We Have Met the Enemy, and He is Us

In Sinclair Lewis's literary classic, BABBIT, Lewis tells the fascinating story of a successful real estate businessman named George Babbitt. Babbitt lived in the fictitious American city of Zenith, in the year 1920. Lewis, who was later to win the Noble Prize for literature, chronicles the ups and downs of the life of Babbitt with a sarcastic eye. And there is much to learn from the life of Babbitt.

One instance in the life of Babbitt that was particularly poignant was when Babbitt decided to attend his 24th anniversary class reunion dinner. Sixty men were present at the dinner including Charles McKelvey, the fabulously successful, millionaire businessman. Remember, 1920 was a year when a million dollars was a million dollars.

At the dinner, Babbitt decided to try recultivate his friendship with Charles McKelvey, their friendship having weakened in the years after college. McKelvey, as you might suspect, was a very popular figure at the dinner. Many of the men crowded around him for the privilege of speaking with such a successful man.

At last George too worked his way into an opportunity to converse with McKelvey and as luck would have it, he was able to sit by him at the dinner. There, George discussed old times and college pranks with McKelvey and at the conclusion of the dinner, insisted it was a pity that the two had drifted so far apart. To remedy the situation, George invited Charles McKelvey and his wife to his house for dinner. McKelvey unenthusiastically agreed to come.

George Babbitt and his wife were ecstatic. At last, they were going to have someone of real social standing in their home. In their hearts, they hoped that the McKelvey's would raise the Babbitt's social standing.

After breaking the date several times, the McKelvey's finally came to dinner, arriving in a chauffeured limousine. The Babbitts had also invited a well-known physician and lawyer to their dinner, hoping to impress the McKelvey's.

Unfortunately, they didn't. The McKelvey's were obviously bored, and to cement the failure of the dinner, found a weak excuse of leaving early. As he and his wife were leaving, Charles McKelvey said that they must have lunch with the Babbitts sometime. But somehow the words seemed hollow.

At night as they were lying in bed, George tried to help his wife feel like the evening had been successful, and their social status would surely be improved. But in one his most moving lines, Lewis writes that George heard his wife "weeping, slowly, without hope."

Sure enough, the invitation never came. But it was during this time that Ed Overbrook, who was also a classmate of Babbitt reentered Babbitt’s life. Overbrook was a failure in life, having an insurance business that was not doing very well. Ever since his college days he had admired Babbitt.

At the class dinner, he had been standing away from the bulk of the group with three other men, who had not done so well with their lives. Babbitt had seen Overbrook over to the side and having pity, used his extroverted traits to engage in a little small talk with Ed. During the conversation, Overbrook insisted that it was a pity that the two had drifted so far apart. To remedy the situation, Overbrook invited Babbitt and his wife to his house for dinner. Babbitt agreed to come, but immediately forgot it.

Ed Overbrook could not forget it and repeatedly called Babbitt trying to nail down a time. Finally, George could not put it off any longer, so he accepted a dinner invitation for two weeks in the future. After all, two weeks seemed like a long time away.

It wasn't, and the closer that dinner date came the more George and his wife viewed it with consternation. Finally, the dreaded day arrived. As the Babbitts were leaving, George said, "Let's make it as short as possible. I think we'll duck out quick. I'll say I have to be at the office extra early tomorrow."

At the dinner were two other families with whom George was not impressed. Using his weak excuse, George and his wife left the dinner early, with George saying as he was leaving that they would need to have lunch together sometime.

As they were driving home, the Babbitts cringed at the thought of having to invite the Overbrooks for dinner. Chief among their concerns was some of their friends might see them. Ultimately, the Babbitts decided to let their invitation slide, and they didn't see the Overbrooks socially again.

Lewis, with this episode, does a marvelous job of presenting to us a parable of a fundamental human problem (at least in the U. S.) The Babbitts were embarrassed by the Overbrooks, and they felt (it was an excuse!) that the Overbrooks would be uncomfortable with them because they were much poorer. But the Babbitts never realized that this was precisely the attitude that the McKelvey's had toward them.

When you think about it, the church is full of people like the Babbitts. People who have hidden agendas to advance their social status, thinking that this will increase their self-worth. Not realizing that all they are doing is engaging in an exercise of pride. The result of all of this is there are many people in the church with hurt feelings (some with broken dreams) and resentment. No wonder we sometimes have great problems with keeping peace in the church.

Jesus talked about this in Luke 14. Why not take some time and read that great chapter?

Five Things I Think I Think (with a nod to Peter King for this idea)

1. I had a great reunion with the members of our Cordoba, Argentina team, celebrating the 20th anniversary of our arrival in that great land. Everyone was able to come except for Alan and Cindy Nickson and their son, Scott, and his family. We laughed and shared with each other. We marveled at how crazy we were to think that God would honor our desire to go. In our case, Judy and I had the audacity to travel to churches raising support—six months before we were even engaged! Yet God honored the vision, and we are most profoundly grateful. Until my kids came along, those years in Argentina were the best of my life.

2. Is it just me? I have absolutely no desire to see AVATAR.

3. I had a great time yesterday making a pilgrimage to Winters, Tx, home of the mighty Blizzards. We traveled to Sterling City to watch the varsity girls play in a tournament. They played well and won the game. Their defense was especially good. I coached a lot of those girls when they were in the fifth and sixth grades, and I have a lot of good memories of that experience. It was neat watching them play as high schoolers.

4. I’m finishing up my first two week vacation in a few years. Very relaxing. December has been a remarkable month for me. First, I spent a week in Spearfish, South Dakota—visiting a congregation there—and had a marvelous time. It did not seem like part of my job. Then I worked a week in Tyler. Then, two weeks of vacation. Right now, I’m chillin with Judy’s family. All of this is charging my batteries for 2010. I cannot wait.

5. Remember, I picked the Texas Longhorns to beat Alabama the night they beat Nebraska.

Happy New Year!