I can remember when I was a small child that late in the afternoon after supper (in the South that means the evening meal) the family would gravitate to the front porch of our house on Central Avenue in Tifton, GA. As was the custom among the people in our neighborhood, we would sit on the front porch in the evening and say a few friendly words to our friends and neighbors as they strolled up and down the sidewalk. It was a time to rest and enjoy one’s friends for a few minutes at the close of the day.
Occasionally the visiting and relaxing would be interrupted by the ringing of the telephone in the house. Sometimes it would ring a dozen times and someone would say, “will somebody get up and go answer that phone. It’s about to drive me crazy.” It usually fell to one of the younger people to go answer the phone and relay a message to the adults. Phones were something special in those days. Not everyone had one in their house. At the same time, they were tolerated as an instrument of interrupting what a person was doing in order to have to answer it. No one got in a rush. No one hyperventilated when they couldn’t get to the
phone before the next ring. Whatever the situation was, it could wait until someone got to the phone to answer it and stop that infernal ringing.
Usually that generation found out about things a few days after it happened. Instant information was not yet a way of life nor the misery and aggravation that goes along with it. When a tragedy happened, we usually found out about it in a day or two by the way of a newspaper. It wasn’t thrust directly into our living rooms in nearly real time. When one hears all this stuff constantly it causes a person to get worn out with it. So, instant communication was not important nor seen as a necessity as it is in today’s world which runs on communication.
Today, everyone has a phone and they wear them like they are a six-gun in the old west. They are ready to demonstrate the “fast draw” like the old cowboys did when the need arose. People in today’s world wear their phone on their hips and at the first tingle of a phone call they draw it so fast that they would be outdrawing someone in Wild West fast draw competition. It’s as if whatever message is about to be conveyed to them is the most important thing in the whole world. People can forget their phone and be without it for only a few minutes and they feel naked in a very real way. It has become a necessity for life and that is not good. There are many ways we could go in this article at this point but I want to focus on only one of those.
In Genesis 11 we find the story of the Tower of Babel. Most people are familiar with that. And, by the way, there is a company named Babbel which advertises that they can teach you another language in only a couple of weeks. In our Genesis story of the Tower of Babel, the people were all speaking the same language and when they started to build a tower up to the heavens, God stepped in. He saw the danger of the people all speaking the same language and that such an easy channel of communication had been part of their desire to be great. So, what did He do? He confused the people and gave them different languages so as to disrupt what they were doing in building the Tower of Babel. He interrupted their unhindered ability to communicate because that was causing a lot of trouble, Genesis 11:7.
When everyone thinks they have a word on every issue and when they have the ability to communicate it on a moment’s notice it will lead to trouble. In our modern world, the different languages of the various countries which God used to stop the people from doing things He did not approve of have basically become one language again as it was in Genesis. The computer and the phone (which is a powerful computer) give the world the ability to “speak in one language” again. Our phones and computers can translate a language for someone so that, when in a foreign land, they will have no trouble communicating. So, what is happening? There is simply too much communication going on today. Anyone that owns a computer suddenly becomes an expert on anything they want to discuss whether it is true or not. And people will believe what they have said because “certainly its true….it was on the internet.”
Communication is great given it is the right kind and given that it is used appropriately. But, most of what is being done today is filled with lies, deception and plain ole gossip. It is harmful and meant to be. In addition, our people are so inundated with information in all ramifications there is hardly any room left in our brains for anything else. That’s why people are so addicted to their phones. They want more of what is already making them irritated and misinformed. The public thrives on negative information. Most people are living life today on defense and they are mostly interested in negative things that may be threatening them.
In Genesis chapter 11 the lesson is that God Himself saw that the use of only one language was unifying the people in their evil endeavors so he gave them many languages in order to stop some of their ability to understand and communicate so freely. In Genesis 11:6 we find the explanation of God’s action when we read:
“And the Lord said, Behold, the people are one, and they have all one language; and this they begin to do: and now nothing will be withheld from them, which they have imagined to do. Verse 7 continues: “Come, let us go down, and there confound their language, that they may not understand one another’s speech.” But now, with the computer and the internet, a common “language” is back in play. And, we can readily see what it is causing. There is simply to much talk, talk, talk. Most of it is spreading fear. Too many stupid people are trying to be notable and they don’t have the intellect to accomplish it. So, they write, write and write saying anything that sounds good to them and they don’t have enough information or intelligence to get involved in that endeavor.
What we have is an amalgamation of personal writers with limited information along with a twenty-four hour news system which has convinced the public that they can’t survive unless they are being constantly gorged with the same negative news over and over. Twenty-four seven is toooo much news and hype. Most of it is information and not real news and it is spoon fed to a public which is addicted to it.
But, my point is that this approach is destructive to our populace. It is hurting America and her people. This common-language characteristic of the internet and social media is our modern era example of what God saw in Genesis 11.
If our communications were always helpful to our society then that would be a good thing but we are talking ourselves to death and not even aware of it. Freedom of speech is basic to our country but that freedom should be use responsibly. The problem is that we are so free that we are destroying ourselves without even realizing it.
If God Himself saw the basic problem with a common language and gave them many languages in order to keep man from getting too arrogant and prideful, then we should recognize that which is returning us to the “one voice” era…..the internet, television and printed information and news wrongly used. Every commentator with their varied opinions cannot be right. Someone is wrong. And remember, just because it is on the internet, in the paper or on television does not mean it is true or right. WE must be careful as we live in this modern day “one voice” era.
The only real source of truth is the Word of God. He will never lead you astray with his advice. He has given us the Bible to guide us into a life pleasing to Him and if we follow His guidance we will ultimately spend eternity in His presence.
It’s the only thing we can read which is guaranteed to be right and true and it will guide one’s life in the way that God wants it to go.
