4 Then they said, “Come, let us build ourselves a city and a tower with its top in the heavens, and let us make a name for ourselves, lest we be dispersed over the face of the whole earth.” – Genesis 11:4 (ESV)
Have you ever acted on a really bad idea?
My childhood is filled with stories of me acting on ideas that were better left in my head. Growing up on the side of a mountain in western Pennsylvania allowed a boy’s imagination, along with a lot of trails and time, to invent precarious scenarios. Foolishness and pain were frequent acquaintances and I got to know them well. Two broken arms, a few fractured fingers, a broken leg and some cuts allowed my to try out a variety of colored casts, splints and bandaids along the way. Most of my bad ideas typically involved speed and height. As I got older, my ideas typically ended in broken ramps, mangled bikes, wrecked dirt bikes and rolled over ATVs. Such is the life of a boy who grows up in the woods. On one occasion when I was hill-climbing with my dirt bike, I was dared by friends to take on the highest and steepest one in our area. The name of the climb was “Dirty Harry” after the crazy man who was delusional enough to first attempt it. To that point I was having a good day and felt brave. And in a moment of misplaced confidence I agreed to attempt it. Having a pride that wouldn’t allow me to back out, I remember sitting at the bottom of the hill looking straight up at the rocky trail that had a boulder at the top thinking this was a very bad idea. As I hit the throttle and popped the clutch, I remember being bounced and thrown as I attempted to stay on my injury bound machine. As I neared the top of this death trail, a weightless sensation came over me as my front tire came over my head and I was thrown backward. After catching hold of a root I watched helplessly as my motorcycle lost it’s fenders rolling end over end down the impassible hill. In that moment it was confirmed both to me and my friends that climbing “Dirty Harry” was my worst idea to date.
This week we are going to be studying man’s worst idea to this point in Genesis. And if you’ve been following along you know that’s saying something. Building a tower might not seem like the worst idea on the surface, but I assure you as we study the text and consider the reckless event from God’s point of view, we’ll come to see how heinous an act it really was. Take some time to read Genesis 11:1-9 and see if you can begin to discover the foolishness of the activity for yourself. Much like my friends learned from my example and didn’t attempt to climb the hill that wrecked me, so too is this account here to warn and instruct us as well. Trust me, you will not want to miss this final message in our series entitled, “Echos of Confusion and Clarity.”
See you Sunday Church. Be sure to listen to the worship set as you prepare to worship.
Pastor Jerry
Senior Pastor
SUNDAY AM PLAN
9:00 AM – Worship Service On Campus & Online (Lancaster Campus)
9:15 AM – Worship Service On Campus & Online (Myerstown Campus)
11:00 AM – Worship Service on Campus & Online (Lancaster Campus)
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