The tower was also built for the purpose of making themselves a name. In seeking to make themselves a name, they denied God's name, that is, they denied God Himself. What offended God the most was that the purpose of building the tower of Babel was to make a name for man. To make a name for man is actually to deny God's name. If you read the next chapter, Genesis 12, carefully, you will see that when Abraham went into the good land, he did not build a tower to make himself a name; he built an altar that he might call on the name of the Lord (12:7-8). Here, at Babel, rebellious man built a city with a tower for making a name for man, but Abraham, in the good land, erected a tent for his dwelling and built an altar for calling on the name of the Lord. That manmade tower at Babel was surely an offense to God. To set up a tower for making ourselves a name is equal to denying God's name. It is better that we conceal our name. If you intend to get a name, it is better that you get a bad name.
The first result of man's fourth fall was that mankind was scattered in living, no longer able to live together in one place (vv. 8-9). According to the Bible, the church in the first century was not scattered. The church was spreading. Likewise, in all of our migrations, we have been spreading. Scattering means division. But we are not divided. We are one and we are spreading. We expect more churches to be raised up in the years to come. But that will not be a scattering; it will be a marvelous spreading. The church is not going to be scattered; it is going to spread.
Secondly, as a result of the fourth fall, mankind was confounded in language, no longer able to have the same language (vv. 7, 9). At Babel the language was confounded and confused. As I pointed out in Message Thirty-four, language is the utterance, the expression, of our concepts. In the church we should not have different kinds of speaking, because in the church we should have only one mind. In Romans 15:5-6, 1 Corinthians 1:10, and Philippians 2:2, the Apostle Paul charged the believers to be of one mind. We have only one mind. Some people criticize us severely, saying that all the local churches are the same, speak the same thing, and have the same concept. Although they claim that this is terrible, I say that it is marvelous. This is the reverse of Babel.
The curse always results in confusion. If in the church in Anaheim we have different thoughts and opinions, that is a sign that the curse has come upon us. In all the years that I have been in the work, I have never spoken a dissenting word. This does not mean that in every respect I was the same as the other co-workers, but I did realize that I should not be one who is under the curse. Everyone who is dissenting will be under a curse. Be careful. Do not be dissenting. If you are dissenting, you will be the first to be under the curse. God's commanded blessing of life evermore is upon the unity (Psa. 133:3). I thank the Lord that throughout the years I have not received a curse but a blessing because I have never been dissenting with the co-workers. In the church life we must be on the alert not to say things differently. Do not try to display your smartness or your sharpness. Do not try to show that you are better, higher, than others. The sharpest one is the person who receives the blessing, and receiving the blessing depends upon our speaking the same thing. Romans 15:5-6 even speaks of having one mind and one mouth. The church should have one mouth because the church is one body. Look at yourself. How many minds and mouths do you have? Of course, you only have one mind and one mouth. If you had two minds, you would be in a great deal of difficulty. The reason that today's Christianity has so much trouble is that there are thousands of minds. Today's Christianity has hardly any hands or feet; it only has minds and mouths. Every part is a mouth. When I was in that situation, I could not hear anything except, "I don't agree with that," or, "I don't think so," or, "I don't like it." Not even the wives would agree with the husbands nor the children with the parents. That is the poor situation in so-called Christianity. That is why Christianity is full of the curse.
What do we have in the church life? We have the blessing because we have one mind and one mouth. If you visit the church in Hong Kong today and the church in Tokyo tomorrow, you will be surprised to hear them speaking the same thing. Recently I stayed in Taipei for a month and then spent a few days in Korea and Japan. The believers in Korea and Japan spoke the same thing as those in Taipei. Although I could not understand the Korean or Japanese languages, I could understand their lips. Their lips were not confounded. This is not Babel—this is Pentecost. On the day of Pentecost, all the different peoples with different languages understood one another (Acts 2:7-11). The church life today is the real Pentecost. We do not have scattering; we have unity. We do not have confusion; we have one speaking. We are truly Pentecostal.