We've been back from China now a little over 3 months and I snapped out of my autopilot mode the other day to notice something most profound … Jenna doesn't speak Chinese anymore.  She has realized that it serves her poorly to use Mandarin around these parts … so she's quit!  She cutting off full sentences like, "Daddy, don't do that!", " Daddy, please stop!" and my personal favorite, "I lub you!!"  You see Jenna has been cast into an environment that uses a language other than her native to accomplish and communicate … the longer she is immersed in this new culture the more she takes on the true essence and soul of what it offers.  Not only is she verbally shifting all her words to this new language but also her tonality, her vocal shaping and her thoughts. 

As Christians this narrative should be resting on our shoulder all the while causing a deep sense of familiarity within us.  Prior to our salvation and transformation into followers of Christ there were thought patterns that we tracked and language that we used contrary to that of biblical pedagogy. The Bible is clear that once the Holy Spirit makes his home in our souls that we are fresh … the old gets tossed and the new comes to life … alive in Christ.  Just like Jenna became immersed in her new family and her new language, we as Christians, at the point of our salvation become immersed in the things of God.  Along with this immersion, God desires to place within us a new song, a song that sings the goodness and greatness of Father God and his son Jesus Christ.  God through his word and Spirit requires that our minds be renewed so that the old thoughts that wreak of Godlessness become thoughts saturated in his sweet beauty.

So … unlike Babel, Christ had become the unifier of language and purpose for those who have fallen in love with him. And by the way– our love for him exists because of his intense love for us… a love that existed first and motivates us to repurpose our minds, our language and our actions for the glory of him who we owe it all … Father God!