Genesis 11:1-4. 1Now the whole earth had one language and the same words. 2And as people migrated from the east, they found a plain in the land of Shinar and settled there. 3And they said to one another, “Come, let us make bricks, and burn them thoroughly.” And they had brick for stone, and bitumen for mortar. 4Then 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.”
In Genesis 11, the emphasis shifts from God’s dealings with individuals (Adam, Cain, Enoch, Noah, Shem) to his dealings with mankind in community. What kind of community will people create in the post-flood world? Well, they build a society that is exactly what you would expect from people whose every intention is evil from their youth (8:21).
God doesn’t have a problem with culture building, or technology, or with brick making. What he has a problem with is pride. When the creatures think that they are the Creator, that’s when God’s anger is fanned into flame. When people think that they are God, and thus there are no boundaries, that’s when God will step in, either directly or indirectly.
Pride is the original sin. The sin of Lucifer. “I will be like the Most High,” he cried. And now these lowly peon people are crying the same thing – Let us make a name for ourselves. Rather than adopting the name of God, they will break free from his divine oppression and raise themselves up (literally) to Heaven.
But this is never God’s will. We don’t climb up to Heaven, Heaven always comes down to us.
This is true in the gifts of God too. As James says, “Every good and perfect gift comes down from above, from the Father of Lights.” This includes the good gift of technology. We live in a technological society. A modern Babel. Ours is often a technological pride. What this means is that we most often ask, “What CAN we do?” But we rarely if ever ask IF we should do it.
Yes, we CAN build a tower into the sky. But should we?
Yes, we can build machines that learn. But should we?
Yes, we can extend life spans with science. But should we?
Yes, we can know instantly everything happening around the world. But should we?
These are very complex questions with even more complex answers. But the simpler question is, can we afford to let our pride drive what we choose to do? And the simple answer is, no, we can’t.
When our pride takes over, especially our technological pride, it will destroy more relational ways of living. Take Babel for example. Building a tower into the sky will require hundreds of thousands or millions of bricks. This will require brick makers. Not unionized, well paid, with health benefits brick makers, but slaves. Slaves that will be oppressed like the Hebrew slaves in Egypt that will come behind them.
This is a moment in history that God simply cannot allow to play out. Notice God’s own assessment of what is happening in Babel:
Genesis 11:6. And the Lord said, “Behold, they are one people, and they have all one language, and this is only the beginning of what they will do. And nothing that they propose to do will now be impossible for them.
“Nothing will be impossible for them.” And that’s not a good thing. Why? Because for one thing, technology is never “value-neutral.” It always stretches man’s potential and thus it will always tempt our pride. And with our pride comes the destruction of love. The destruction of relationships. This is not a condemnation of all technology, but it is a strong warning. Living as the image of God is not a call to technological advance, it is the call to the advance of life within loving relationship with others.
In Babel, by trying to make it to God, man lost touch with his God. Like Adam and Eve, they wanted to be “like God,” rather than being in the likeness of God and his humble grace. “Let us build ourselves a city…let us make a name for ourselves.” This is still the motivation of mankind driven by the same pride that ate the forbidden fruit. And this pride comes at a great price – the loss of community, equality, and kindness.
Union with Christ means that we don’t have to build cities and towers for our own glory. We don’t have to make a name for ourselves. Jesus has given us his name, written on our foreheads, sealing us for God. That means we don’t have to do everything that we CAN do. We can choose to live in a community of giving to others rather than a utilitarian civilization that uses people to accomplish whatever we think is practical or possible. May we always reject the “need” to take for ourselves what only belongs to God.
Questions: Can you see pride creeping into your life recently (what about technological pride)? How does union with Christ allow us to not do everything that we can do, and rather do what is loving instead?
To Live is Christ 