The Dangers of Autonomous Progress

Church, Technology, and the Temptation of Babel — Blog Series, Part 2

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“Let us make a name for ourselves…”
— Genesis 11:4

We live in an age that preaches progress.

Tech leaders like Yuval Noah Harari and Elon Musk talk openly about becoming “like gods.” Life extension. Artificial intelligence. Uploading consciousness. Beating death.

And if you listen closely, you’ll notice: we’re not just making better tools. We’re trying to build a better Eden—except without God.

In the last blog, we asked whether technology is inherently good or bad. We landed on something deeper: technology is never neutral because it is always forming us.

But what happens when that formation is no longer tethered to God’s design? What happens when creativity becomes autonomy?

Welcome to Babel.

A Familiar Story

Genesis 11 is one of those stories we’re familiar with, but we shortchange its significance. After all, it’s only 9 verses long. There are no heroes or miracles.

Just people building a tower.

But it’s a pivotal moment in the human story. In many ways, it mirrors the existential questions we’re faced with in our society today.

Let’s revisit the story:

“Now the whole earth had one language and the same words…Then 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…’” (Gen. 11:1, 4)

This isn’t just about construction. It’s about motivation.

The people weren’t trying to glorify God. They were trying to become like Him. They weren’t pursuing unity under His name. They were manufacturing uniformity under their own.

It’s a story of progress divorced from purpose.

And doesn’t that sound…familiar?

Uniform Speech, Uniform Thought

The Hebrew here is interesting. Genesis says they had “one language and the same words.” That second phrase—devarim achadim—can be translated as “a unified way of speaking,” or even “a singular ideology.”

In other words, they didn’t just talk the same. They thought the same.

This is the subtle danger of modern technology—algorithms that echo your worldview, newsfeeds that mirror your values, and communities that cancel anything that challenges your thinking.

We are more connected than ever. But we are not united. We are algorithmically and relationally siloed from anyone who thinks or acts differently from us.

And into those silos, the serpent still whispers: “You will be like God.”

“Let Us Make…” Again

Did you notice the language in Genesis 11?

“Let us make bricks…”
“Let us build…”
“Let us make a name…”

This is a not-so-subtle echo of Genesis 1:26, where God says, “Let us make man in our image.”

Except this time, it’s flipped. The creation is trying to recreate itself, without the Creator.

This is what happens when innovation becomes rebellion. When we use our God-given capacity for creativity to make a name for ourselves rather than reflect His.

In the church world, this shows up in less obvious ways:

• The pastor who builds a platform instead of a community.

• The church that values brand more than the Beatitudes.

• The leader who uses social media to craft an image instead of confessing sin.

This is Babel 2.0.

The Mercy of Scattering

And then comes the irony.

The people say, “Let’s build a tower to the heavens.”
But God actually has to come down to see it.

Not because He couldn’t see it. But to reveal how small our grandest achievements really are from a heavenly perspective.

“This is only the beginning of what they will do,” God says.
“Come, let us confuse their language…”

It sounds like judgment. And it is. But it’s also mercy.

God doesn’t destroy them. He disperses them.

He interrupts their plans not to crush their potential, but to save them from themselves. He limits their pride before it can metastasize into great, deeper variations of evil.

Sometimes God’s greatest mercy is in the frustration of our ambitions.

That failed plan, that career pivot, that vision that never took off? Maybe that wasn’t your failure as much as it was God’s grace.

God vs. Babel

God is not anti-technology.

He’s anti-autonomy disguised as progress.

He’s anti-human exaltation.

He’s anti-pride.

The gospel is not about building a stairway to heaven. It’s about a God who came down.

And that’s the key difference between Babel and the gospel.

At Babel, humans say, “Let us ascend.”
At Bethlehem, God says, “Let Me descend.”

At Babel, people want to make their name great.
In Jesus, God makes Himself of no reputation.

At Babel, uniformity led to confusion.
At Pentecost, diversity was united by the Holy Spirit.

And that’s the invitation: not to build our own tower of self-made salvation, but to join the Spirit’s work of building a new creation.

Questions for Church Leaders

• Are we using technology to build the kingdom of God or our own brand?

• Are we discipling people through technology or letting tech disciple them?

• Are we using modern tools that promote unity in the Spirit or uniformity of ideology?

Because the truth is—Babel is still being built. But so is the church.

Let’s be wise enough to know the difference.

Grace & Peace

Coming next in Part 3: The Gospel and Technological Redemption, we’ll explore how the story of Jesus reframes the role of technology in the church’s mission—offering not fear, but a better way forward.