Get Real November 16 Devotional
November 16, 2024
GENESIS 11:8-9 | 8 So the Lord scattered them abroad from there over the face of all the earth, and they left off building the city. 9 Therefore it was called Babel, because there the Lord confused the language of all the earth; and from there the Lord scattered them abroad over the face of all the earth.
ACTS 2:1-6 | 1 When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place. 2 And suddenly from heaven there came a sound like the rush of a violent wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. 3 Divided tongues, as of fire, appeared among them, and a tongue rested on each of them. 4 All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages, as the Spirit gave them ability. 5 Now there were devout Jews from every nation under heaven living in Jerusalem. 6 And at this sound the crowd gathered and was bewildered, because each one heard them speaking in the native language of each.
Differing cultures and languages can be a source of confusion or enlightenment! The story of the Tower of Babel illuminates the first possibility, humankind loses the capacity for mutual understanding, differences of language lead to confusion, separation, and mistrust. Pentecost reverses this. Cultural and linguistic differences are no longer barriers because there is a deeper unity in the shared spirit of Truth. Pentecost is the cure for a sterile relativism as well as a dangerous nationalism which defies one language and culture. The Church is multi-linguistic and international, but shares a common truth that carries a cross-cultural unity.
Cross-cultural experiences can become enlightening and not disorienting. Learning about Babylon can reinforce and strengthen Jewish identity even while broadening it. My son Tristan got much better at English by studying Spanish!
Have you had profitable cross-cultural experiences?
