Say Shibboleth!

One of my favorite stories from Judges (chapter 12) is that of Shibboleth / שבולת (which literally means "stream, torrent").

The pronunciation of this word was used to distinguish members of the Ephraimites whose dialect lacked a sh- sound (as in shoe) from members of a the Gileadites whose dialect did include such a sound.

After the inhabitants of Gilead inflicted a military defeat upon the tribe of Ephraim, the surviving Ephraimites tried to cross the Jordan River back into their home territory and the Gileadites secured the river's fords to stop them. In order to identify and kill these disguised refugees, the Gileadites put each refugee to a simple test: 'Say Shibboleth!' According to the account in Judges forty two thousand men were slain when they replied 'Sibboleth'.

I always thought this account to be strange and unfair. How can you kill someone based on the pronunciation of a single word? What if one of the Gileadites had a speech impediment and also got the pronunciation wrong?

On the other hand... don't we do just the same? I know this is taking it out of context, but aren't we surrounding ourselves with people just like us? Yes, I live in post-apartheid South Africa. Unfortunately, most of my friends are still white (like me), live in their own properties (like me), drive new cars (like me), speak Afrikaans (like me), earn good salaries (like me)... we see the same movies, read the same books, we blog and read each others' blogs.

Tom quoted McGavran saying: "Men and women like to become Christians without crossing linguistic, racial, and class lines" in his post on the Homogenous Unit Principle.

Am I not saying my own Shibboleth here? Making my own rules? What kind of Body are we building? Can I be a Christian in his comfort zone? Is this picking up my cross and following Jesus?

I suspect not... what do you think?