire manifests itself in my doing what I think is best and then asking God what He would have me to do. Or I do something and then ask God to bless it. It manifests itself in unbelief when I don’t think that things are going quite on my timetable or I don’t like what is happening.It manifests itself in quenching the spirit..
What is so deceptive is that I really don’t have control I just like to feel that I do.
I see it as me sitting on the throne of my life instead of God sitting on the throne of my life.
6. Pride is definitely the root of my desire to control my life.
It is a daily recognition and willingness on my part to acknowledge it and confess it. And then I find that literally choosing, and verbally saying to the Holy Spirit that I give Him the throne of my heart for this day has been helping me to change this pattern in my life.