In the year 1907, Bruce Ismay had a dream.
He was going to make a name for himself. He was going to be famous. And he would do it by building the world’s largest moving object. It would be something amazing. Incredible. Magnificent. Opulent.
He was going to build the world’s biggest ship.
His company got to work, and in a few years they had built the world’s largest ocean liner. It was 883 feet long, 9 decks high, and could hold over 2600 passengers. The rudder alone was 78 feet high and weighed 101 tons. It even had a swimming pool, Turkish baths, and even a bowling alley.
On April 10, 1912, the world’s largest ship set sail on its maiden voyage. The crowds cheered. The press took photos. Someone was said to have declared, “God could not sink this ship.”
Three days later the ship was at the bottom of the ocean, and over 1500 people were dead.
That ship, of course, was the Titanic. And it has endured as one of the world’s greatest tragedies. It has also endured because it reminds us of two essential truths: humans have a capacity to build great things, and humans have an equal capacity to put hope in the things they build, sometimes to their own destruction.
The First “Titanic”
The story of Titanic will certainly not be the last story of mankind’s hubris. We continue to build amazing things, and we can rightly wonder whether those amazing things might end up being to our detriment.
In fact, I stumbled across an article the other day entitled, “AI Is the New Titanic.” Many are wondering whether AI—or some other thing we might build—could eventually end in an awful tragedy.
While we can’t predict future “Titanics” with any certainty, we can look back at one of the earliest. In the book of Genesis, we learn of an ambitious group of people who said, “Let us build ourselves a city and a tower with its top in the heavens, and let us make a name for ourselves” (Gen 11:4).
Yes, the story of the tower of Babel is one of the first examples of human builders who tried to build something magnificent that was designed to boost their own glory and prestige. And, like Titanic, the story did not end well.
So, what can we learn from the tower of Babel?
Building Magnificent Things
When my son was little, I can remember one of his favorite cartoons was Bob the Builder. It was a kids’ show filled with trucks, tractors and tools as Bob took on the next project he wanted to build.
Apparently, my son took it to heart because he loves to build things and is currently working on master’s degree in aerospace engineering.
In fact, I would argue that all of us—as human beings made in God’s image—are created to be builders. We aren’t all called to get engineering degrees, but we are all called to follow the dominion mandate from Genesis which is to go out into the world and be fruitful and productive and to “subdue” it.
The creation account in Genesis is the key to rightly understanding the tower of Babel story. It would be all too easy to look at that story—or the story of Titanic, or AI—and conclude that the real problem with human beings is that they build things. They shouldn’t be doing that, we might think. So, the solution is just to stop building.
But Genesis reminds us that the problem with the tower was not really the tower itself. As image bearers, we are called to “build” in whatever area God has put us. And, more than that, God calls us to build with excellence.
When we build, we ought not to do so in a way that is mediocre, shoddy, or half-hearted. Instead, we ought to build things that are wonderful and exceptional, using all the God-given abilities he has granted to us by his grace.
So, if the problem isn’t the activity of building, per se, then what is it?
Building for Our Own Glory
The problem in the tower of Babel story is not the tower, but the motivation behind the tower. Put another way, the problem was related to the hearts of the builders.
While Scripture makes it clear that all things should be done for God’s glory, the builders of the tower had another motive. They built so that they could make a name for themselves. The praise was not to go towards God, but towards them.
This swapping of God’s place for man’s place is accentuated in the passage by the use of the word “name.” Normally in Scripture, it is the name of God that is to be held sacred. It’s God’s name that is to be lifted up and glorified.
But not for Babel. They are not building to give worship, but to get worship.
This story exposes the real problem with the human heart. Our problem is not just that we disobey God’s law from time to time or break a commandment now and then. Our problem is that, at our core, WE would rather be God.
But the lesson goes deeper than that. It is also a reminder that this temptation toward self-glorification often comes through good things. It’s not that that the people of Babel are taking pride in something evil. They are taking pride in something good.
Babel and the Modern Church
Here we are reminded that the lessons of Babel go way beyond issues like AI, or technology, or other human accomplishments. There is also much the modern church can learn.
While building successful and dynamic churches or ministries can be a good thing, it is also possible that such building can be done as another opportunity to build a name for ourselves. Anyone paying attention over the last decade can see how many churches and ministries have been shipwrecked by the desire for self-glorification.
Now, the solution isn’t to stop building effective ministries. Rather the solution is diligently pursuing a heart that is doing it for the right reasons.
Of course, none of us will ever have perfect motives and a sin-free heart. Which is why the tower of Babel reminds us of another important truth, namely that God’s redemptive purposes march on despite human disobedience.
When looked at through the lens of the whole Bible, we realize that the failed city of Babel should remind us that our hope does not lie in human cities but in a future divine city. One day, God will build a city—the new Jerusalem—which will descend from above rather than being built from below (Rev 21:10).
It will be a city built by God.
And it will reverse the problems of Babel. There God will be glorified. There his name will be lifted up. And perhaps most notably, there will not be a single language like Babel, but people from every tribe, tongue, people, and nation.
Thus, the solution to the story of Babel is not to give up building. Rather it’s to make sure we are building God’s city and not our own.